In the summer months, it pays to find the thermocline. Tackle shops and lake or reservoir offices often know exactly where it is each day. Photo by Chris Shaffer.

With weather conditions the best they’ll be all year, you won’t find a more comfortable time to target trout than the summer months.

However, the season also brings more anglers to reservoirs, ponds and natural lakes than any other time of year. And while trout will likely be active, you may need to employ a few tactics to catch more fish than the guy next to you.

Here are five tips to help you catch more summer trout than you have in the past.

1) FISH EARLY AND LATE
During the warmer months, don’t discount the idea of fishing early and late in the day. There are several reasons for this, and some deserve more of an explanation than simply, “Trout feed at first light and again near dusk.”

Consider that during the summer months, the most common deterrent is sunlight. With the sun hot, bright and overwhelming most of the day, trout are more apt to head into deeper portions of the water column.

Often you’ll notice trout creeping to the top 10 feet of water from an hour before sunrise to 8 a.m., and then again from 5 p.m. until an hour or two after dusk. Not that trout won’t feed throughout the day, but they are most active when the sunlight is the weakest.

When water temperatures rise to peak summer levels, trout are often more sluggish. That’s part of the reason why it’s best to find early and late portions of the day to approach them.

Another factor is activity.

Whether you are talking about a popular well-stocked reservoir, a local pond or a natural lake in the high country, summertime spells peak use.

Throughout the day, there will be more boat activity, float-tubers, kayakers, swimmers, kids throwing rocks, dogs chasing after sticks and people feeding ducks than any other time of year.

This forces trout into deeper water, keeping them from feeding actively through much of the day.

When focusing on when to fish, something else to consider is the moon phase. When the moon is full or nearly full, many trout will feed throughout the night when it’s cooler, disturbances are fewer and there’s still plenty of light to make prey visible. In some portions of the West, where it’s legal to fish at night, it’s a good idea to try trolling through the twilight hours.

You’ll quickly realize that night fishing can be very productive. If night fishing isn’t legal or you aren’t keen on the idea, simply try to avoid fishing within a few days of the full moon. There can definitely be a lull in the action.

2) FIND THE THERMOCLINE
Anglers often overlook the value of the thermocline. Hands down, it’s one of the most important factors when looking to catch summer trout.

In any body of water, the thermocline is a zone of greatest temperature change. For those of us who aren’t scientists, all you need to know is the thermocline is a trout magnet. In summer, when surface temperatures can rise well above of 80 degrees, the thermocline is a sanctuary for trout because it harbors cooler water and food.

To elaborate, in the summer when the surface temperature might be 80 degrees throughout the first 15 feet of the water column, there’s a layer below the warm water. This layer is considered the middle layer -- or scientifically, the thermocline, that section of the water column that experiences a drastic drop in temperature. The thermocline is the smallest of the three layers in lakes, ponds and reservoirs, but will possess the widest range of temperature. The bottom layer harbors the coldest water and is consistent, like the upper layer. But the bottom layer doesn’t hold as many actively feeding trout as the thermocline does.