Low Water Light Line Fly Fishing
On my home waters of North-East Yorkshire, April and May were marked by extreme drought. Weeks of sunny, cloudless skies led to incredibly low rivers.
Hatches of aquatic flies were disappointing, and terrestrial insect falls, such as hawthorn flies and black gnats were practically absent, likely due to winter flooding.
As a result, the start of the trout season on both the chalk streams and spate rivers of the North York Moors proved exceptionally challenging.
Early Season fly fishing in low water conditions
Late March and early April found the North York Moors streams already running low. Large Dark Olive hatches failed to appear, and rising fish were few and far between. The only feeding trout were found in the skinny water at pool heads and in fast, tumbling pocket water.
After a winter of nymphing with Grayling Bugs, I was eager to switch to dry flies—but had to resort to a tactic I rarely use: the Duo/Klink and Dink/New Zealand Dropper. I rigged a size 20 Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymph about 12” below a size 14 Elk Hair Caddis with a bleached elk wing for visibility.
Tie the dropper to the eye of the dry fly rather than the bend, which I find improves hook sets and avoids tangles—especially with barbless hooks.
This setup proved effective, with most trout taking the nymph. Among them were two monsters by local standards: wild brownies of 15” and 14”.
Dance Flies and Delicate Fishing in May
May brought even lower water—more typical of high summer. Fly hatches were still minimal, but I encountered dense swarms of Dance Flies (also known as Dagger Flies). These tiny predators (approx. 5mm) hover over the water, hunting midges and aphids. Trout often gather beneath the swarms to pick off fallen insects.
Look for the swarms in sunny spots. Huge numbers of dance flies were circling in every sunny patch and large numbers of trout were gathered where the faster water from the shallow riffles slowed as it reached the heads of the deeper pools.
Stealth was critical, and I found the best imitation was a size 20 Black Gnat.
Fly rods for stealth on low water
On my local chalk stream river levels were the lowest I’ve ever seen at this time of year. Most of the time the few active fish were either taking tiny midges, emerging Agapetus micro-caddis pupae or minnows.
The fish were very spooky and again required a very stealthy approach, with precise, delicate presentation of appropriate flies.
This resulted in 27 beautifully marked wild trout up to 20cm in just 3 hours of fishing.
My best fish, a wildie of 5lb 4oz was on the fin, and with no flies on the water I opted for a size 14 Elk Hair Caddis. This fly will often tempt fish when there is not much on the surface to tempt them to rise.
Most of the fish I landed were on small flies, size 24 to 30 CdC Midges, size 20 Agapetus Pupae and size 20 Black Gnats.
Size 24 Cdc Midge
My favourite gear when fishing small, heavily wooded streams :
6’ 4” #2 California glass rod, 8’ 1 weight California glass rod, and the 7’ 6” #2 Microlite GT rod.
Paired with the #1 and #2 Short to Medium Range Dry Fly/NoKnot River Dry Fly Floating lines and 9’ or 12’ 6x/2lb tapered leaders.
Big Fish Set up for Low Water Chalk Streams
Fishing small, overgrown rivers requires precise casting and subtle presentation. On a chalk stream where there are some very big wild fish, here's some of my favoured gear:
The 10' #4 Microlite GT and depending how windy it is, I team it with a #1 - #3 Medium/Long Range Dry Fly line. Leaders range from 14' to 20', and tippet is anything from 5x to 3x, depending on fly size, and the species I'm targeting.
Further reading on long rods and light lines
For more information on Agapetus and Dance Flies look through my earlier Blogs on here, or buy my book, ‘Long Rods Light Lines - some thoughts on fly fishing’, by David Southall.
