“What streams can I fly fish in the winter months?” There are many large trout streams and delayed harvest sections throughout Virginia and West Virginia that are productive in January. The recent rains raised the streams thus flushing many nymphs out from beneath the stones in the riffles.
When fishing below these riffles, use flies that match the natural stonefly and mayfly nymphs and caddis larva. The Murray’s Dark Stonefly Nymph size 12, Caddis Larva size 14, Mr. Rapidan Bead Head Nymph size 12 and Professor Nymph size 12 are excellent flies to match the naturals.
For streams that are 30ft wide or less, I wade into the stream 40 feet below the riffle and fish upstream dead drift. I typically use a Murray’s Trout Nymphing Leader with the indicators to help detect the strike. Streams which are more than 30ft wide, I enter the stream right below the riffles and fish these same nymph across stream. I wade slowly downstream casting across stream and strip my nymph 6″ every 5 seconds to swim it across the stream bottom. Listen to my podcast for more information on these streams.
Bass Streams for Fly Fishing
I have friends who insist on fishing for smallmouth all winter. The technique they use is to float the river, going from one deep hole to the next. They find that streamers which produce a pulsating action when retrieved very slowly are the most productive. A Murray’s Tungsten Cone Head Marauder (Olive), Magnum Hog Sucker or Magnum Creek Chub in size 4 are excellent in these conditions. Fish these on a sink tip III line in order to slowly swim them along the stream bottom.
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