Fly Fishing for Sea Trout

The fact that it's called 'the fish of 1000 casts' is not very encouraging to many fly fishers. There is no setting your watch by sea trout: knowing where they’ll be and when is one of fly fishing’s skills that separates the serious fly fishers from the casual devotee. With the right research, knowledge and gear however, catching a sea trout on the fly can turn from dream into reality.

The sea trout is the prodigal son of the trout family. While brown trout stay home and work the same patch from one season to the next, sea trout head for the ocean, to feed on crab, shrimp and small fish, before returning to fresh water to spawn.

Such a vast playground and its bountiful larder give rise both to big fish and an erratic itinerary. Try and work out where an incoming tide will deposit sea trout and you’re doing well if you’re right every third tide.

And if fishing after dark is neither pleasurable nor convenient for you, don’t worry. Sea trout are occasionally caught in daylight hours but it will call for peak stealth on your part, both in staying undetected and presenting your flies precisely and tidily. 

How to fly fish for sea trout

As sea trout are harder to catch the longer they are in fresh water, try and intercept fresh-run fish that follow a flood, once the water has cleared.

During the day, sea trout rest in slow, deep pools blessed with an overhanging tree canopy. Come dusk and splashing tells you they’re on the move. They will head upstream, through shallower sections, often taking a breather in deep pools before setting off once more at dawn. But don’t give up on pools after dark. Some fish can be found there all night.

When fish are moving through the shallows, fish your fly fast and close to the surface. When targeting pools, switch to a lure on a sinking line, retrieved very slowly near the bottom.

What are the best flies for sea trout?

As with salmon, choosing flies for sea trout is a strange exercise because neither species eats anything once it reaches fresh water.

For reasons yet to be fathomed out, though, sea trout keep taking certain flies, notably traditional wet flies in sizes 6 to 12, like the Butcher, Dunkeld, Invicta and Mallard and Claret. Fish two of them together, with the larger fly on the dropper, and let the river’s flow bring them round to you. Move one step down the bank after each cast, to explore as much water as you can.

When fished in the salt, it's primarily about shrimp patterns and small baitfish.