Sea trout fishing at night on the beautiful Welsh Dee

I love sea trout at night above all other types of fly fishing because in the dark all your sensors are on high alert in anticipation of a take. 

It’s an amazing feeling when your line tightens and you hear…

the splash of a hooked fish before it tears off downriver.

Then, you have to battle the wild fish with little or no sight of it until it slips into the net.

I’ve introduced a few friends to fly fishing for sea trout at night and in every case when they catch their first sea trout…

You can see in their eyes they’re hooked for life.

Weather permitting, I will continue sea trout fly fishing until the end of August when my focus switches to salmon fishing. During this short 6/7-week period I try and get out sea trout fishing as often as possible.

Therefore, I wrote this post on how to catch sea trout at night to help a beginner get started and hopefully “HOOKED”.

First, let’s take a look at the fishing tackle you will need.

Tackle requirements for sea trout fishing at night

To start your quest for sea trout there is no need to buy a specialist sea trout fly rod, reel, and/or fly line.

I started sea trout fishing at night with a medium action 10ft 7wt rod, reel and floating line I had for rainbow trout fishing on reservoirs. Also, using a rod you regularly fish with during the day it will make casting at night easier to get the hang of. Even after 20 years, I still use my reservoir fly rod for sea trout fishing.

Sea trout fly rod basic requirements:

Any medium-tip (through) action fly rod between 9 to 10ft with an AFTM rating of between 6 and 8, will be OK to begin your sea trout fishing adventure. Avoid fast action rods because they won’t absorb the shock of a leaping sea trout; you will be devastated if you lose a big sea trout because your line breaks. 

Fly reel for sea trout fishing:

Chose a reel that matches the AFTM rating of the rod and has the capacity to take the fly line plus 100 yards of backing. If you need to buy a reel to get started, go for one that comes with a spare spool, which you can load with an intermediate (slow sinking) line.

Fly lines for sea trout fishing at night:

If you get “hooked” on sea trout fishing it would be useful to have a second line with you. My second line is a WF intermediate (slow sinking) line, which is useful when you need to fish a big fly closer to the riverbed. 

Leaders & tippets for sea trout fishing at night:

If you are starting with just a floating line, then it would useful to have some polyleaders with you because these will allow you to fish the fly deeper (i.e. 5 to 7ft polyleaders: intermediate, medium, and fast sinking).

For fishing a single fly, I use a simple leader of 8 to 10ft of 8, 10, or 12lb of Maxima Ultragreen depending on the size of fly I’m fishing (i.e. 8lbs for fly sizes less than 8, fished at dusk and 10 or 12 lbs for small tube flies). 

For large tubes, I use a much shorter leader (c.a. 4 – 5ft of 12lb Maxima) to help to cast these heavy flies.

When fishing a 2-fly cast I use about 10ft of 12lb Maxima and tie the dropper 4 ft down the leader from the fly line because it helps reduce line tangles.

Fly fishing accessories for sea trout fishing at night:

A robust folding landing net that can be attached to your jacket with an easy-release mechanism.

A good head torch, ideally with white and red-light sources and a spare pocket torch. I use the Nitecore NU25 headlamp for all my nightime fishing activities. (NB. don’t shine the torch on the water, always face away from the river when using it)

A jacket with multiple pockets to carry fly boxes, line etc

Finally, for safety a pair of DIY clear safety spectacles as eye protection and if you are wading a life jacket and wading stick.

Summary tackle for sea trout fishing at night

• 7 or 8wt 10 ft medium action fly rod – I currently use a Greys GR80 10ft 7wt fly rod
• Large arbour fly reel with a good drag
• Weight forward floating line & polyleaders
• 10 to 12 lbs copolymer leader
• A selection of sea trout flies (singles & tubes)
• Sea trout landing net
• Head torch with white & red lights – I use a small Nitecore NU25 fishing headlamp
• Hot refreshments

How to catch night-time sea trout

Most of my sea trout fishing at night has been done on the Welsh Dee but this approach can be applied to most UK rivers.

What are the best months to go sea trout fishing at night?

Generally, the best months for catching sea trout in the UK are June, July and August but peak runs vary from river to river.  Therefore, it’s a good idea to study previous catch returns for the river you plan to fish to determine your best chances of success. 

When you start sea trout fishing there is nothing worse than…

blanking night after night because there’s no sea trout to catch.

Trust me, I’ve learnt this the hard way!

For example, the best month(s) on the Welsh Dee at Llangollen are mid-July and August and July and August on the Conwy and River Ribble.

The next challenge to a successful night’s sea trout fishing is to be in the…

right place at the right time.

Sound simple but how do you do this…

Where are the best places to fish for sea trout at night?

Sea trout are not evenly distributed throughout the river but take up residence in areas that offer them sanctuary during daylight hours, without having to expend vital energy resources.

These areas are often the deeper sections of the pool with a steady flow and where the bank is undercut and/or lined with overhanging trees.

Under the full cover of darkness, sea trout will leave these daytime lies and move into areas of faster flow that are still smooth. For example, near the tails of pools or alongside gravel bars where the river narrows causing the flow increases.  

In determining the best pools and places to a fish a river for sea trout I can’t stress enough the…

Value of local knowledge.

It will help you avoid many fruitless hours of fishing.

If the stretch for river belongs to a club then there will be members who are happy to point you in the right direction. For example, on the Welsh Dee at Llangollen just as me or check my fishing blog.

Also, search the internet for fishing forums and Facebook Groups and ask for advice there.  

Even if you have obtained knowledge of where to fish, it’s still important to walk the river during daylight to check out likely holding pools and plan how to fish them when it’s dark.

On the Welsh Dee at Llangollen there are several pools that regularly produce sea trout at night, these include Dee Farm, Pipe Pool, Duncan’s Pool, Horseshoe Falls, Sea Trout Pool, and Mill Run to name just a few.

Best river weather conditions for sea trout fishing at night.

This is a tricky one but, generally, it’s best to go sea trout fishing when the river is running clear and close to its summer level.  

On the Welsh Dee, I will always try and go fishing a few days after a summer spate when the river has cleared and is approaching its summer level. Mainly, because the spate encourages sea trout to move upriver and the new residents in the pools tend to be more active and easier to catch. 

If the river is still carrying some colour, I will only fish for sea trout until dusk and save my energy for better conditions.

Ideal weather conditions for night-time sea trout fishing

Night sea trout fishing tactics

I don’t live local to any sea trout rivers and as such, I like to make the most of my evening’s sea trout fishing in Wales. Therefore, I often arrive a couple of hours before dark and walk the section of the river I’m going to fish looking for signs of where sea trout are lying.

At dusk, I will start fishing the fast water at the heads of pools with a floating line and a team of small wet flies on a 12ft 6lb leader. This can yield a few sea trout to 2 lbs in weight, which is great, sport on light tackle.

Examples of wet flies that catch Welsh Dee sea trout include:

When it’s just possible to see the tree outlines on the far bank, I will begin to fish the pools which should be holding the larger sea trout. This is around 11 pm in July on the Welsh Dee. 

How best to fish sea trout pools?

I’ve found the best results come from concentration on learning how to fish one or two pools thoroughly in a single sea trout fishing session. 

If possible, try and fish the pool without wading to avoid disturbing sea trout that might be lying close in. When it’s not possible to fish from the bank wade the pool very carefully.

When wading at night SAFETY should be your NUMBER ONE priority.

My own personal rule is…

I never wade a pool at night unless I’ve waded it in daylight when the river is low at the start of each season.

I do this to check if anything has changed on the riverbed (e.g. gravel has moved, new obstacles have appeared during winter floods, etc).

Sea trout fishing at night with a floating line

On the Welsh Dee, as on many other rivers, sea trout are most active during the first two hours of darkness. Often, showing their location by jumping on warm evenings.

Under such conditions, it’s best, to begin fishing with a floating line tipped with 9ft of 10lb Maxima Ultragreen and initially a single sea trout fly (size 10 to 8). Examples of the flies I use on the Welsh Dee for sea trout fishing at night include:

Night-time Sea trout fly patterns:

If fishing the above single flies doesn’t produce any takes, switch to a larger fly on 9ft of 12lb Maxima (ca. 50 to 75mm tube fly or intruder pattern).  Usually, it is not long (ca. 20min) before you will have a take if this switch is going to work. 

The tube flies I use for sea trout fishing at night include:

How to fish a pool at night for sea trout?

Begin fishing the chosen section of the pool by casting as close to the far bank as possible, to fix your cast length. If there are trees on the far bank, I try to get the fly in between the trees because the bigger fish are often lying under their cover.

It’s essential to experiment with different casting angles and speed of retrieve until you find the combination that entices the sea trout to take your fly.

BINGO – a beautiful sea trout snatched my fly.

If you feel any knock or pull on the fly, immediately make a line strike, and if this connects with a fish, quickly lift the rod. The advantage of the line trike over a rod strike is that if nothing connects you can continue to fish the fly through the pool and maybe get a second take.

When sea trout are just nipping the end of the fly then switching to fishing a smaller fly can be a successful approach.

After fishing through the pool without a take, it’s best to change the approach. I often switch to fishing a surface (Wake) lune on a floating line for my next run through the pool. 

The surface lure I tie and use on the Welsh Dee and other rivers is a great pattern designed by Stephan Jones:

If a surface lure fails to stimulate any interest a switch to fishing deeper with an intermediate or sink-tip line and experimenting with the fly size is usually the next move. 

Sea trout fishing with a sinking line

There are a number of scenarios when it’s better to fish for sea trout with a sinking line:

• fishing a floating line hasn’t produced any takes,
• after the initial of hours of darkness takes have dried up,
• sea trout are lying in the deep sections of the pool, i.e. greater than 5ft.

Again, it’s important to fish the pool systematically with the sinking line, by varying the casting angle and speed of retrieve, as described for fishing a floating line.

In deep pools, there’s hardly any light penetrating the depths and it is usually best to fish large flies (75 mm+ in length) very slowly. It’s also worth trying a fly that causes some disturbance to alert sea trout to its presence.

Hopefully, after trying all of the above you will have managed to hook and land a sea trout. If not it will be time to move on to the next pool to repeat the process or head off home.

A systematic approach to sea trout fishing at night teaches you how best to fish each pool and enables you to build a knowledge base of which approaches work best.

If you are interested in sea trout fishing at night on the Welsh Dee there is some excellent day ticket water at Llangollen

Also, the following post has further information on sea trout flies and sea trout fishing trips to the Welsh Dee

• Sea trout flies: 9 great patterns to use on the Welsh Dee
• Sea trout fishing in 2022 on the Dee
• Sea trout fishing in North Wales 

Finally, If don’t like the idea of sea trout fishing at night, I have another post on how to catch sea trout during daylight hours that should interest you.