Part 2. Upping Your Odds for Winter Fly Fishing Success

Guest Blogger: Joe Dellaria, Woodbury MN

In the Part 1 blog we discussed the common myth that you should focus on deeper slower water in the winter because the water is colder and the best time of day for fishing success. In Part 2, we will look at: 

• - Snow, Ice, and Safety
• - Glare 
• - Water Conditions 
  • o Low and clear 
  • o Low runoff, moderate water clarity
  • o Moderate runoff, cloudy but fishable 
  • o High runoff, very cloudy unfishable 

 As I work through the rest of the variables, it is good to remember that these are generalizations. As any fisherman knows, there are always exceptions to “normal.” (As if there is such a thing!) With this caveat in mind let’s dive into the list.

Some of this may seem obvious, but it is always worth discussing things that ensure your safety on the water. 

Snow: A few inches of snow are fairly easy to walk through. However, when it comes to getting into the stream and staying dry, you will want to remember even the slightest slope into the river can turn into an involuntary and uncontrolled entry into the river. The snow turns the frozen ground into a greased skid. In the best case, only your pride will be injured. In a bad case, you may get wet enough to necessitate abandoning fishing entirely. In the worst case, you can break something. So, it pays to be attentive as you enter the water from shore. 

You can work up a pretty good sweat if you are walking through calf-deep snow. If it is cold and windy it will definitely warm you up but when you start fishing the sweat will cool and result in quite a chill. It is a good idea to unzip a layer or two as you are walking when you start working up a sweat to minimize the cool-down chill. 

It is downright hard work to walk through knee-deep snow. You may want to strategize on what is the closest water you can get to and how you want to get there. Taking a longer walk down a plowed road to a spot where it is easier to enter the water instead of taking the shorter route besides the river can save a lot of effort and minimize opportunities for unplanned water entries!

Ice: Shelf ice develops on one or both shores as it gets progressively colder. It is called shelf ice as the sheet of ice is attached to the shore but does not go to the bottom of the river when the water is deep enough. The ice hangs like a shelf over the water. It is difficult to know what is safe and what is not. I try to make sure one foot is firmly planted on shore or a rough patch of ice before progressively tapping the ice harder with your other foot until you are certain it is strong enough to hold you. Only then do I transfer my full weight to that foot. Work like that to the edge of the shelf ice where it is especially important to be aware of what is going on so you can get into the water safely.

 As winter wains and days get warmer, the water running under the shelf ice splashes up and starts melting the ice. What was strong and safe a few days earlier may no longer support your weight. Always be cautious as you walk over shelf ice.

It is best to assume shelf ice is slippery. If the ice slopes even slightly towards the river you may be putting yourself in danger of an unplanned entry. My policy is, if I am not sure, I keep going until I find a spot where I am. I have seen numerous videos of people slipping into the river and doing a face plant. Additionally, I have seen videos of people testing the ice or snow hanging over the water and standing on what appears to be solid ice or snow only to discover in a short time that it is not as it collapses into the river. It is best to be sure and safe.

The combination of sun and snow can lead to glare making it impossible to see your fly or flies. The first time I faced this situation I was on the Madison River in Montana after a 10-inch snow in late April. There was a heavy blue wing olive hatch coming off early one afternoon and the fish were feeding voraciously. I immediately went to a two-fly rig with a dry parachute lead fly and a blue wing olive emerger dropper. The way the river ran in this section forced me to fish straight into the sun, otherwise, the fish went down. After a couple of lead fly changes, I discovered all of my flies with white or chartreuse posts disappeared in the glare. I resigned myself to setting the hook any time I saw a rise remotely close to where I thought my flies might be. Desperate for a solution, I looked one more time through my fly box and saw a parachute flying ant with a brilliant dark red post. I put it on figuring at least I could see where my flies were and up my hook-up ratio. It was fantastic. I was hooking nearly all of the takes on the blue wing olive emerger. To my amazement, nearly half of the fish took the flying ant!

Red posts solved the problem for sun glare. But they nearly disappear in the shade and white and chartreuse posts disappear in the reflection of snow on the water. After numerous attempts with various colors, I have found that fluorescent orange or peach posts hit the sweet spot of being visible in the shade and not disappearing in snow glare. This helps you to see your flies as they float between sunny and shady portions of the stream.

I like to think in terms of four different types of water conditions. The primary goal of this section is to define what they look like and the general approach that has worked best for me. 

I use the term water visibility to mean how deeply you can see into the water. As mentioned earlier, water visibility is a combination of water clarity, surface disturbances, and amount of ambient light.

Low and Clear Water (water visibility two feet or more)

Most of the winter months little or no water is entering the river through precipitation giving lower water levels and flows which produces higher water clarity. On the rivers I fish, the water is crystal clear for most of the winter months. You can usually see everything on the bottom in two or more feet of water. This necessitates longer and finer leaders and adjusting where you fish. I usually start with at least a 9-foot 4X leader and use 5X fluorocarbon for the dropper. 

Many of the usual spots are too shallow and do not hold fish. Look for nearby areas that are deeper with modest current. I still make a cast or two to the now shallow spots just in case but don’t fish them thoroughly. 

If you encounter a midge hatch, add 14-18” of 5X tippet to your leader and drop your dropper material to 6X if you are getting a lot of refusals. In addition, the trout on my stream are incredibly particular on the style of midge that is presented. I carry two or three adult and emerger patterns. You may have to work through three or more styles and sizes of a midge or midge emerger to find one they want.

If there are only occasional rises, I continue with a parachute dry and a nymph dropper. Under these conditions the fish spook very easily and I find one or two casts will put a fish down. With the dry-dropper set-up, be sure to cast well upstream of a rising fish to avoid spooking them. I switch to a parachute dry with a dry midge dropper only when I see numerous fish rising consistently in a space about the size of a small room. When this happens there is competition which causes the fish to lose their wariness. 

Low Run-Off, Moderate Water Clarity (water visibility 12-24 inches)

It seems like every winter at least once and sometimes twice we get a warming period that leads to some run-off. It can be very productive if you can time it so you hit the water as it is beginning to cloud up or as it is clearing but still cloudy and fishable. My arbitrary definition for these conditions is when you can see the bottom between 12-24” of water. Surprisingly, the same techniques as low and clear water are usually quite productive. The only thing that changes is fish may move slightly shallower into areas where stream structure creates funnels. Any structure next to shore that creates a current break deserves a few casts. This can be a lot of fun as the fish can be quite aggressive. I have seen my lead fly move 6-8 inches on takes. You can also use larger flies if you find the fish are that aggressive. 

Moderate Run-Off, Cloudy But Fishable Water (water visibility 6-12 inches)

In these conditions the water is quite cloudy but still fishable. The fish can be anywhere from glued to the bottom to avoid the current or in areas where river structure creates funnels. The parachute-dropper can work well but you need to up-size the bead head dropper to get it near the bottom. Larger lead flies like a beetle or stimulator can get takes and you can try small bead head wooly buggers or girdle bugs as droppers to get to the bottom. Using a float indicator with a bead head wooly bugger or girdle bug with a dropper to a nymph can also work. You can try a heavily weighted high-visibility streamer as well. The game is getting the fly as close as you can to any obstruction in the river without snagging. The fish’s visibility window is fairly small so keep casting until you are sure you have gotten as close as you can to the obstruction without snagging. It is good to frequently remind yourself to not set the hook until the fish turns. Otherwise, you will “seize failure from the jaws of success” by setting the hook too early.

High Run-Off, Very Cloudy Unfishable Water (water visibility less than 4-6 inches)

My experience has been if you can’t see your fly in 4-6 inches of water it is too cloudy and it is unlikely you will catch fish. In addition, safety may be an issue as the current is likely to be much stronger. If you are not familiar with the river, it is not a good idea to continue fishing as you will not be able to see submerged structure and the current will amplify any loss of balance. Getting wet in these conditions is very unpleasant. I usually go home and tie flies when I encounter these conditions.

In Part 3 of this series, we will look at the details of some techniques I have found to be productive in winter fly fishing based on the above stream conditions.