Winter Fishing Tips from Colorado Parks & Wildlife

 

Brad Bryant enjoying some fall fishing at a Denver Metro lake. Brad caught this awesome bass using a jig. 

Midges

Thanksgiving provides an excellent mark of when anglers need to set their sights on winter fishing. For many, they gear up for the ice fishing season, while other anglers are thinking about winter fly fishing. Winter fly fishing is dramatically different than hitting the river in the spring, summer, or early fall. The bitter cold, ice clad banks, and mounding snow are enough to make me think twice before heading out. For those anglers that are able to bare the elements, they will be rewarded with beautiful landscapes, little angler pressure, and hungry fish. One of the best ways to be successful catching winter trout is fishing midges. Midges are small mosquito like insects that hatch year-round. Fishing with midge patterns is fairly straight forward. There are three life stages that midge patterns imitate, larvae, pupa, and adult. Larvae patterns are small, simple patterns that are fished deep near the riverbed to imitate the early life stage. The pupa pattern is a larger and more complex fly that is fished in the water film or just below the surface. The adult stage pattern is a typical dry fly presented on the surface of the water. Regardless of the stage, midge flies are typically very small (#18-24) and require a couple extra considerations. Such a small fly needs a similarly thin tippet (5x or higher) to be discrete as possible. Likewise, the small size makes it difficult for anglers to identify a strike on even a dry fly. Anglers will need an indicator to catch the slight strikes typically associated with midge fishing. Although patterns of all three stages can be successful, many anglers utilize the pupa pattern while winter fishing. A simple dead-drift just below the water surface is an effective way to attract trout. Pupa and adult stage patterns are particularly productive in the late morning and early afternoons on sunny winter days. 

Patience

One of the greatest lessons I have learn from fishing has been patience. It is a lesson that I learned as a child and have been constantly reminded throughout adulthood. Whether trolling, retrieving a spoon, or fly fishing, anglers need to have the ability to withstand the lulling action that we all experience. When I was young I assumed that to be patient was to simply wait. I've come to think about patience as more than sitting idly until the magic moment when a fish strikes. Patient fishing is an active process of observing, learning, and acquainting oneself with the rhythms of the ecosystem around them. I remember the first time I noticed birds swooping down over the river hinted at the start of a new hatch. Or the importance of sitting and studying the water to see if fish are rising or what bugs may be flying around before rigging up my fly rod. Through a process of patient observing and learning, anglers become better equipped to know when to call it quits, move onto another location, change a lure or fly, or simply to go home. 

https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Catch-of-the-Week.aspx