salvelinusfontinalis
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 7,284
Personally this is my favorite time of year. I can stalk so many species of fish. There is always so much chatter on the board about stocking. Positive and Negative, justified or not, there are places in PA that depend on stocking. Close to my home is such a stream and I haven't been fishing much as I recently purchased the other side of my farm so I lease it all now. Its a lot to handle let me tell you and a place close to escape to was a life saver.
Even still, I got really lucky because a guilty pleasure of mine as a big wild trout guy is large holdover stocked rainbows in spring creeks heading into the winter.
A aggressive brightly colored and hard hitting fish that will spool your line out a bit and it get the blood flowing. No Fireball needed in the cold.
This stream would be a waste otherwise.
Streamers, streamers , streamers. My time of year and
easy to predict when they will be active just wait for a warm up like Yesterday! A nice day during the winter will put the feed bag on these fish for sure. I used a small whitish cone head Muddler Minnow. White streamers always seems to get them going at least with a long rod in my hands.
This holdover stocked rainbow has a heron scar and missing fin. If you cant see the beauty in this fish here then you dont understand fly-fishing at all.
Either way, the winter is a peaceful quite time of year to fish. Not many people and when it snows........
even the crows go eerily dead silent.
Just get out there and do it your way. Stocked Trout, Big Wild Browns, Brook Trout.... doesn't matter.
Tail Wave Splash and Gone!
I hope people have noticed or at least appreciated that over the years I have gotten much better at landing fish on the edges of a creek and then getting some good pics in the water and letting the fish swim off. It has taken awhile but I believe my fish handling has really improved.
Its a worthwhile endeavor and if you haven't taken the time to really try, you should for the betterment of PA trout fishing. The fish are worth more than the perfect shot. I know people get blasted all the time and some people take it too far but everyone should really try to be gentle to our giants. They are delicate too.
IMO you can Create some interesting shots and angles when a fish never leaves the water. It forces you to do things you normally wouldn't. And guess what, Its better for the fishes lungs in the summer with more oxygen and in the winter it prevents freezing.
Saw a quote somewhere once. Dunno who said it or I would give credit but...
"I am compelled to wade in freezing water, endure nature's exquisite discomforts and its lonely humiliations - in order to purse the incredibly delicate creatures I revere."
Long and short of it. Get out fishing. Doesn't matter how and take a shot of Fireball if the nip gets ya.
Personally one thing I love is how PA rainbows brighten up in very cold water. I swear they do.
Back to work now. 2 kids and a farm are calling, until the river beckons again.....
