Too hot for trout fishing? Beat the heat with these 5 summer fly-fishing challenges

#4  GET DEEP

Fishing stillwater during summer is the perfect opportunity to finally try the most underused tool in Canadian fly fishing—sinking line. In rivers, the current helps sink flies, but on lakes, even weighted patterns only get down a couple of feet. Unless you’ve got the patience to let your fly sink for about five minutes after every cast, you need different gear.

If you’re reluctant to buy an entirely new line, you can opt for a sinking leader, such as Rio Products’ VersiLeader or an Airflo Polyleader (above), for about $15. These loop on to a floating line, turning it into a decent approximation of a sinking one. Sinking gear is awkward to cast at first, but hang in there. Quicky getting your fly down four, six or eight feet opens up a new world.