It’s still really cold. Saturday’s high is 12 degrees. But I’ll be fishing Wednesday and Thursday next week and I bet a few other will get out as well. The rivers have stayed pretty open for the most part, with one really cold overnight creating some surface ice in spots. Still, some brave souls ventured forth this past week and even came away with a few trout. There’s no great trick to this winter fishing. You have to fish deep, you have to fish slow, and the trout feed best whenever the warmest part of the day is, or just on the other side of it. I’ve had many a winter day that ended with a bang. Most memorable, I think, was a grand February rainbow on a size 18 beadhead sparkle midge. It was a cold and snowy dusk and I was a long way from the truck. It was an easy wade back upstream after that fish.
Miles with a fine winter trout
We are gearing up for tying season which, in my mind, begins after the New Year. That said, the experimental flies are being tied now and will get tested this summer. I just got off the phone with Lance and we’ve got one cooking that I think is going to be a winner. Again, time will tell. The flies that passed the test this past summer are in production and we’ll feature a few on our YouTube page after the New Year. I’ve got my nymph tying stuff set out and if I get the time I’m going to tie one and fish it next week. It’s gratifying to go out and catch a trout on a fresh fly. It’s like eating a great tomato from the garden. It’s that good. If you haven’t felt that before, we’ll hope you’ll come tie some flies with us this winter on January and February Saturdays (starting January 10th) from 9 am – 1 pm.
