Streamer Fishing on the First Day of Winter

It was the winter solstice, fall was officially over. It seems like it hasn’t been above freezing since Thanksgiving. But today, it was supposed to hit 36 degrees. With such a heat wave going on I decided it was my chance to get out and do some fly fishing. What’s more, it was overcast and a storm was coming in…perfect.

I put on my heavy fleece socks under my waders. I put on my light fleece jacket with my heavier fleece jacket over it so I could unzip the outer one if I got too hot. I put on my baseball hat, knowing I could put on the hood of my jacket if the wind started blowing. Of course, I put on my polarized sun glasses. Even though it was overcast, with the bright white snow the glasses were needed.

The snow was eight inches deep so I followed in the boot prints that previous fishermen had left. After a few steps I noticed I wasn’t the only one with that idea. There were raccoon footprints inside each of the boot prints. There were also rabbit footprints headed in the other direction. It is sure peaceful and quiet being out on the snow. With snow caked on my felt soled shoes I was very careful climbing the ladder going over the fence to cross the field to the river. There were no other fishermen on the river and no vehicles parked at any of the access points.

At home I had tied on a large streamer that the Trout Bum II fly shop had recommended the previous fall. It is about four inches long, green on back, white on bottom with a red throat – just like a little rainbow. I crimped on a small split shot just above the fly to help it sink.

Casting across stream as close to the far bank as possible I twitched the streamer across stream as the current took it down stream. With this presentation, the streamer’s full silhouette is seen by the trout as the trout face upstream and the fly is pointed across stream. This also allows the fish to hit the intended prey head first with the intention of swallowing the minnow head first. If the fish were to swallow the minnow tail first the gills and fins would get caught in its throat and it would choke.

I headed downstream, recasting every couple of feet. This is a lot faster fishing than the nymph fishing that I usually do. If a large fish is in the area, it will take it. After about fifteen minutes I reached a portion of the stream that had a little side eddy. This side eddy consisted of slower turning water with fast water right next to it. I cast into the eddy within inches of the bank and began stripping in. A fish immediately took the streamer and leaped out of the water. It headed into the fast water and started taking me downstream. After a few minutes I had the fish next to the shore. I put the rod under my arm and lifted the fish onto the snow. It was a nice brown, 18 inches long. On its side it had the most peculiar perfectly round red spots with white halos. The trout lay still while I took a couple of pictures but sure hurried off when I placed it back in the water. What a great start of the winter season.