Tips for winter trout fishing?

[captmike]

Hi all,

I fish the cape ponds in the winter and just started fishing some of the trout stocked ponds. I had a lot of success in november/december and march last year fishing wooly buggers on an 6 wt intermediate line and of course soaking night crawlers under a float and on the bottom. In January and February I struggled to get much. I resorted to fishing inflated nightcrawlers on the bottom but even there I struggled to catch perch let alone the trout. Obviously these are the worst months of the year but I know guys are catching them!:-%

[Fish Farmer]

I've had good luck with smelt or shiners on a tip up. Should work with a float on open winter water too.
Many of those Cape kettle ponds are loaded with springs. If you are familiar with spring locations giv'em a try. The cold spring water of summer can be the warm spring water of winter.
Good luck.

And, oh yeah, the "W" word is still taboo.

[MKDeceiver]

Change that intermediate to a full sinking and barely move the fly!

[captmike]

sounds good

[gseries69]

Most insect species are dormant that time of year and the trouts metabolism has slowed considerably. Also, if the water is open and the temp is low, oxygen will be mixed through out the water column giving the fish more livable water then when it's stratified during ice over or summer months.

Two tactics I would try:

First: Look for hatching chronomids. They will be one of the few active insect species during winter. They ascend to the surface very slowly so they do not require a lot of energy from the trout to catch. They also tend to hatch in large quantities giving the trout the right mix of energy consumed versus energy expended. Since the water is not stratified, try placing 2-3 patterns matching size and color of the naturals (depending on state regs) at different intervals on your leader from the bottom to a few feet below the surface. The longer leader you can cast the better. If the water is clear as it usually is in winter, get as close to bottom as possible, say 6". Place an indicator on the leader and simply cast out and let the flies suspend. If the water holds leaches, try using a small leach pattern as the bottom fly. Leaches suspend themsleves in a vertical position when at rest. Small mohair leaches with a gold bead work well. This will all be done on a floating line. If you see fish rising that time of year, they are almost 100% on midges.

Second: A slowly stripped streamer on a full sink line can entice strikes. The key is to try different speeds. The colder the water, the slower the retrieve is a general rule I would follow. Don't just use bait fish patterns. Green Darner dragon flies and Gomphus live several years in the nymphal stage so they will also be active, green darner more so then gomphus.

[captmike]

Thanks for the help guys trout and perch keep me from losing my mind in the winter

[jeffsod]

That is some great detailed advice gseries69