Thursday, February 14, 2013

WINTER TROUT FISHING TECHNIQUES

22 inch female Rainbow caught on a size 22 trico Christmas eve.
UPDATE. FEB 19TH PEQUEST RIVER CAUGHT 2 TROUT TOTALING.. 7 AND A  HALF POUNDS!! 19 1/4"  2.15 LBS MALE..25 1/2"  5.45 LBS FEMALE BOTH RAINBOWS

The short days of winter can be brightened by a trip to your favorite river or creek so long as the weather is warming a bit. This can be a great time to hook and play trout. Just like us trout have to eat EVERY DAY!
As winter goes on, we all fish much less then we want to, in fact most of us don't fish at all.
That should not be. I fish whenever I can, and find fish are willing to bite just about every trip out.
They don't always bite but that's fishing. Its nice just to be casting a fly anyway and fishing is like the lottery,
"YA GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT"  I have heard guys say there is not enough food for trout to eat all winter and they have to wait until spring to start feeding again, living only on their fat reserves.
I am not a fisheries biologist, but many fly guys talk like they are. I find that trout do feed all winter because I,m out there fishing. Sure, some days you cant see anything going on as far as a hatch, but I still can get a few bites on Prince or Pheasant tail nymphs. Other days Trout will  come to the top for blue winged olives and trico flies but that can  sometimes last only a little while as warm temps cool fast in winter and the hatch will likely be sparse. Most of my fishing is with bead head nymphs this time of year. Dry fly fishing is slow but can be pretty good some days.
25 1/2 INCHES 5.45 LBS FEMALE RAINBOW PHOTO TAKEN THE NEXT DAY
  
Don't forget to use a streamer as trout will swim right out of a safe place to get a big meal. Sculpins and Dace minnows are still in the rivers and creeks in the winter and trout will dash out to eat them. You may find that you have to cast over and over before a hookup, big trout get pissed when you bombard them with casts but they will crush the fly sooner or later, just on Principle. Change colors, rabbit fur is best I find, leach flies and so on. Zonker flies work great for this. Just keep working each run then move on to the next and sooner or later the line will go tight. For Steamer fishing I like to use a sink tip line.RIO DC 150, this keeps the streamer down near the bottom and will get more strikes. I find that my largest trout will be on Streamers. With nymphs I can often catch more in numbers but not always in pounds. Streamers, maybe only three all day  but 7lbs or more in fish.      NOW ITS 2 FISH...  ALL DAY!  

      
 SAME FISH THE NIGHT I CAUGHT HER. ALL FINS FILLED IN PERFECT, IN THE RIVER A LONG TIME SHE WAS
 

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