We are still in the grips of winter with cold snaps, shelf ice and sleepy fish. But after not fishing for a few weeks and being at home nearly all the time, I decided to think less about Saturday’s weather forecast and just go for it.
It was fishin’ time!
It was a lot of driving and a lot of work for just three fish, but it was so great to see them. I had to fight some wind but it wasn’t too cold. And I didn’t cross paths with any other anglers.
The trout were at classic winter lies: some depth to the water and some current but not too much. And there was no “hot fly”. The three patterns that took fish were a #20 Midge pupa, a #16 Stonefly (in the middle photo above) and a #16 immature Hendrickson nymph.
But the common technique was tightlining on an all-mono rig. I didn’t want to deal with iced guides.
The Midge was on a drop-shot rig, as I was wondering if pressured fish try to avoid nymphs with beads. The unweighted Stonefly trailed a black Euro jig streamer (cast quarter-down) and I occasionally pulsed the tandem team up and down.
The Hendrickson was also on a drop-shot rig, paired with a small split shot meant to get flies down into a sharp drop-off and avoid snags. The spot looked fishy as anything and just seemed to beg for some drifts.
The best news was that I saw a few quarter-inch Stoneflies crawling on the ice. That’s a great sign that we are turning the corner.
It’s been an unusual winter in many ways, and I’m looking forward to spring!
great job and nice reward by the looks of it
Thanks, Bob! I’ve been blanked plenty of times in winter. I think I was lucky and intersected with some Stonefly activity….
Props for getting out, Jo. I got out a couple of times in January, but haven’t been out in a few weeks. Both trips in January yielded one trout each, but I was satisfied to catch them in the mid 30’s water. Both trout came on a Gartside Sparrow, a fly which I have been having some success with for a couple of years now.
Regards, Sam
Nicely done, Sam!