Going Against the Grain: Try Something Different This Winter!

Winter hasn’t started yet, but it’s hard to not be thinking about it right now. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means December is almost here, which means Christmas is, which means snow is. Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah. The point is, it’s about that time of year where our fishing will predominantly be at tailwaters looking at a strike indicator with midges, while occasionally hunting the few risers during large midge hatches.

All that being said, don’t feel like you need to get stuck in the winter blues. Indicators and midges are honestly not the most fun way to fish, and I know countless people that intentionally stop fishing during the winter for that exact reason. Although this is obviously the best way to tackle winter fishing, we don’t HAVE to fish this way. A lot of people feel almost forced to fish a certain way because a fishing report says so. No. Start breaking the rules and do something different.

Well, what’s different? That’s pretty subjective as everyone has their favorite ways of fishing. That said, this blog is going to focus on the 90-95% of fishermen that do what’s most effective to catch fish (weird, right?) and go against it. So let’s get into it!

So what’s stopping you from picking up something new this winter? Waters such as Cheesman Canyon, Deckers, 11 Mile Canyon, and Williams Fork are perfect euro nymphing waters, even with them being tailwaters. Additionally, if any freestones remain open through the winter, they are perfect to euro nymph! Faster moving water and/or deep pockets are the best water types for euro nymphing, which these rivers have plenty of. 

The nice part with euro nymphing are the rods are incredibly sensitive and can pick up the lightest of bites, something that winter fishing is well known for. Additionally, with these rods generally being 3wts, they protect tippet incredibly well and won’t pull hooks out of fish’s mouths. Also, just because you’re euro nymphing, it doesn't mean you need to fish two weighted flies. I’ve spent many of my days fishing a heavy anchor fly with a weightless fly as my tag and would catch just as many, if not more fish than those running indicators. 

Do you need another rod to try this? Not necessarily, but it will make a world of difference. Will you catch a ton of fish and have fun doing it? Absolutely. Writing this up makes me want to get another euro nymphing rod..

Coming from us, you shouldn’t be too surprised by this one. You can’t walk into the shop, see the Steak House, and think, “these guys must hate streamer fishing.” It’s one of the most fun ways to fish, even when the bite is slow. While streamer fishing, your body and mind are in constant movement. Moving the fly, analyzing where fish might be, selecting the right fly choice, etc. It’s a constantly moving game that keeps you incredibly active, and not bored! It’s easy to say that fishing a bobber can be incredibly boring, not all the time, but it can be. Streamer fishing is the complete opposite of that.

Throughout most of the year, our tailwater fish are rarely offered anything other than nymphs and dries. This leaves the perfect chance to get an opportunistic bite from these fish. They’re rarely seeing moving flies, and will jump on them both reactionarily and predatorily. 

The caveat with throwing streamers in the winter is the water is very cold. Fish are not looking to move around a ton, chase food, or even sit in faster moving water. That said, in tailwaters like the South Platte where fish are just about everywhere, you still have a great shot of finding a few fish that will be willing to chase your fly. Another bonus of fishing streamers in the winter, is your constant movement while stripping the fly and covering water will help you keep you warm!

We all like to throw large streamers offerings such as Galloup’s Dungeon or Maddin’s Supernatural Peanut, but throughout the winter months those can be too much. Generally speaking, we like to throw smaller streamers in the winter, such as the Kreelex, Micro Dungeon, Jig Sparkle Yummy, and, yes, the almighty Woolly Bugger. Throwing larger offerings isn’t damning, however, as there are times where the only way you can get a fish to move in the cold water is to make its time worth it (i.e. a large streamer, which in their mind means a big source of calories making the act of chasing that larger food source justifiable). 

Most of us spend our winter time fishing tailwaters. This makes sense as they provide one of the only sources of free-flowing water in the winter that is very unlikely to freeze. Obviously, the lower stretches of these waters will still freeze, but it takes many miles for this to occur. Tailwaters also have a ton of food throughout the year, which leads to large populations of trout. But what if I told you there was more to fish this winter?

During warmer years, you can find stretches along the lower Eagle and upper Colorado flowing free of ice. During standard weather years, these sections typically freeze, but still provide some action during warm spells. One freestone is known for not freezing up too much, even in the worst of winters. The Arkansas River provides fishing opportunities year-round! Don’t expect to find any flowing water in January up by Leadville, but if you look east of Salida you can find fishable water in the dead of winter. 

Other fishable waters include spring creeks! Colorado isn’t known for having many of these types of rivers. Why that is, I’m not too sure, but we do have a few. One that might surprise people is the Blue River. Yes, the Blue River flowing through Breckenridge and dumping into Dillon Reservoir is a spring creek, sort of. It’s hard to say if there was any natural historical spring activity in the area, but mining through the years has indirectly created a spring system in the upper Blue River valley. If you’ve ever driven through Breckenridge during the dead of winter, you’ll see the Blue River wide open and available to fish. Keep in mind, this section of water is closed until December 2nd, so don’t go for the next few weeks. This is a great little stretch of water to fish midge dries or delicate nymph rigs, even during the coldest of days!

Hope to see you in the shop soon, and as always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Go get ya some!