There's a reason "temperature" contains temper...
If you think you're going to go out and make your hay in sub-30 temperatures...think again. I think it's obvious to most seasoned anglers that fishing is going to be slower if you live in states like South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, or Colorado. Why? Because we have real winters! In all seriousness, with the water and air temperature being lower, fish are generally in a holding pattern. Their lies are either in deep pools or on the seams of the current. The slower moving water allows the fish to feed unadulterated and with little fear of a predator. And like most of us during the colder months, they're not going to move very far to eat. They'll spend the absolute least amount of energy possible. So, temper your expectations - some winter days will be better than others. Of, course you can be successful during the winter months....and below we'll tell ya how.
Keys to catching fish in cold weather...
We're going to keep this as short and simple as possible.
1. If it's legal, always fish a multi-fly rig. This will allow you to get into the water columns where fish are feeding.
2. Know your bugs. What's hatching? What's present in the stream at the current time? Having this knowledge will enable you to get the proper flies set up and ready for hungry trout.
3. Adjust depth and weight....A LOT. The difference between a good fly fisherman and a great one is usually a couple of split shots. Keep tinkering with your indicator and your tippet length to find out exactly where the fish are feeding. You can do everything right and skip this important piece....and I guarantee you'll be skipping a lot of hookups, too.
4. When in doubt, flip it back to your midges. Midges, especially in the winter months, consistently catch me fish - day in and day out. If I'm struggling....I'll always go back to a midge. In the area I live your go-to patterns are bubble backs, wd-40s (emerger), zebras, and mercury midges. Fool with the colors all you want - these patterns will put you on fish.
5. Be adept at reading the water and knowing your surroundings. You gotta collect that observational data. Get keen on knowing where fishy spots are. If you're hole hopping - you're hopping out of some bonus fish.
6. Get deep....FAST.
Data from today...
So, we're going to jump into the data from today. I'd love to share some pics from the 4 I put in the net today....unfortunately, I did a poor job with both the gopro and my phone. I do have a little (poor) footage that I"ll link up. Fisherman are notorious storytellers...
Here's what caught me fish. The first fish of the day was put in the net around 12:10 p.m. Weather at the time was cloudy with snow. Air temperature was a crisp 17 degrees. Water temp was hovering around 36. Obviously, it was cold. The fish snapped up an Umpqua "Euro Jig". It was funny because more often than not, you won't catch a ton of fish on your lead fly. Generally speaking, they'll nail your dropper. This 14" brownie took the lead fly and was safely released.
The second, third, and fourth fish were all caught on a mercury midge. I used a tandem fly setup all day. I'm not going to dive deep here, but these 3 were netted in the city park during the warmer part of the day - between 1:30 and 3pm. The fish varied in length at 13", 11", and 8", respectively.
We got a good start on our data collection today. With this information, we'll be able to plunk the numbers and environmental factors into our set and start moving. Obviously, there aren't enough data to spot serious trends yet. However, it's clear that the midges fared better than anything else.
We'll get back on the water again tomorrow. It's slated to be around 35 degrees. So, we'll see what happens. Until next time...
Check out this poorly executed clip from today:
Keep 'em wet,
MB
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