There are showers forecast for the weekend but not enough to radically change river levels, which are still very low.
Daily temperatures have been much lower this week and water temperatures have dropped as a result. Trout are more active when the water temperature is in the teens rather than in the low 20s. All of this points to the fishing being good. In fact, as far as fly fishers go, conditions cannot get much better.
For spin fishers, things are not quite as good as it is easier to hook up on the riverbed and in weed beds. One way to get around this is to use small, light lures or even floating lures. With floating lures the depth can be controlled by the rate of retrieve. No retrieve and the lure floats, a slow retrieve and the lure sinks just below the surface and a fast retrieve gets the lure down deep.
As rivers shrink in times of drought, the insects that live on the river bed have to move. Some rivers are wide and shallow and as the water recedes the river gets narrower and the wetted area of the river bed reduces dramatically, whereas rivers that have steep banks and are relatively deep retain much of their wetted area.
Consequently, the concentration of insects in shallow rivers increases as the water recedes and there will often be a lot of trout food in the drift. The optimum places for trout to feed are more easily identified in low water such as where there is a definite current usually identified by a foam line on the surface. If the trout are not rising there is a good chance they are taking nymphs on the bottom below the current lines.
Any small brown nymph will fool the fish. I use a size 14 hare's ear nymph but only because it is durable rather than because it catches more fish than other patterns. If the water is 60cm or more deep, a larger nymph with a bit of weight in it is more effective.
On fine, warm days it is not unusual to see trout jumping out of the water to catch damsel flies in the air. This happens on lakes but also occurs on the slow flats in rivers. There are a couple of ways of catching these fish. One is to fish a dry damsel fly. Now it is very difficult to make it fly above the water like the natural flies would but they often briefly settle on the water or for longer periods to lay their eggs, so just letting your artificial fly sit on the water will work. The takes tend to be slow and gentle so tighten very slowly to be sure of hooking the fish.
The other method is to plonk a nymph of about No 12 near any splashy rise, then give the line a couple of quick strips and the take, if it happens, comes straight away.
