Winter flies

[ryguyfi]

I have still yet to do much winter fishing besides steelhead. What flies do you guys tie for winter trout?

 

[jaybo41]

Most of my winter fishing success has been on: Black Stones, PT Nymphs, BHHE in olive and natural, buggers, caddis pupa, and midges--zebra in black, olive, grey and of course griffith's gnats. Eggs have also proven productive too.

 

[jayL]

I spend a majority of my time on limestone streams in the cold months, so keep that in mind when reading my suggestions.

My staple fly is a walt's worm. I use it for weight, and use it as part of nearly every tandem. I catch more fish on this stupidly simple fly in the winter than anything else.

I will usually fish it with any of the following:

zebra midge
(tiny) pheasant tail
dark bugger
san juan
hare's ear
and of course, scuds and cress bugs.

I will also throw stoneflies on streams with good populations of them.

As the winter wears on, I'll start throwing more sucker spawns and egg patterns. I'll also be sure to have BWO patterns (nymphs, emergers, adults) in my box by late january.

Also carry midge dries.

I'm sure there's more, but those are my staples.

 

[mute]

As JayL said, Walts worm, zebra midges, simple thread midges, als rat in a few variations, etc. The smaller the better i find works best for me.

 

[trowpa]

bhpt 14,16,18 (i know that will come as a suprise to many on this board )
rick's Mink - 12,14,16
zebra midges - 16,18
scuds 16, 18

as JayL mentioned - late winter I'll have small BWO's ready - late feb/early march especially for that first dry fly fish of the year. Prior to that I know there is a chance at some midge dry luck but it's not my thing - i prefer nymphing

 

[Heritage-Angler]

trowpa wrote:
bhpt 14,16,18 (i know that will come as a suprise to many on this board )

Totally shocked. ;-)

 

[boss_steb]

Ry,

I have done the vast majority of winter fishing in Colorado...wife and kids ski...I fish...nice combination...Bill's Midge Emerger has been a go to fly out west...never found a feeding group of trout on midges like I have out west...

Other than that...Beadhead Flashback PT, eggs, and small caddis both green and tan...

Boss

 

[littlelehigh]

Trowpa is gonna drag me out from time to time this winter so I will using the same as above.

The only addition I have is your fav Ryan BHPN.

I'll have to admit I've been cranking out BWO Catskill, Comparadun, Loop Wing Emergers and Parachute style of late. I'm hoping for an early spring.

 

[scotto]

bhpt, HE, lightning bug - small sizes early winter getting larger as we move toward spring and the nymphs mature.

I use cress bugs/scuds almost exclusively in winter on limestoners.

Carry some junk flies such as green weenies, honey bugs, sj worms also.

 

[David]

Midges, midges, midges, bwo, stonefly nymphs, HE, scuds, and midges.

 

[ryguyfi]

Also you guys on the western part of the state... what streams do you fish in the winter??

 

[David]

Pretty much the same as summer - barring iced over conditions. Certainly more productive to hit spring creeks or the Yough, when possible, because of the more stable temps.
Fish Slippery Rock slow and deep. Find risers behind the shop (and downstream) at Bob's place. Pine Creek when I only have an hour or two.

 

[RLeep2]

A good rule of thumb when choosing a winter stream is to focus on the streams that stay the coldest in high summer in the same general altitude range. These creeks will have the strongest spring inputs and thus will have the most open water and highest winter water temps.

While this is sort of a DUH as to why winter spring creek fishing (as in limestone influence) is worthwhile, there are also a lot of PA freestone watersheds with strong ground water input that puts them head and shoulders above other freestone streams as winter choices.

Just for a few examples in Western PA, the Sugar Creek watershed in Crawford and Venango County, the tribs of Oil Creek above Titusville, the open sections of the Spring Creek watershed in western Warren County. Although I don't know for certain, I'd assume that stream that run out of the moraine sections of the upper Allegheny drainage in McKean and Potter counties would be similar.

Another tactic that works to an extent for finding good winter streams is to find ones where small municipalities have built small waste water treatment plants. During the PennVest push of the 90's, a lot of small towns ended up building these facilities and there are a fair number of them on ANF streams, for example. Depending upon their flow/volumes and how good of a trout stream they discharge to, these can also provide better winter destinations due to water temps.

On most of these creeks, we aren't talking about January water temps in the 40's, but you might find a fair number of stream sections that routinely run in the upper 30's. And that's fishable water if you have the patience to fish low and slow.

Just a couple thoughts...

 

[flipnfly]

i usually try to fish laurel hill dunbar ck meadow run sometimes the yough and i like to brookie hunt up fall ck also camp run is alot more manageable in the winter but living so close i have never fished pine ck in north park and i want to hit clear shade creek this winter in the ffo section if anyone knows of upper end access other than the blue gate off of 160 please include me in on this secret because its a loooong walk