Winter fishing tips

[5footfenwick]

Yeah. I’m mostly a small stream guy, and they take a little longer in the Spring to turn on. I’ve taken days off in April before in what I thought would be good conditions, but still struggled more often than not…cold water. I do like fishing Hendricksons on the larger limestoners…fun to catch fish during the daylight hours, as opposed to the later season mayflies which are usually a dusk, or later deal. But, I’m satisfied with doing that on weekends. I want my vacation days for the Summer and Fall. Ideally after a good rain.

I shoot for good fishing to start the first thunderstorm in May. I’m no expert at anything by any means, but I do know this event triggers brook trout to turn on from early May and then they stay turned on untill mid October. I’m with you Swattie. I used to take vacations in March and April a lot when I was younger. However, the small stream fishing just never really pays off this time of year.

One year 3 of us took a 10 day backpacking trip in mid March. It was our “spring break,” When we started there was several feet of snow. By the end it was 50 degrees and we were wearing t-shirts. Unfortunately all that snow melt blew out the tiny creeks with ice water. 3 trout were landed in 10 days by 3 guys. Pretty discouraging. Still fun, but I think expectations need to be adjusted for the colder water.

~ 5footfenwick

 

[dryflyguy]

I'm most comfortable fishing with air temps above 50.
However, will do it when its in the 40s.

With air temps in the 30's, I'lll only be on the water if fish are rising.
And am able to catch a few between breaks to warm up the fingers.

When its cold enough to ice up the fly line, I'm done.

 

[Kms]

So, one of the first things that I would buy if was going to do very much winter fishing today would be to invest in the best available Hotronic foot warmers.

Stay safe and be comfortable, and the several hundred dollars that you’d spend for a pair of them might not be worth their weight in gold…but they’d certainly be worth their weight in steel. 🐟

Maybe not as good a Hotronic, but still pretty effective and far less expensive. This is the manufacturer of “Snow Deer” heated socks.

Heated Gloves, Socks, Clothing, Hats

SAVIOR Heat is Concentrating on Producing the Best Outdoor Heated Goods. Our extensive product range includes heated gloves, heated clothing, heated socks, heated hat, and more.

saviorheat.com

I picked up socks for myself and my wife and daughter, and also grabbed a pair of gloves on clearance. So far everything works well and warms up for several hours.

This old 25% off code below still works and drops the price for a pair of socks to ~$40, or two for $80 with free shipping. I figured that’s worth it just to have an extra set of batteries.

SAVIORHEATED

 

[ryansheehan]

The best advice for fishing in sub-zero weather is: Don't.

The best advice for winter fishing more generally is to go on mild days when the temperatures go over 40F.

Agreed, I hate seeing other people on the river.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Fish live in water. All the old adages you might hear about fishing between 10 and 2, fish only when it's over 40 degrees, etc. are all great advice for the fisherman's comfort in the winter.

If you are fishing tailwaters, spring creeks, limestoners near springs, then water temperature is the primary thing to worry about.

Even in the winter, brown trouts especially are still crepuscular, so you may be surprised how good fishing is before 9 AM some mornings. You may also plan to fish 10 to 2 and then not catch a thing until 3:30 PM when the sun dips below the horizon (too true my last couple of outings that were mostly a 3 hour walk in the woods for 1 hour of productive fishing).

Wind sucks but a calm 35 degrees can be awesome, especially if conditions have been stable for a couple days.

Feeding windows may be shorter on cold days, so lower your expectations and stay sharp for that 90 minutes of fishing between casting practice.

Just to pile on the article and @Bamboozle and others' points about tenkara: mono rig is your friend in temps below 35 degrees.

Go fishing. Or don't. I love it when the only others I see are stir crazy dogs walking their owners in the snow.

 

[Nocktavius]

If you’re waiting till May, you’ve already missed 1/2 of the hatch season including those where the trout are most gullible. Hendos started this past season in late March.

 

[dryflyguy]

If you’re waiting till May, you’ve already missed 1/2 of the hatch season including those where the trout are most gullible. Hendos started this past season in late March.

True
But the reason hatches are getting earlier and earlier, is because winters have been a lot milder than usual.
I've been starting to fish middle February lately

 

[Swattie87]

If you’re waiting till May, you’ve already missed 1/2 of the hatch season including those where the trout are most gullible. Hendos started this past season in late March.

You’re right. But hatch matching matters little on small streams. If flows are decent and the water is relatively warm, say above 50F or so, any reasonable middle of the road attractor offerings will work fine. Even for Browns.

I do fish and enjoy the early season hatches on the bigger streams, on weekends, or days I’d otherwise be off work. I’m just not willing to burn a vacation day to do that. I’d rather save them for small stream fishing over the Summer.

 

[Nocktavius]

True
But the reason hatches are getting earlier and earlier, is because winters have been a lot milder than usual.
I've been starting to fish middle February lately

Yeah that’s definitely a major component of it. I’d say I’m about the same in terms of seriously fishing but I’ll get out every week or two until then (and haven’t put the rods away yet). just can’t imagine being so dogmatic in electing to miss the BWO, blue quill, hendo, quill Gordon, grannom, and most of the MB hatch. By the time the invarias start that’s practically the end of the season on a lot of our less limestone or tailwater influenced waterways

 

[wgmiller]

This is pretty much where I’m at for Winter fishing. Below freezing, I find something else to do. I know it can be done, but I’ve done it enough to know that it’s just not that fun. For me anyway.

Generally a high of at least 40 is what I’m looking for. Though, I will fish between 32 and 40, if I have cabin fever bad enough. A lot of years it seems like the warmups are during the work week, with a cold front coming Friday and knocking temps below freezing for the weekend. If that happens long enough and you catch a Saturday or Sunday above freezing, but below 40, I’ll still go.

Likewise. Kudos to those of you who are willing to go out when temps are below freezing - particularly well below freezing. My bottom range is in the low 30s anymore and any colder I'll work on my fly boxes or house projects. I will say that winter fishing does offer a sense of solitude that can't be found any other time of the year - particularly when it snows. If you can grind out the elements you can have some real Zen experiences.

 

[dudemanspecial]

I went fishing yesterday. So did everyone else.

I decided to go to central PA instead of dealing with the crowds up at Erie. Of course there wasn't nearly the amount of people fishing where I went but there was enough to make it tough with the way fish hold this time of year. Every pull off on the Little J had at least 2 trucks with 4 foot long beds with rod vaults mounted to the top parked in them.

Was nice to get out though.

Also, for some reason when I see vehicles with rod vaults it triggers some kind of negative response in me. Does this mean I am getting old and grumpy?

 

[Swattie87]

I went fishing yesterday. So did everyone else.

I decided to go to central PA instead of dealing with the crowds up at Erie. Of course there wasn't nearly the amount of people fishing where I went but there was enough to make it tough with the way fish hold this time of year. Every pull off on the Little J had at least 2 trucks with 4 foot long beds with rod vaults mounted to the top parked in them.

Was nice to get out though.

Also, for some reason when I see vehicles with rod vaults it triggers some kind of negative response in me. Does this mean I am getting old and grumpy?

It’s a good thing that most of the FFing populous in PA thinks there are only four wild Trout streams worth fishing. Plus maybe an handful of Erie tribs and a few CV limestone springs. Let’s keep it that way.

 

[wildtrout2]

You’re right. But hatch matching matters little on small streams. If flows are decent and the water is relatively warm, say above 50F or so, any reasonable middle of the road attractor offerings will work fine. Even for Browns.

This is almost verbatim what I was going to post. I never start fishing before May, and sometimes will even wait until June if stream temps dictate. I don't see a true hatch very often at all on the freestones I fish. Much more the exception, rather than the rule.

 

[Swattie87]

This is almost verbatim what I was going to post. I never start fishing before May, and sometimes will even wait until June if stream temps dictate. I don't see a true hatch very often at all on the freestones I fish. Much more the exception, rather than the rule.

I’ve seen a few big Hendrickson hatches on small freestone streams before, but the fish didn’t care. Couldn’t catch a fish on dries those days to save my life…cold water.

While backpack camping by small streams in the Summer, usually camping by a nice pool (one in particular referred to as “The Pool” - 😉), I have noticed there to be an increase in fish surface activity right at dusk, like you’d expect on the bigger streams, but it’s more of a bug soup kind of deal, with no real significant numbers of any one bug in particular. By observation, I’d say Yellow and Lime Sallies are what I see the most of, but maybe that’s just because they’re easier to see and identify in low light. But again, matching the hatch matters very little on small streams. 90% of the dries in my small stream box are high floating attractors of some kind.

 

[dudemanspecial]

Let’s keep it that way.

That's why I didn't mention my first stop. I never talk about anything other than the name brand stuff on here.

I do love me some Little J and Penns though. I can always find open water on them, but I don't stray too far from the parking lot this time of year. I wear my heavy bootfoot neoprene waders in cold water and I dont like hiking in them.

 

[redietz]

Fish live in water. All the old adages you might hear about fishing between 10 and 2, fish only when it's over 40 degrees, etc. are all great advice for the fisherman's comfort in the winter.

If you are fishing tailwaters, spring creeks, limestoners near springs, then water temperature is the primary thing to worry about.

Not just the fisherman's comfort. The water will be warmer in the early afternoon, meaning that's when more bugs are likely to be present, and when he fish are most active. As you can see from the graph below, water temp between night and afternoon varies by about 3 1/2 degrees on a tailwater. The variation on a freestone is even higher.

And those temps were taken in a shaded part of the river. If you can find a shallow, slow moving part of the stream that's open to the sunlight mid-day on a 40 degree day (places you's rightly ignore in the summer)the water will be warmer still, and you'll find fish feeding. I'm saying this from 30+ years of winter fishing on the tailwater above (which only has wild brown trout) I catch far more trout in well lit water than any where else in the stream, and only mid day.

 

[Bamboozle]

In regards to hatch matching on small streams...

On topic - In winter I am fishing beadhead or soft-hackle flies 100% of the time until I come up with a reason to try something else. Dry flies are fun but for me, the subsurface stuff is more productive and less fussy, therefore easier to fish.

Off topic - What I need/works really depends on WHERE the small stream is located. When I fish Tenkara locally and in the Poconos, I carry one 3" Wheatley fly box that is barely full. In that box are mostly beadhead attractor nymphs, soft hackles a few Tenkara Kebari flies and a very small smattering of attractor dry flies.

If I am fishing conventionally at the same places, I carry one 4" Wheatley fly box that is barely full with more of the same including dry flies but mostly generic EWC and Humpies.

HOWEVER, when I fish small streams in North Central, PA I have my Richardson Box because I've encountered many hatches including Green Drakes and other big stuff on some really, really small creeks.

I'm not saying a Humpy wouldn't catch fish on Creek X in Potter during a Green Drake hatch or spinnerfall; but I feel a whole lot more confident knowing I got the hatch matching stuff in my Richardson. 😉