During July and August, when hot weather raises water temperature and lowers stream levels, fly fishing can become a very frustrating endeavor. I’ll admit just being out wading a wood-lined brook, relaxing in nature and casting about with a favorite dry fly is soothing and pleasant, but when the fish are finicky, frustration sets in. Consistent summer fly fishing action can still be enjoyed, but a different approach with specific techniques is required. And while these tactics aren’t difficult to learn or practice, they are precise and essential to regularly catching trout.

An old angling adage states that 10 percent of the fishermen catch 90 percent of the fish. While these percentages might be a bit lopsided, it is true certain anglers, veteran fly casters with not only skill but an extensive understanding of matching fishing technique to specific conditions, regularly catch more fish. If you are among this elite cadre, the following warm-weather tactics will be common knowledge, but for the novice or intermediate dry-fly enthusiasts who seek better results, the following practices will be a benefit.

Finding fish

On more occasions than I can recount, I’ve stood in one spot and caught and released a dozen or more brookies from a pool the size of a compact car. It’s not uncommon to see 50 to 100 trout literally blacken the stream bed in a location where shade or cool water offers comfort. Just as you and I seek out shade or air conditioning to counteract sweltering sun and humidity, fish relocate to take advantage of nature’s brand of cool relief. This schooling up of trout in specific locations is the reason that certain stretches of water that had a fish behind every rock last month, seem barren this month. Some anglers get so discouraged at catching no fish they hang up their rods and turn to other outdoor recreation until the weather changes.

Giving up until cooler weather prevails isn’t the answer, it just shortens an already limited trout season. Locating the grouped-up fish in their cool pools, and taking advantage of the “captive audience,” so to speak, is the cure to slow summer fly fishing. Some of these schooling spots are simple to find. For example, any brook or creek that enters a larger waterway will often be several degrees cooler and attract trout. Often they will school up in a large “V” shape, taking full advantage of the colder brook water as it enters and fans out, dispersing downstream. Some fish will even travel up the cooler creek and take up residence for a few weeks.

Trout will lay near the cooler bottom water of deep holes. Even if it’s only 4-6 feet deep there’s quite a temperature difference. Bank undercuts, heavy shoreline brush and leafy overhanging trees also offer cover from direct sunlight, as well as some protection from flying and fly casting predators. Cold spring inlets and ledge seeps are two more sources of cold water that attract fish, but these are a bit more difficult to ferret out.

Both locating and effectively casting to schooled trout requires patience, perseverance and polarized sunglasses. Investigating new streams for holed-up fish is often just a matter of either slowly wading the shoreline, or walking the bank, when the sun is high, and using a good set of polarized sunglasses to see through the glare and water. Occasionally you will get too close and spook the fish, but the next time you will know where they are. Usually the school will settle down and school up again within 30 minutes if no further disturbance occurs.

Just after dawn and at dusk, holding pools will often be given away because of rising trout. Once a specific brook inlet, ledge seep or cold spring is found to attract trout during hot weather, in all likelihood it will do so year after year. After pinpointing a few such hot weather holding pools on a handful of neighborhood rivers and streams, you will always have a few dependable dry fly spots regardless of how hot the weather becomes.

Location and presentation

Single trout are wary enough, but at the least provocation schooled-up brookies will scatter like water droplets in a hot skillet. Anglers should always try to approach a group of fish from downstream or at least directly cross stream. Any upstream attempt to get into casting position, no matter how slow and careful, will dislodge bottom debris and dirty the water, which will float into the pool alerting the trout that something’s amiss. Even when moving into casting position from below the school, quiet is essential and each step must be lifted and placed precisely. Felt soled waders increase stability and reduce noise.

Take up a casting position as far away from the outer edge of the schooled fish as possible, yet still be able to present controlled, accurate casts. Be able to comfortably present a fly to all portions of the holding area without shifting positions if possible. When the trout are strung out in a long school, back up to shore, move laterally, then wade back to midstream to cast to a different portion of the school. Don’t shuffle your feet while fishing, as even the crunch of gravel or clicking of bottom rocks may disturb the trout.

Be sure to select a spot where your back cast is least likely to catch brush, tree limbs or high shoreline grass. Some tight spots may require the use of a roll cast or sling-shot cast, so be prepared to improvise. Be aware of where the sun is and where your shadow will appear before wading into position and spooking the trout before a fly is cast.

Enjoying multiple hookups from a large pod of fish requires a specific game plan for casting, and then hooking and playing each trout. On many occasions I’ve watched neophyte dry fly anglers cast and hook a fish from the midst of a school and then fight the fish back through the group of trout. After this occurs once or twice the remaining fish are either dispersed or too skittish to bite. It will take at least half an hour for fishing to be restored to normal.

The trick is to work the edges of the school first, using precision casts and delicate presentation to entice and hook fish from the outside limits of the school. Then, foot by foot, work casts inward toward the center of the school. Do your utmost to prevent hooked trout from sprinting among the rest of the layed-up fish. This is no simple task, especially with a hefty, rambunctious brookie, but with proper rod and reel manipulation a controlled fight can be managed.

Another very important guideline requires resting the pool every 10 to 15 minutes after catching a few trout. Go to shore, sit down, check over the leader for knots, tie on a fresh fly and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature for 10 minutes or so. Often the fish will begin rising again after a while, indicating that the school is settled and comfortable, and the angler can return to action. With proper footwork, periodic casting breaks and cautious fly placement, time and again I’ve coaxed a dozen or more trout from a cool water school.

Lines, leaders, and flies

A clean fly line coated with a slick film of floatant will slither through the guides like an eel on wet grass. A smooth cast, free of drag, floats onto the water surface with little or no sound or ripples, and the fly alights rather than splashing down. Nine feet is the shortest leader I use for casting over schooled trout and on calm water or sunny afternoons I extend to 12 feet. Four-pound test is acceptable under most circumstances but occasionally I’ll revert to fluorocarbon instead of monofilament, for its smaller diameter and better invisibility. Light leader and hefty trout make for some interesting tugs of war, a curse, a benefit, and much of the sport of dry-fly fishing warm weather schooled fish.

Selecting the most productive fly patterns and proper size is pretty much a random draw for each and every outing. Some nights the brookies will take anything, while on other nights they are frustratingly selective. I remember one evening I could take a trout on any pattern I tossed out, sometimes even a second fish, but never a third until I changed patterns. After eight patterns and a dozen or so fish, it dawned on me that it wasn’t the size, shape or color of fly, only that the pattern was completely dry and high floating. Any slightly wet, partially submerged fly was completely ignored. It’s just such strange circumstances that keep me totally intrigued by and dedicated to dry-fly fishing.

As a general guideline, have a supply of size 16 to 18 mosquitoes, gray Slim Jims, light and dark Cahills, Adams, Henryville Specials, Hendricksons and hare’s ear floaters. For color, turn to a royal coachman, a green humpy, a white Wulff and a yellow irresistible. These are all proven dry flies, but don’t forget that they can be just as effective fished wet on certain outings.

Trout change their location and feeding habits during hot summer weather so anglers, too, must be willing to change. A few alterations in tackle and tactics, a bit of detective work locating the cool pools and big schools, and the action can be as hot as the weather.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com