Ive been to three small stilwaters recently, in really warm conditions and bright sun,
Even trying all the usual tactics for these conditions sinking lines, pulling a Blob
Nymphs, buzzers: etc the fish have remained dour even though i have caught,
and its not been any better in the evening,
Is the water too hot for Bows, do they just lie on the bottom, and go right of the feed?
Ive also noticed since the heatwave Buzzers don't seem to be doing the bizz?
I suppose the answer would be to wait till the weather cools,
Any thoughts?

Same story at our 7½ acre reservoir, near Sheffield. Although it has depths of around 20ft the fish have been very lethargic and evening rises have been non-existent. I had noticed, even a couple of weeks ago, that some trout were going back belly-up, even after a brief fight, and taking a couple of minutes to recover. I put it down to the lack of oxygen in the water.

A break in the weather might help although I don't expect things to pick up on our reservoir now 'til mid-September!!! You might have more luck on the bigger, deeper waters.

Curiously the best day I ever had at Toft Newton was several years ago on the hottest, sunniest day of the year in mid-July.
We took a boat out to the middle and fished with lures on fast-sink lines. As soon as the lure reached the bottom we were getting pull after pull. My mate and I bagged-up in no time.

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The weather prompted a post from me last night and our water temp is nearly 24degrees ,which is very hot and fish will become lethargic in this.They will still take but around late morn and mid afternoon when it is at its hottest they will be reluctant and will take to the depths where the cool water is.If the waters you are fishing have any water where it has shadows which will keep the water cool look to fish those bits as you will have a better chance of a fish.Catching numbers of fish in this weather is a dead loss.
Alos just to add when releasing fish in this weather its good to ensure they go away ok and need alot more time to recover rather than just hook out and walk away.The fish will belly up.Care needs to be taken with them.

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Kevin

good post,good point!

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an interesting mix of apathy and panic

Clive M

Surface sport will get more difficult once the surface temperature climbs above 20degrees+ for more than a few days, & the warmer the surface gets then the warmer the entire body of water will also get. The last very hot spell we had 4 years ago we recorded a surface temp of 25 degrees, we also recorded a temperature of 16 degrees at 22ft.

The smaller the body of water the higher the overall temp will be.

Suspending catch & release is up to individual manager however in extreme temperature 22degrees & above it is the obvious move to make, I have a temperature today of 24 degrees & C&R is suspended.

Fisheries with an aeration system will benefit, at Foremark the water temp on the boils was nearly 5 degrees cooler than the rest of the reservoir

The same goes for stocking in this heat it’s a bad idea & should not take place.

will be interesting to see what my day on the Test is gonna be like saturday... it is alleged that due to the fact the chalkstreams are fed from aquifier the temperature barely fluctuates from 10 degrees all year, the fishery owner assured me that the sport has been good over the last week .. but then they are gonna say that arent they

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Fish always have to eat I would have thought?

Try a DI7 and a booby? We all knwo fish feed on neon Boobies lol

This tactic works for me when its hot

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John Danter

ickypimp,

Take a thermometer, I would expect it to warm up from the sun as it flows down to the sea.

A fish farmer on the Avon told me yesterday the water temp of the Avon was pushing 20 degrees.

tk8456

No they don’t, when conditions are not to their liking they will not feed, I agree a fast sinking line with blobs & booby may catch you a few fish, but nowhere near the amount when the water temp is below 18 degrees, check their stomach contents.

I'd appreciate some advice from you guys.

I will be on a Test carrier this Saturday fishing for little brownies. Due to family commitments, I have the option of starting very early at 5 am and ending at mid-day, or starting at suppertime and ending at 11 pm.

Which would you guys prefer? I am guessing that water temperatures would have cooled during the night and so early morning sport might be better but I have no experience with fishing that early.

Hi,

basically once water temp goes above 25 c go home. Fish stop feeding and start getting stressed and 26-27c they start dying. Now a fish boff might say fishes metabolism etc or it may mean trout need more oxygen etc either way you will struggle.

Fished a large local lake recently temp was 27c (top 3 foot) and 25 up to 15 foot down and 21c at 25 feet which was an acceptable temp. I didnt bother fishing deeper as you end up waiting 4 min a cast to get your fly down and the boats drifted over the line.

Small lakes etc that are under 20ft you will struggle at this of year which is why quite a few a close near me and open again in sept.

As this is an informative post i used the depth thermometer from cortland a great bit of eqipment.

In short wait for the temp to drop again before going fishin or go out first light in the morning and pack up by 8am probably the best time until temperatures drop some what.