Winter Brookies

[IneFishent]

Fished some new water today since the weather has been pretty mild this winter. The water looked exceptionally fishy however I did not catch or see a single brookie. Do natives tend to hide as the weather gets colder? The air temps stayed right around 32 degrees today so I am wondering if it would be worth a second look in the spring.

 

[Swattie87]

There was a pretty significant drop in temperature today from the past few days. Today is the coldest day in a couple of weeks probably. That could easily be enough to put them off or slow down their feeding for the time being.

In general I’ve found Brookies are more consistent, or at least less sensitive to changes in temperature when it comes to their feeding than Browns. That said, today’s drop in temperature was pretty significant.

 

[pabrookie94]

I too fished today as well as yesterday and found the brookies to take flies however they often required a few more drifts than usual.

 

[Cornholio]

They slow down some during winter, but you can still catch them. Fishing is best when the water is warming, even if it is just a fraction of a degree. If the water temp is dropping or has dropped quickly it can be a little more difficult.

 

[BrooksAndHooks]

stay out of my streams

they can be finicky in winter but with the weather we are having you should catch some. you fishing some of the new class As released up your way?

 

[jifigz]

I was just out on one of my brookie streams the other day. They were very willing biters. Stealth and a low profile were a key to success as the streams were so low and clear. The best way to coax them was with a dry and dropper rig. I did land one on the dry, but it was basically a "bobber" (oh no! Not a bobber.) Given how low the water was though I find it hard to nymph a stream without the "bobber." The nymph was tied maybe 5" off of the bend of a big Ausable Wulff. The stream was down to a trickle and there were lots of brookiesw spread throughout the stream, with the bigger fish in the better holding water.