It is a salmon angler's worst nightmare when arriving at a beat first thing in the morning, raring to go, and being confronted with high coloured water. These conditions do not fill you with confidence for the day ahead. If, however, river levels have peaked and the water is dropping, conditions may improve during your day's fishing, provided there is no further rain. Conversely, if the water is still rising but still fishable, it can be a race against time before you need to call a halt to proceedings. It can be difficult to tempt a salmon in rising water but not impossible. I have always found that there is often a two or three hour window (depending on how quickly the water is rising) from when the water first starts rising, during which fish can still take.
When fly fishing in such testing conditions, you can employ a few tactical tricks to tilt the odds of catching a fish in your favour. These involve your fly of choice, fly line selections and carefully selecting the pools and parts of the pools you intend to fish.
When it comes to fly selection, it is important to consider fly size and pattern. If the water is high and coloured, regardless of the time of year, you want to use a bigger fly that will show up well in the coloured water. I often go for a brightly coloured tube fly, especially if I am confronted with such conditions in the early spring and autumn when high coloured water is common. Something bright with yellow or orange in the wing can often show up well in dirty water. Of all the colours I have used, I find that yellow flies are the most visible in such testing conditions. It is all the better if you have a fly with some flash in the wing. If the water is cold, you are better off using a heavy fly, so a copper or brass tube fly can often be the order of the day. In the spring, you want your fly to get down in the water column, so a weighted fly can be highly productive.
If you are confronted with high coloured water in the summer months, you can employ similar tactics in terms of fly selection. You still want to choose a fly that shows up well in the water. However, you may not opt for such a large fly. I often use a brightly coloured bottle tube with yellow in the wing around an inch to an inch and a half in length. The extra weight of the bottle tube means that the fly goes down but also being bright, it will show up well in the water. One of the most productive patterns in the summer months when the water is high and coloured is a yellow Ally's shrimp or a Flamethrower. Both these patterns are highly visible in the water.
It is also important to carefully consider the fly line you will use. If you are fishing in the spring, consider using a sink tip or an intermediate fly line. If the water is very high, you may need to use a full sinking line just so the fly gets down. Usually, a weighted fly with a full sinking line is more than enough to get the fly down. In the summer months, getting the fly down near the river bed is not as important. Water temperatures are warmer in spite of the high water; it is unlikely that the fish will be close to the river bed. So often, depending on the water height, a sink tip line coupled with a bottle tube is more than ample to get the fly down. It is worth remembering that grilse are most likely to be your quarry during the summer months. If these fish are running, they will likely be relatively close to the water's surface. I always feel that it is better to fish a bit shallower than too deep, especially during the summer months. This is because it is more likely that a fish will come up towards the surface to take a fly rather than take one that is below it.
So far, we have only looked at tackle when considering tactics for high coloured water, but what about the fishing itself? When the water is high, you must carefully choose the pools where you will fish. It is about choosing the pools carefully and identifying which parts of the pool may be most productive. Generally, fish like to lie in slower water in high water conditions. In choosing pools, choose a pool with a good, steady current and not one with a raging torrent of water running through. Fish are unlikely to lie in such a pool. If you feel that your fly line is coming around at a nice steady speed in the current after putting an upstream mend in it, you know that the pool you have selected is not far off the money.
As already mentioned, you want to concentrate your efforts on any slower water in the pool. Fish can lie in the slower water quite comfortably while expending little energy. The slower water can often be very close to the bank. I have caught several fish when the fly has come onto the dangle parallel to the bank I am fishing from. During the summer months, grilse can often run hard close to the bank, especially if the current is less in the margins.
Nobody likes to turn up to a beat and find that conditions are against them. Being confronted with high coloured water can sink your spirits quickly. However, fish can be caught in such testing conditions, especially if you select the correct size and pattern of fly and choose your pool and the water you will fish carefully. There is no better feeling than landing a salmon in difficult conditions and against all the odds!