Low water temps & trout

[5weight]

Rock Creek, Montana, mid-April this year, the annual pre-runoff trip. Water is still skinny, weather is freaky and the water is cold. Everything is normal.
Morning water temperatures read in the low- to mid-30's, and didn't get above 39F all week. We usually wait until the water gets into the mid-40's, but we but we suited up after breakfast and hit the water.
We slayed 'em on dries, from morning until dinnertime. We had blowing snow, sunny afternoons and the occasional hatch of the usual early Spring bugs: BWO, skwalas, and something the locals call Gray Drakes (not so).
Despite the low water temps, the four of us had 20 and 30 fish days on everything from #6 Air Heads to quill-bodied #20's. We've learned nymphs in that skinny water yield more whitefish than cutts, so we gave them up years ago. Besides, with all that dry fly action, why change?
We can't explain all that enthusiasm from cutts, browns and cuttbows in such cold water. We came up with theories (what fly fisherman doesn't?), but we decided to just accept the success.
I'd be interested to hear some of your theories and experiences.
5weight

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If the trout are lost, smash the state.
Tom McGuane

[MarkKillam]

I would guess that the fish were starting to get a little more active since the bugs were getting more active. In the middle of the winter there isnt a lot of bug activity so even though the water temps were low the fish were feeding. I see the same thing on the Lower Madison which is a bit warmer than the temps you had. If there are bugs around the fish tend to be active on the surface. And I love fishing on those days where the air temp in is in the 30's and it is raining/snowing . The fish in the lower Madison where I fish will very rarely rise if the sun is on the water but when it is cloudy and or the water is shaded then they will feed on or just under the surface.

Just my two cents and I may be wrong.

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Take care everyone and cya around. Mark

one of my favorite times of year to fish around here is from november thru march. consistent midge hatches ranging from size 22-28, very low angling pressure, entire stretches of the owens river to my lonesome, and big browns sipping tiny midges off the surface. add to that the random and unpredictable baetis hatches and you have the makings for some fantastic dry fly fishing.

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Everyone dies. Only the lucky ever truly Live. Take your time.

Chris-Bishop, CA, USA

[DG]

We used to (and I still do) fish all the time in the dead of winter. I recall fishing in MT dozens of days when we would hit the water at dawn, well below freezing (sometimes well below zero), trout until the sun warmed everything up, then take lunch while the frazil ice filled the rivers, then hit the river again when it cleared after the "slush hatch".

Trout eat when the water is cold and food is available. They will try to find places where the water is warmer (dark bottom, shallow water, feeder streams, springs, etc) so it is more comfortable. They will usually not work very hard to chase down food (although I have caught trout on streamers in rivers where I had to fish the open channels thru ice shelves), but they WILL eat.

And in MT, if the trout never ate until the water hit 40F, there wouldn't be a trout IN Montana.

its been my experience that the key to fishing successfully in the cold is accuracy. the fish arent going to move a whole lot, especially for tiny midges, so you need to drift your dries right over their noses to get a rise...

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Everyone dies. Only the lucky ever truly Live. Take your time.

Chris-Bishop, CA, USA

[RonMT]

What did you expect they are native Montana fish and are use to the cold. They feed when there is food. Been fishing all winter when the weather allows for many years. Just a new thing to new people is all. Ron

[5weight]

Yep, thanks, Guys. We threw out all kind of theories, but in the end I think you're right... If they only hit in prime water temps there wouldn't BE any trout on Montana.
It sure was fun. And it let us get all superior about those writers who insisted on streamers and nymphs on the nose in colder water.
I mean, we're good. But not THAT good.
5Weight
God Bless The USA, but bless Montana most of all.

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If the trout are lost, smash the state.
Tom McGuane