Winter Fishing: A Winter Wonderland
by Richard Babine
When the ambient temperature is hovering just above 30 degrees, the sight of an occasional snowflake flies past your nose and the water temperature has lowered to 40 degrees, congratulations you've arrived to the position of hardcore angler.
The quiet buzz of aquatic insect life with the usual chaotic flight patterns on a warm summer's evening are but a distant memory. It appears that all the emerging activities, floating duns and falling spinners have disappeared on this cold winter's day. But guess what? This is not the case at all.
What the angler doesn't see on the water's surface is made up in triplicate at the bottom of the water column. In the winter months, the insect life in both flowing and still waters is actually quite abundant. In fact, the abundance of aquatic nymphs and larvae is typically greater in the winter than in summer or late fall. This unseen activity is simply the result of the emergence schedules of the various aquatic insects that we hold so dearly in the warmer months of summer and early fall.
Because mature nymphs and pupa emerge with regularity throughout the spring, summer and fall, the numbers of nymphs, larvae and pupa is depleted by the time the seasonal emergence cycles cease. The eggs laid during the summer, won't begin to hatch into nymph and larvae until fall.
By the time the snow starts to fly, however, a whole new generation of aquatic insects, are swimming, burrowing, crawling and clinging to various sub-surface structures and aquatic plant life. Even as the temperatures reach freezing, these new generational insects are actively feeding and growing. Plus, there are the chironomids that will hatch year round and some only during the winter months.
Just like the fish, the temperature will dictate your fishing activity. In the morning you are presented with the coldest water and ambient temperatures of the day. Because both insects and fish are cold-blooded, winter mornings are not times of heavy activity. But even the slightest rise in temperature, from the warming rays of sun, will start some insect and fish activity. During this period, the fish's primary food source will be these immature nymphs and larvae that are available on the bottom, plus anything that looks tasty drifting along the currents.
To determine what species those morsels may be, take the time to collect some specimens in your sampling net and see what the prominent insect wriggling in your net is. That particular species is a good choice to imitate and fished along the bottom. Check also to see any mature nymphs that appear to be ready to emerge because this finding will change the tactics to include fishing just below the surface.
Nymph fishing on a cold winter's morning will certainly hone your skills for nymph fishing at the other times of the year.
Remember that because of the slower metabolism of winter fish, the takes are very much softer and subtler than ever, and the fish will not go out of its way to take your fly. Fish will seldom move more than two feet to intercept an offering because the energy to get the meal would be more than the reward of getting it. In other words, maximum gain with minimal effort! This situation requires the use of a strike indicator and short accurate casts. Remember that if you find that the situation requires a sub-surface approach, grease up the tippet several inches above the fly. This will create a floating leader and slightly submerged emerging nymph.
Without question, the best time to be on the winter's water is between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. By the time noon arrives, both air and water temperatures have risen, the fish are more active, and if there are any insects to hatch, they will usually start between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. One huge advantage of winter fishing is that there are so few insects emerging, there is usually only one prominent species on the water to identify.
In the winter, Maine's waters offer only three major consistent insect hatches when the weather turns cold: Chironomids (midges), winter Stoneflies, and the Blue Winged Olives. Of the three, the chironomid pupa, which drifts slowly up to the surface, is often the most productive. If you notice pupa in the surface film, then grease up and fish accordingly. Because of the harsh environment, many chironomid species will be stillborn or die as a result of trying to escape the pupal shuck and end up floating in or on the surface film. This will allow you to match the hatch and tie on a dry fly
Chironomid Tactics: Use a Griffiths Gnat size 14 as a lone or primary fly and then tie on a piece of 6X tippet material 18 inches in length, to which a size 18 Serendipity is attached as a dropper fly. This way, you can fish both on and slightly below surface at the same time. The only other consistently producing chironomid pattern is the pupa, which can be fished both just below the surface and dragged along the bottom.
Winter Stonefly Tactics: This nymph is small and dark brown or black. The females are often wingless. After mating on the riverbank, the female will either crawl or fly back to the river to lay the eggs. Most will end up caught in the water's surface; so dry stonefly imitations in sizes 14 through 18 will tease most winter fish.
Blue Winged Olive (BWO) Tactics: Small Nymphal patterns work well until the mature insects head for the surface. Use sizes 14 through 18 dark Beaded, Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear Nymphs. As you observe the adult activity increasing, switch to the emerging or dry fly patterns that are of the same size and color because both can vary from water to water and even week-to-week.
If your fishing in areas that see a lot of spawning activity, then add some egg patterns to your box ie; Roe Bugs, Babine's Special and so on.
**NOTES**
As soon as the suns warming rays fall below the horizon, you'll notice a sharp drop in the water temperature, insect activity, and fish that are active. Pack your things and go home to a warm house, your day is over. If you haven't observed spinner falls and other egg laying activity, it probably won't occur until tomorrow.
**A Final Three Tips**
First, in the late fall and early winter, the air is often very dry and this will greatly effect hatching insects. Dryness causes a great deal more stress for the struggling adult insects trying to avoid dehydration. For unknown reasons, nymphs seem to know when the humidity is at a survivable percentage and will actively hatch during wet, overcast days, especially during a rain or snowfall. Therefore, don't always wait for a bright sunny day to spend on the water. An overcast snowy spell may provide just the right conditions for some hot fishing on a cold day.
Second, Hatch activity in the winter, when it occurs, will often result in a very short period of time. Of course, this means that you must be in the right place at the right time in order to take advantage of the brief opportunity.
Being the first angler on the water doesn't matter in the winter but you don't want to be having lunch during the only hour of possible hatching activity either.
Third, spend a little time in the water looking for the most prominent insect life before you tackle-up. Many anglers assume that fish aren't selective during the winter and that any buggy-looking offering will work. Remember that I mentioned that insect activity peaks in the late fall and winter months. Also during that class on entomology, you learned that some insects have a multiple season life cycle, so they are crawling around the bottom with the next generation insects. Turn a few rocks and small boulders, use a seine net or anything else that will give you a handle on what's down there and which imitation will imitate the size, color and shape of the most prominent species. Use this imitation in the best holding water that you can find.
Finally, don't expect to see lots of rising fish or have them chasing your flies across the water. Successful winter fishing requires patience, careful observation, and good casting with equally good presentation techniques. If you are successful during these cold days, then you will really shine in the spring and summer months.
