Catching Trout on Small Streams in Winter

A Wisconsin winter brown

As any reader of this blog will know. I'm obsessed with fishing small streams. Fortunately for me, small streams fish well throughout winter, so long as you time your trips well. Due to their high surface area to volume ratio, small streams react very quickly to changes in ambient temperature and sunlight. While a medium to large trout stream like the Quinapoxet will typically stay between 32 and 35 F all winter long, a small stream can easily hit 45 F on a warm winter day. My personal "magic number" for deciding whether to fish in the winter is 38 F. Although this is arbitrary, and fish can definitely be caught at lower temps, I've found this to be a good dividing line. If, based on stream gauges and weather forecasts, I don't think my target stream will hit 38, I don't go. A few tips for winter small stream fishing:

A Massachusetts winter brown 

Watch the weather.  As I mentioned above, weather conditions are critical for winter small stream success. I pay attention to three factors in particular - forecasted high temperature, previous nightly low temperature, and cloud cover. Here's why:

• High temperature - This one is pretty self-explanatory. The higher the air temperature, the higher the water temperature, and the higher the water temperature, the more likely you'll catch some fish. There is one thing to be mindful of when looking at the high temperature - if there's snow on the ground, a warm day will lead to a lot of melt. The snow melt will average about 32 F, so it will actually bring the water temperature down on these days.


• Low temperature - This is important due to the same surface area to volume ration I mentioned earlier. The same characteristic that causes streams to warm quickly also causes them to cool quickly. This means that a cold night will bring the stream all the way down to 32F. Because winter days are short, there isn't much time for the sun to act on the stream and warm it, so even a very warm day is unlikely to raise stream temperatures enough after a cold night. Fishing can actually be better on a colder day if the previous night's temperature didn't drop too low. One of my best days last winter came on a day with a high of only 38, but a previous nightly low of 36. 


• Cloud cover. Cloudy days help fishing for two reasons. One is snow melt - as I mentioned above, snow melt will drive water temperatures down. The brightness of the sun is a HUGE factor in snow melt. A sunny day around freezing will actually lead to more snow melt than a cloudy day in the 40s. The other benefit of cloud cover is less spooky fish. Because there are no leaves on the trees in winter, plenty of direct sunlight reaches the stream. This makes trout in the open very visibile, and therefore vulnerable to predation. They know they're at risk, so they'll tend to hide near undercut banks or log jams on sunny days. The sun also means that you, the angler, casts hard shadows on the stream, increasing your risk of spooking fish. So, a cloudy day means the fish are going to be easier to find and easier to fish to without spooking. Win-win!

Summing it all up - So, how do you leverage your knowledge of the weather into a successful day on the stream? Pay attention to the weather for a few days prior - ideally the weather will be warm and sunny if there's snow, or warm and cloudy if there is snow. Fish in the warmest part of the day - typically the best fishing will be from 10 AM to 2 PM. Be prepared for failure - winter fishing can be hit or miss. Catching any fish means it's a successful day.

 A winter Salter brook trout

Flies 

Now that you know what weather conditions to look out for, what flies should you use? My favorite winter fly is an unweighted size 12 black wooly bugger. Because these streams are fairly shallow, you don't need weight to get to the fish. In fact, a weighted fly will likely lead to more snags and casting trouble than it's worth.

 I almost always fish downstream in winter, as it allows me to hang the fly in the current and gently guide it to any sections of the water I'm fishing. Why? Trout won't move much for a fly in winter, so you need to get the fly right in front of them. While a dry fly floating down the center of the stream will attract a fish from any section of the stream in summer, winter fishing requires much more precision in presentation.

Though streamers are my favorite flies, nymphs can work too. Because I find it hard to get a good drift with a nymph in pocket water, I typically avoid nymphs for all but the largest, slowest pools. That being said, I like to challenge myself and I'm going to try to catch more small stream trout on nymphs this winter.

A beautiful winter day on the stream - no fish were caught on this day, but the trip was absolutely worthwhile.

Attitude

Fishing in winter can be tough, but remember, the point of fishing is to have fun. Go in with low expectations of catching  fish and you'll be much more satisfied than if you expect to catch a ton. Appreciate the beauty of a stream in winter - for me there's nothing better than spotting the bright red streak of a cardinal or the emerald boughs of a hemlock against a backdrop of snow.