2020 Winter Fishing and Spring on the Horizon

Winter fishing is what you make of it.  If you can forget about the stinging wind, frozen guides, COLD feet, and chilly hands...you're going to have a special time.

Some of you know I prefer fishing dry flies in the winter and this winter has not been all that different.  I have fished an array of midge patterns at Deckers, 11 Mile Canyon, and the Arkansas Tailwater in Pueblo.  

This brown was caught at 11 Mile on a size 24 midge dry fly.  I fish size 22-26 midge dries in the winter and if you can match size of the naturals by going smaller, the color doesn't always seem to matter.  This fish had some beautiful colors.

If you are interested in the style of midge patterns that I fish during the winter months, here you go.

Hook: 20-26 emerger hook

Thread: Veevus 16/0 Black, Cream or Olive

Wing: CDC Puff White, Dark, or Natural

Legs: Grizzly hackle - Appropriately sized

I tie the thread back, tie in the puff, tie in the hackle and wrap forward before whip finishing.  The puff will look too big so snip it off about a hook shank in length.  That's really all there is to it.

I got my Whiting Farms grizzly hackle at Charlie's Fly Box in Arvada and it is incredible for tying small flies.  I have purchased hackles online in the past and I regret it.  After seeing and holding this hackle in person I knew it was going to be right for me and I will be using this particular hackle for years to come.  It is incredible how high the quality is these days with so many long feathers that can be used to tie small flies.

I fished Deckers with some friends back in January and it turned out to to a beautiful day.  For Deckers, it was almost empty and everyone caught fish.  Egg and midge patterns worked well and I caught several fish on dry flies.  When I was down in Y-Camp Canyon as the day was ebbing away I turned around and saw this:

Colorado truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world to fish and this sight will live on in my memory for many winters to come.  In a few months there will almost never be an open hole off of Y-Camp road so I will be fishing elsewhere.  Deckers holds so many quality fish, but being only 1 hour from Denver usually means crowds, crowds, crowds.

I have also done quite a bit of tying for spring this winter and for awhile I had stoneflies on the brain.  I purchased quite a few turkey quills in order to get the colors I wanted to tie up some stones.  I only use tungsten beads in order go get them down and after some trial and error I am proud of the results.  They are a lot of work, but they are also a lot of fun to tie.  I can't wait to fish them in the spring!

I went back to 11 Mile a few weeks ago to show a friend how I fish dry flies there.  I said that if there are risers I'm going to show you how to catch them and we did.

I caught this fish after not much time at all and I was happy.  After that it was showing John the type of fly, distance from the fish, and angle required in order to hook these babies in the dead of winter.  It was actually a pretty "warm" day although the wind had some bite to it!

I think between us we caught 10-12 fish on dries all 22 or smaller.  "Rising" browns are particularly difficult to catch in the winter.  One good cast will put them down.  Perfection is necessary to hook and land them.  The rainbow and cuttbow population up there is typically more willing to take a dry.  The flows were amazing for this time of year (147 CFS), which also helped our cause.  I remember last year the flows were around 50 CFS, which made matters much more difficult.  Nice job, John!

Last Monday we headed to Pueblo to fish the Arkansas Tailwater.  We being myself, Dr. Tim Florian, and a crew of kids in our fishing club.  Everyone caught or hooked fish and a few of the kids caught some stunners on nymphs.  I saw this cool photo while wandering around looking for a spot to fish.

I did not have an easy day by any means with the lower flows and crystal clear water, but the clouds saved me.  The weather changed around lunch time and although the wind picked up, the clouds rolled in.  The fish started rising including this beautiful fish.  I caught 5 or 6 on dries in about an hour with this fish easily being the best of the day and the best I have nabbed on a dry fly down there.

2020 has already been a lot of fun and I have some exciting trips planned.  Next month I will be heading to Utah and the Green River tailwater section below Flaming Gorge for the first time.  

In the summer I will be returning to the Delaware River once more to test my wits against some of the smartest fish in the world.  

Until next time, remember to enjoy everyday outside even if you're fingers are about to fall off!

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