What's everyone favorite trout flies for winter trout in limestone creeks? I was out today and was skunked! I talked to another fly-fisherman and he picked up 4 on a midge pupa. I tried several different flies with no luck.
Favorite winter trout flies for limestone creeks
What's everyone favorite trout flies for winter trout in limestone creeks? I was out today and was skunked! I talked to another fly-fisherman and he picked up 4 on a midge pupa. I tried several different flies with no luck.
Can't say with limestone creeks but in winter midges rule. I mostly fish midges from #14-22 and do very well in my local lakes and ponds. All kinds of midges too, thread midges, zebra midges, bloodworms, all kinds of stuff.
Chris
"There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot."-Steven Wright
http://fishiesonthefly.blogspot.com/
Most of the streams around here are freestone, but midges are the way go during cold weather at least until the little black stoneflies start getting active in a month so. I prefer a couple of my own patterns as drys/emergers, and small soft hackle PT Nymphs and Green Weenies. Size 20 to 24 for all the patterns.
Yup! Midges, in all shapes and colors. Small scud work, too.
For Browns, streamers and bucktails still rule!
jkilroy:
I fish mostly limestoners because of the geography where I live. To be honest; other than specific patterns to imitate scuds or shrimp that I'll fling at places like the Letort or Falling Springs; I don't fish limestoners any differently than freestoners.
This time of the year I am fishing subsurface unless rising or bulging fish give me a reason to fish on top or in the film. My subsurface imitations are not on the bottom but rather suspended. I'll adjust accordingly as the water depth dictates. I like attractor nymphs like a Beadhead Prince, Pheasant Tail or GRHE.
After that I'll go with midge pupas like Mercury Brassies in various color combos and sizes fished below a minuscule Strike Putty indicator. If I am TOTALLY desperate; I'll try a streamer like a Woolly Bugger either worked through the nooks and crannies or dead drifted under an indicator.
Any specific limestone stream you are looking for info on? Some of them on the stocking list in the "Leb-nin" area can be tough this time of year.
The Quittaphilla, that is a very though creek to fish. It's full of silt and sticks. I usually loose more flies than fish caught. I don't think i'M getting a drag free drift. If I add enouph weight to get the flies down their snagged and lost. The reason I fish it is because it's a delayed harvest and 5 min from my house.
Last edited by jkilroy; 01-14-2008 at 12:49 PM.
jkilroy:
Yup, the Quitty can be a pain in winter like a lot of stocked streams. Unless a private club put some fish in it; that DH stretch hasn't seen a stocking since October. Keep that in mind when you beat yourself up for not catching anything there! I know LOTS of honest fisherman who admit getting skunked on Special Reg sections that haven't been stocked since the fall. Not all of them are overstocked "fish bowls" like the Little Lehigh. That's one reason I fish smaller wild trout streams during the winter. There are more fish so if I get skunked I can't blame the Fish Commission, poachers or pressure, it's all my fault!
As far as snags go; one thing I do in the winter on nymphs larger than a size 16 is use a heavier tippet like 3X. It saves me a few flies and I really don't think it scares away any fish. I also don't always "drag bottom". I will usually start at a shallower depth and if that doesn't work I'll change flies before changing depth. On a limestoner that has an abundance of springs; the water temp is usually in the mid to upper forties even in the dead of winter. That can mean that the temperature comfort zone isn't always on the stream bottom like it can be on a freestoner where the water temps dance around the freezing mark.
Fly size-wise I like meatier offerings like a size 10-12. My convoluted "fish logic" tells me that if I was a trout and was cold and miserable sitting in a stocked trout stream since October hoping for some morsel of food to drift by; I'd hope it wasn't hors d'oeuvres but rather a nice big juicy bug. I can't explain it but most of the fish I catch on nymphs are on a size 12.
One tactic that usually works for me at the Little Lehigh and a lot of other stocked Special Reg sections this time of year is dead drifting a bead-head Woolly Bugger in olive under an indicator. It has saved me many a skunking when nothing else seemed to produce.
Good luck!
size 12, that's different, most people I know use small. Have ever fished the Tulpohcoken?
Yea I've fished the Tully a few times but I haven't for a long time. I like the upper reaches above Blue Marsh. The DHALO stretch is way too crowded for my taste.
I'll PM you with some other options.
I have had some luck with midge pupae - scud hook 18-22, white biot body (tie it in notch down so you get the ribbed effect), peacock thorax, mercury glass bead.
Regards,
Scott
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