Late Summer Stripping: Streamer Strategies for Tough Conditions

Image by Mike Doughty

Late summer is the toughest period for streamer anglers. The rivers are warm and low, the days still bright and sunny—everything pretty much the opposite of good streamer conditions. What makes this time truly difficult to endure is that it’s all so close. Like a distant siren song heard on the wind, the knowledge that the glory days of autumn, with its cool water and aggressive, streamer-hunting trout are only a few weeks away makes the dregs of summer drag on. But there are still plenty of ways to get your streamer fix.

Late summer streamer fishing is about adapting to overcome. Those big trout we all dream about still have to eat and would prefer wolfing down a fat baitfish or two rather than expending energy eating thousands of late-summer insects. By adapting your fishing strategies, you can capitalize on this behavior and have all the fast-stripping, tight-line grabbing, streamer action you could want during the late summer. You just have to think outside the box a bit to get it.

Fishing the Cold Snaps and Braving the Dark

No matter how hot the summer gets, there are still going to be temperature drops that trigger trout to feed. Even if a certain day is only cooler by a few degrees, it can be enough to tempt those big fish to come out and hunt. Pay attention to the weather and go fishing on the cooler days. Anytime you’ve got an incoming or outgoing rainstorm, a chunky low-pressure front, or even a particularly cloudy day is a great time to go streamer fishing.

Of course, the best way to ensure that it’s going to be cooler is by going fishing in the evening. Big trout that have been holding all day in the shadows and shade of deep pools and thick cover become active once the sun goes down and the light is off the water. This can be a great time to get out and do a bit of prospecting with a streamer, with the best chance for a big fish usually coming right at sunset or a couple of hours afterward.

Hitting the Deep Stuff

During the hottest points of the day, big trout go deep. They sit at the bottom of holes, pools, and troughs and refuse to move, let alone eat, until the evening. It’s a frustrating situation, especially if this is the only time you have to fish. However, you can still tempt and trigger these deep-dwelling summer trout into eating by using a heavy streamer and dropping it right into the midst of things.

The Sex Dungeon, Dolly Llama, and the Double Gonga are the perfect patterns for these situations. You can sink them all the way to the bottom and then jig them along the rocks, right in the faces of those deep-dwelling trout. Fish them by casting upstream into the head of the pool and then, once they sink, retrieve downstream with short, sharp strips combined with quick upward flicks of your rod tip. Admittedly, this method may spook some of the fish out of the hole, but it can and will trigger the larger, more aggressive trout into striking. And, as with all streamer fishing, all it takes is one.

If you’re fishing a larger or longer stretch of deep water, you can also swing these big fly patterns. Cast them downstream and across the current and let them sink until they hit or at least come close to the bottom. Once they get down there, tighten up your line and swing the flies across the river, concentrating on the deepest areas. As the fly swings, you can add small pulses and flicks with your rod tip, making the streamers dart and dance. It can be just the thing to cause a deep-water monster to come up and say hello.

Small Bugs and Fast Flows

If you don’t have a lot of deep water in your favorite river or fish a lot of small streams, you can still catch a lot of late summer fish on streamers as long as you’re thinking small. During the bright days of the summer, trout living in shallow rivers and streams will stack up at the heads of pools and runs with their noses right in the faster water, snatching bugs and small baitfish out of the tumbling flow. You can take advantage of this behavior by drifting and stripping with small streamers.

Now when I say small streamers, I mean unweighted, single-hook baitfish patterns that look like easy-to-catch and easy-to-eat prey. Flies like the Doppelganger, Hornberg, Seal Leech, and Crossdresser are ideal. They don’t sink a ton, have a low profile in clear water, and can be stripped and drifted with equal efficiency.

Fish your streamers by casting into the fastest moving water at the head of the pool and then either strip or dead drift through the center of the pool. As the fly moves, add in a lot of twitches, pulses, and pauses with your rod tip that make the fly flutter to the surface and then sink to the bottom of the river like a stunned or wounded minnow. That’s something a big hungry summer trout won’t be able to resist.

Fish with Care

This is a difficult time for every fly angler and not just streamer junkies. The low oxygen levels in the warm water make it dangerous for the fish, as hooking one in temps over 65 degrees can cause them to exhaust themselves and die. So fish with care and only when temps are in the right place. But when they are, make sure you get out there with a streamer or two. As close as the fall streamer season may seem, those big trout you dream about are still in the water and are just waiting for a big fly to come swimming along.