When is the best time to fish for trout? That depends, are you wondering what season is best, or what time of day is best? Trout can be consistently caught year-round, and the best time of day varies depending on the season. The best time to catch trout is when they are most active.
Well, when are trout the most active then? This depends primarily on the water temperature. Trout are cold water fish that thrive in water rich with dissolved oxygen. They require water to either have cold temperatures, a fast current, or a combination of the two in order to maintain high enough oxygen levels to support them.
The short answer is that the best water temperature for trout fishing is between 10C to 20C (50F to 68F) when they’re the most active, with brook trout preferring it a bit cooler than other species.
But that is really an oversimplification. Trout activity also depends on a variety of other factors such as temperature trends (is the temperature rising or falling?), food sources available, sunlight levels, water levels, and more.
So when’s the best time to fish for trout? Read below to find out the best time of day for every season.
Spring
Spring is probably the most popular time of year to go fishing, and with good reason. The fish will be hungry after a long winter, and are eager to feed! The water is warming up from freezing temperatures, and this increases the cold-blooded trout’s metabolism. A higher metabolism means more actively feeding trout.
The best time to fish in spring is midday (especially in early-mid spring). Since the water’s still on the cold side, the trout will be most active during the warmest parts of the day.
Water levels are quite high in the spring, comprising mostly of snow melt water. This water takes longer to heat up than it does in other times of the year. Fishing later in the day gives the water time to warm up, so late morning into mid-afternoon should provide the best results. Think around 11:00am to 3:00pm, With this window getting longer as the season progresses and the days get warmer.
On a personal note, I like to fish estuaries for trout during early and mid-spring. Both steelhead and sea run brookies can be found in salt water estuaries this time of year (on the east coast) and it makes for fantastic fishing. Into late spring I like to switch to river fishing as the sea run brookies move upriver starting in May.
These specific seasonal trout movements will be unique in your area, it’s worth asking around to see where the trout will be.
Summer
The first few weeks of summer offers some amazing trout fishing. As the days start to get hotter, insect activity increases in rivers. At the same time, it’s not yet hot enough that the trout start to act lethargic. This combinations of factors means that trout are feeding very actively in late spring/early summer.
The trout do slow their feeding down in the middle of the day this time of year though. The best bites of the day are typically at dawn and dusk on hotter days. If it’s legal in your area, night time fishing is a great way to target big trout. Big brown trout, in particular, are very active at night.
My fishing time in June and early July is mostly spent targeting the big sea run brookies that have come up river. Dawn is productive, but I have the most luck fishing at dusk. The hour before and the hour after the sun goes down are crazy productive, especially if you’re targeting trophy brook trout.
Late summer is the one time of year it’s best to leave the trout alone. They don’t tolerate the extreme summer heat well. A fight with a big trout in the heat of summer is likely to result in its death, even if you’re careful on the release.
Once the water temperature tops 18C or so, it’s time to switch to a different species of fish until fall comes around. Around here that’s typically late July, August, and the first bit of September. Many other species of fish (bass come to mind) get more active this time of year, so there’s no shortage of fishing opportunities all year long.
Fall
I love the shoulder seasons for targeting trout. As much as I love spring fishing, I love fall fishing even more. With the temperatures dropping from a hot summer, trout will begin feeding aggressively again in preparation for a long cold winter.
Early fall, when it’s still quite warm, the best fishing is still at dusk and dawn. As you get into late fall (Mid-October onwards), the best fishing time slowly shifts to the middle of the day again.
Fall is my absolute favourite time of year for trout fishing. October and November have perfect temperatures for steelhead, and I spend all my time on the water in the fall chasing these sea run rainbow trout. Like in the spring, I like to target them in the saltwater estuaries this time of year.
Unfortunately, the brookies are far upstream breeding for much of the fall, so they’re off limits. The amazing steelhead fishing makes up for this though.
Winter
Unfortunately, there’s no winter season for trout fishing in my area so my first-hand experience is limited. The last video on this post shows that brookies are still active in the middle of winter.
I do know that ice fishing is a productive means of targeting all species of trout in the winter on ponds and lakes. Many anglers also target river steelhead in the middle of winter where it’s legal.
Middle of the day into the afternoon tends to produce the best results in winter. With the less-cold days producing better results as the trout get a slight break from the chilly weather.
Water Temperature
More important than the actual water temperature is the way in which the water temperature is moving. Cool water warming (winter into spring) and warm water cooling (summer into fall) is likely to increase fish activity.
In ideal water temperatures, more active presentations will produce big results (streamers, spinners, and swimbaits). In less than ideal temperatures (either too cold or hot), more passive presentations are the way to go (nymphs, float rigs, and drop shot rigs). This is a general rule, and like everything in fishing, has exceptions.
Water temperature is usually different from the air temperature, sometimes by a surprising amount. This is because water takes longer to change temperature than air does. A Stream Thermometer (Amazon Link)
Final Thoughts
What I wrote above can be shortened to the following. If it’s hot outside, fish at dawn and dusk. If it’s cold, fish during the middle of the day. Late spring/early summer and fall are the most productive seasons.
There can be some variability to that rule though. Say a hatch is happening on a cold spring morning, trout will still feed on these bugs even in a none-prime time of day. Trout are always feeding, there are just times when they are feeding more heavily than others. There’s never days that it’s impossible to catch a trout, just days that catching trout becomes alot more likely.
Tides
I know this applies to a minority of trout anglers, but tidally influenced water can also affect trout feeding behavior. Sometime’s it affects activity more so than even the time of day. The tide can cause significant temperature differences in water, either increasing or decreasing fish activity. It’s also likely to bring lots of baitfish, shrimp, and other forage with it, and the trout are sure to feed heavily on this food source. Fishing the saltwater estuaries for sea run brookies was one of my favourite fishing experience when I lived on the east coast.
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