What do you all use when you winter fish freestone waters? Sculpins rolled slowly along the bottom of a deep run or pool sometimes yeild results. Buggers in black are effective. stonefly nymphs in a size 14 or 12 will pound up the odd fish. Have yet to catch a midge hatch this year, so I can’t vouch for the black and dun midges (size 28)sitting in my fly box.
What flys do you all have sucess with when fishing freestone streams in the dead os winter. Please be specific. 
Best,
Black Gnat
I do well with small nymphs Bead heads and such. I also use a lot of Midges on the Yellowstone. You can catch a lot of fish on them when you catch them coming off here.
But right now I am staying in the house. It is 5 above outside with a 30 MPH wind blowing. The river is floating ice. Supposed to be in the 40’s this week end.
LF don’t you miss Montana about now 
LOL Ron in the cold of Montana BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Hey Dave,
I’m not qualified to answer your winter
freestone stream question. I pretty much
resigned myself to warmer waters.
However, I would like to say it’s good to
see you again. It’s been way too long. I
hope to catch you in the chat room soon.
Take care and welcome back. By the way,
them monkey minds are pretty tame now.G
Warm regards, Jim
Rick’s Mink or Mountain Midge always work for me in the winter. Used on the Bow or Crowsnest Rivers I have yet to miss (during a Chinook of course).
I’ve tried inserting pics of them into this reply but can’t seem to do it. If anyone can help please do so. Until then
anyone interested in the recipes for these flys email me at abtrader@shaw.ca
and I will share it with you.
You might be on the watch for small flies, like little black baetis, we had them in Montana on the Yellowstone - even in the midst of a blizzard!
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
Black Gnat I do alot of winter fishing on the Henry’s Fork. Few people and lots of fish this time of year. You just have to be able to deal with the cold though.
Midges(Dipteria)are the most prevalant aquatic insects in the world. Trout definitely key into them and seek them out, especially during the winter months. I beleive in many cases it is the only major source of food during the winter months in alot of different river systems.
From mid-November through March all I fish with is midge larvae, pupa, and adult patterns if there is a hatch. I can usually catch plenty of fish on these patterns so I do not feel a need to use other patterns.
Some of my favorite patterns are brassies, disco, and zebra midges tied in sizes 16-22 and dressed in various colors including golds, coppers, reds, blacks, olives and even purples. Kaufmanns hatching midge pattern is excellent and griffiths gnats seem to always work well for me during periods of surface activity.
For me the best winter fishing is usually during the warmest part of the day. Say 11 am to 3 pm.
Hope this info helps?
Top water: Griffith’s gnats, Black gnats, occasional small attractors.
Nymphs: Stoneflies (bl. & gold), Hare’s Ear, Pheasant tail
Streamers: Buggers and of course, Matukas
I am surprised no one mentioned this, and maybe it won’t work for you on the east coast, but I have had success in the past with crayfish. The fishing is slow, but generally the trout I have caught tend to be bigger than average. I fish the slow water and strip it very slowly.
i jsut dredge the bottoms with nymphs or streamers. i usually have a bugger or clouser with 2 nymphs trailing behind it. then once i find what they want more i stick with that. fish are lethargic but u can still have amazing days fishin in the winter. even a degree or two increase in water temp can make trout go into a freeding frenzy