I find that I get my best trout fishing in the winter by fishing downstream from where springs enter the streams. I’m very fortunate here because Big Stoney Creek in Edinburg has many springs. These springs help warm the stream during the winter. These are very easy to locate by the bright green grass that grows around them, both in the stream and on the bank.
The distance downstream of the springs which gains the warming influence of these springs depends upon the volume of the spring and the volume of the flow of the stream. For example, a large spring flowing into a small stream may increase the stream temperature several degrees well over 100 feet downstream on the side of the stream where the spring enters.
When I’m fishing a stream less than 30 feet wide I enter the stream 100 feet downstream of the spring on the side of the stream where the spring enters and fish nymphs such as Murray’s Dark Stonefly Nymph size 14 upstream dead drift. The Murray’s Trout Nymph Leader with its built in Murray’s Fly Shop Indicators is a great help in detecting the strikes from these trout. By wading very cautiously and keeping my casts below 30 feet as I fan them across the stream I hook a high percentage of my strikes.
If I’m fishing a stream more than 30 feet wide I enter the stream straight across from the spring and stay close to the bank as I wade slowly downstream. I cast a Shenandoah Silver Ghost Streamer size 10 straight across stream so it lands close to the far bank. I strip it four inches every five seconds to swim it along the stream bottom. Easing my way downstream and cover the water in this way gives me many trout.