For those of you who have braved the cold windy days recently, hopefully you had some good fishing. I can only say for myself that overall fishing has been very good, albeit the fish are a little lethargic at times. Dead drift nymph techniques, and as the day warms up, combinations of soft hackles and nymphs have been the ticket. The Black and Silver spider l told you about last month has been doing great for one, so also the super midges in black and red.
Jan/Feb time can be some what hit and miss, so far as climatic conditions and water releases.
If the White and Norfork rivers are out, then try your luck on the Spring River. This river, with the exception of the water close to the stockers found at the hatchery outlet, is a class trout stream, but not the easiest of rivers to wade. But l can assure you it holds some very good fish.
Typically on this river you are going to look for the slots between the moss beds, and the riffle water zones. Make sure you take a wading staff with you. Dead drift with nymphs. San Juan worms, wet fly and soft hackles have for me accounted for many fine fish. You never know here if you will nail a 10 inch stock trout or some of the 2 to 5 lb fish that are to be found there, both Browns and Bows. The Spring River is, in my view, a much underestimated trout fishery.
Dry fly fishing on this river can also be the ticket if there is a hatch and fish are seen to be working the surface.
So far, there has been no sign of Shad as yet. Here again you never know when we will see that take place, so be prepared with flies that are likely to work at that time.
Lakes temps are still above the low 40s which is when we would expect to see a Shad kill. One of my friends fished the Norfork Lake at the weekend and did real well fishing for stripers, so here again there is a further option to fly fish if the rivers are out of order. I will be out there before too long, hook a 10 to 20 pound fish and certainly have a rod bent.
Spent the Christmas holiday with Dave and Emily Whitlock. Needless to say, we fished most days, not for trout but for Stripers and Black Bass. That was sure fun. Who says bass will not take a fly in cold water? l can assure you that they will. We were fishing in 35 f temperature. Top flies were Clouser minnows in various colors. For me the white blue and silver version was the killer, with the white and chartreuse a close second, fished on a sink tip line with slow strips and pauses.
I was asked a question yesterday by a fly fisher regarding how l deal with days when the fly line and guides freeze up. There are two answers here. The first is not to go fishing, the second is to fish short line techniques that reduce the wet fly line having to be pulled back through the guides, causing water to build up and then freeze. We all know that we can dunk the rod and line in the water to free the ice, but sooner is that done then it freezes up again. I know of one guy who takes a spray can of antifreeze, not sure how long hi fly line will last, but l guess it solves the problem at least for a while.
I know that there are some products out there that may have some use; however, l have not found that to be the case. I carry a dry cloth with me and wipe down water from the line and try to keep it as dry as possible. And limit the range that l fish.
What can we expect for the next month? It depends of water generations for one. Other than that we will not see much of a change until we see the warmer days of early spring or we see some activity from Shad. Low water will see chironomid hatches and some days BWO. Either way, low water conditions will provide plenty of options for wade fishing.
Black, Claret, and red flies typically work well during the cold winter periods, with the addition of silver ribbing. On days when we see more overhead light and overall brighter conditions GRHE and soft hackles that are more of a brown tone with gold ribbings will work well.
Tight lines for now and see you on the river.
Davy.
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