Fly Fishing the Bow in winter

[Tht-_-Fisherman]

I was just wondering how the fly fishing goes in winter on the bow. I sometimes fly fish it in the summer but never have in the winter as because I don't know what to use or where the best spots are (in the winter). Im researching it right now, but just wanted to see if i could get some tips/advice from here. Thanks guys, appreciate it a lot. I am a sort of beginner just letting you know.

Kyle

[drock0802]

fish the deep holes, the fish are stacking up in the deep pockets. just below riffles where the water calms a little bit

need to have some weight on the nymph to get it down to the bottom fast. should be snagging on bottom quite a bit, if your not lengthen your leader.

normally i use the good old bead head red sjw and princes.

also use ice cream cones and chronimids. Ive even used a green emerger patern,

just keep being persistant.

once you find a hole where they are stacking up you can pull more than one from the same.

[brown trout]

I usually rig two rods. One for nymphs, and a second for streamers. I'll fish productive looking water first with the nymph rig, then follow through with a streamer.

The nymph rod usually has a big wire San Juan worm as the anchor fly, with a dropper tag about 18 inches to 2 feet above it with a small bead head fly. Something like a little pheasant tail, zebra midge, or brassie in #16-20 is about right. Sometimes I'll use a stone fly or other heavy nymph as the anchor fly, but I'll nearly always have a big heavy fly and a smaller lighter (in weight) one.

For streamers, sculpin flies, or bugger variants are usually good if streamers are going to work. I use a 6 or 9 foot T8 sink tip to keep the fly down.

For water, yes, deeper pockets are good. But don't overlook shallower water. The deep water is good or holding, but if the fish are feeding, they will move shallower. So be sure to nymph the 2-3 foot deep water before wading out to reach the 4+ foot hole. Lots of spots around Fish Creek-Policeman's.

Have fun, be careful.

[Darren N]

Originally Posted by brown trout

I usually rig two rods. One for nymphs, and a second for streamers. I'll fish productive looking water first with the nymph rig, then follow through with a streamer.

The nymph rod usually has a big wire San Juan worm as the anchor fly, with a dropper tag about 18 inches to 2 feet above it with a small bead head fly. Something like a little pheasant tail, zebra midge, or brassie in #16-20 is about right. Sometimes I'll use a stone fly or other heavy nymph as the anchor fly, but I'll nearly always have a big heavy fly and a smaller lighter (in weight) one.

For streamers, sculpin flies, or bugger variants are usually good if streamers are going to work. I use a 6 or 9 foot T8 sink tip to keep the fly down.

For water, yes, deeper pockets are good. But don't overlook shallower water. The deep water is good or holding, but if the fish are feeding, they will move shallower. So be sure to nymph the 2-3 foot deep water before wading out to reach the 4+ foot hole. Lots of spots around Fish Creek-Policeman's.

Have fun, be careful.

Do you use the bead head nymph with SJW in the summer as well and pending on the flow of the stream would your bead head nymph be enough weight to sink down your dropper as well or do you weight it down?

[brown trout]

"Do you use the bead head nymph with SJW in the summer as well and pending on the flow of the stream would your bead head nymph be enough weight to sink down your dropper as well or do you weight it down? "

In the summer, if I'm nymphing, I'll use a bead head and a something else. Maybe an SJ, maybe a small bugger, maybe a stone, or a caddis, etc. Typically I sight fish or hunt sippers in the summer. It's just what I enjoy best.

You can certainly fish an SJ worm in the summer, especially after a rain and when the water is slightly off colour. They work very well, and yes, most of my nymphs are bead heads (usually various colours of brass beads, so they don't sink too quickly). If fishing two small nymphs, I'll either target shallow water, use extra lead wraps jammed underneath the bead for extra weight, or use a tuck cast to sink the flies fast. Otherwise, I'll use a heavy, larger point fly to anchor the nymphs near the bottom.

So no, if straight nymphing, a simple beadhead on a small fly is usually not enough to sink the fly, unless the water is less than about 2 feet deep, you use tungsten/lead, or use specialized line casts to get the fly down.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM.