[Trout Traveler]

Winter Trout Fishing​

Last year, I opened the new year by fishing on New Year’s Day. That didn’t happen this year, but I was able to open my trout fishing year the next day. My original intent was to wait another day because the overnight low air temperature was supposed to be much warmer, but fairly heavy rain was also forecast. With the streams already being high, I knew that even a moderate rain would render them unfishable.

I headed to a popular stream but thankfully, the section where I wanted to start had no vehicles parked there. On my first cast of 2022, I caught a trout. Wading in, my thought was, “No way two straight years open with a trout on the first cast.” While retrieving my spinner on my opening cast, a trout struck. A 13 ½ inch wild brown on the first cast! Some anglers consider a trout on the first cast to be bad luck, but I never understood that. I never heard of a basketball player hope they missed their first shot because it was bad luck. It’s customary to take a picture of my first trout of the year, so here it is.

As is often the case after catching my first trout, I took the water temperature, which was 45 degrees. A short time later, a small trout followed without hitting. Then another 13 ½ incher struck. The next trout was a 7 ½ inch brown. Moving up into a deep pool formed by a split, a small brown followed without hitting. After a few casts, I switched to a plug to see if it would entice a larger trout to strike. It did! A very nice 15 ¼ inch brown came to hand. It’s not a very good picture, but it was an excellent fish.

The next hour yielded no trout and only a couple of follows. The stream level was up and I had to walk around several fast flowing sections. Finally, the lull ended and browns of 13 and 11 inches were released. Again, it was necessary to walk around some fast flowing water. During the other seasons of the year, I would have fished it, but not when the water is in the mid 40s.

The action started to pick up and browns of 9, 15, 10, and 12 inches were added before enduring another lull. Further upstream, a third 15 inch brown came to hand, followed by a 13 incher, and a 13 ½ inch brown. Two others followed without hitting. After a few troutless minutes, browns of 11 ½ and 12 ½ inches hit on consecutive casts, my first back to backer of the year. There was a vehicle parked a short distance upstream, so I knew I only had a brief window to add another trout before running into already fished water and having to go to another spot. A 13 incher concluded the fishing in that section.

Driving upstream, I saw two cars along the road, so I continued, was surprised one spot was unoccupied, but decided to see if a favorite spot had anglers. There were two cars there, so I returned to the unoccupied spot. Initially, there was no action of the spinner, so I tried a plug and caught a very nice 14 inch brown. Unfortunately, there was no further action on the plug. I tried to cross the creek, but the heavy current convinced me to walk back downstream and cross in a less hazardous area.

At the tail of a deep pool, a 13 inch brown intercepted my spinner and to my surprise, cleared the water three times. After that, there was no interest in the spinner so I tried the plug again. Several small trout followed it in and struck at the end of the retrieve, but I failed to connect. A heavy brown piled into the plug but I lost it while trying to adjust the drag on my reel. That trout was definitely at least 15 inches and may have surpassed 16, but I’ll never know. A few casts later, an 11 incher was my last trout of the day.

It's always nice to be able to fish early in January, plus you never know when the conditions will be suitable for the next outing. I’d like to fish this week, but after the heavy rain received yesterday, it looks very doubtful.

Overall, I tallied 19 wild browns on the day, with 16 on spinners and 3 on plugs. I lost four trout to boot. The overall average size was good, as it often is in the winter. It was aided by the use of a larger spinner and a 2 ¾ inch plug. Three of the trout were at least 15 inches, with the largest at 15 ¼ inches. I walked 6.2 miles during the day.

 

[TrashPanda]

Loved the write up. They sure look like healthy fish. Good results for conditions.

 

[Trout Traveler]

Loved the write up. They sure look like healthy fish. Good results for conditions.

Thanks! That stream is very fertile. The trout are in excellent condition.

 

[Keystone86]

Very nice pics , and inspiring to go out in the winter months

 

[Trout Traveler]

Very nice pics, and inspiring to go out in the winter months.

Thanks. I’m running into a lot more anglers in the winter than I used to. I’m amazed how many more people fish in the winter now. Being perfectly honest, I’d rather there were less.

 

[RedMan99]

Thanks. I’m running into a lot more anglers in the winter than I used to. I’m amazed how many more people fish in the winter now. Being perfectly honest, I’d rather there were less.

LOL I had to laugh at this because I had the same thoughts during peak covid when EVERYONE was at favorite hiking and fishing spots. Previously would grumble about people not paying attention to whats around them, and how grateful we should be to live here to - why are you at my place to get away from everyone??

 

[Trout Traveler]

LOL, I had to laugh at this because I had the same thoughts during peak Covid when EVERYONE was at favorite hiking and fishing spots. Previously would grumble about people not paying attention to what’s around them, and how grateful we should be to live here too, why are you at my place to get away from everyone??

It used to be that on most wild trout streams, you had little company in the winter. Not anymore.

 

[Trout 2003]

Winter trout fishing is all the rage on social media. Its a completely facebook and instagram driven phenominon.

 

[Trout Traveler]

Winter trout fishing is all the rage on social media. It’s a completely Facebook and Instagram driven phenomenon.

I’m not on either Facebook or Instagram, but I’m sure there are a lot of posts that specifically mention stream names and even stream sections. Then they’ll wonder why they’re crowded.🙄.

 

[Trout Traveler]

Rough January Fishing​

I ventured out on Friday to a stream that has provided good fishing for me in the past, but recently has been poor. It gets fished much harder than it used to. I went there twice last year and left both times due to an abundance of other anglers. With rain and windy weather in the forecast, there seemed to be a better chance of non-crowded conditions.
Driving past my normal starting spot, there was an angler already there. Thankfully, nobody was further upstream. Though my expectations were pretty low, the fishing was awful. I didn’t even get a hit for two hours. A couple of small trout followed without hitting. Finally, I caught an 8 ½ inch wild brown. After trying a few more spots and getting follows but no hits, I made the long overdue decision to head to another stream, which was about ½ hour away. I had walked around several sections, so the walk back to my vehicle was a long one.

There was no action in a dandy looking pool in the lower end of the stream, so I moved upstream, but nothing happened in the next few spots. Finally, a hefty brown intercepted my spinner at the head of a pool. The 15 inch female wild brown made several runs, so I released her without taking a picture. The section above there was flowing fast, so I headed back to the car and drove upstream to calmer water. Again, my expectations were low. One of my goals each year is to catch at least 10 trout in every outing, but I’ve only ever achieved it in one year, and it occurred in a year when I didn’t fish much due to having two surgeries. Convinced that a sub 10 trout day was a virtual certainty, I at least hoped of catching my first big trout of the year.

Shortly after wading in, a trout followed my spinner but didn’t hit. A few casts later, a nice trout struck. My hookset was true, but instead of the expected wild brown, it was a 13 inch rainbow. In many years, my first non-brown trout isn’t caught until April or even May. A few minutes later, an 11 inch wild brown was released. About 10 minutes passed before adding browns of 12 and 10 ½ inches. Another trout followed before a 9 inch brown came to hand. After a short lull, I lost a small brown, then landed a 12 incher. After walking around a fast section, another 9 incher was released.

I scaled the bank and walked upstream past a deep slow section which was posted on the opposite bank. Wading back in, the action was much slower. A small trout hit and got off. I endured another lull before an 11 incher came off the left bank to attack my spinner. Surprisingly, I hadn’t tried a plug in the second stream at that point. Since trout were following or hitting a spinner, there was no need to switch. With little daylight left, I tried two different plugs, hoping to get a big trout. There was no action of the first one, but just before I was ready to wade out, a chunky trout rolled out and drilled it. To my surprise, it was another rainbow and measured 14 inches. That merited a few more casts, but none produced, so I scaled the bank and walked back to my car.

Though I only caught 11 trout on the day, it was nice to have much better than anticipated action near the end of the day. It made me wonder what would have happened if I had gone there first. All trout except one hit spinners. Nine were wild browns and two were stocked rainbows. The water temperature in the two streams was 48 and 45, respectively. I walked 7.7 miles. It's always nice to get out and fish in the winter, even when the action is slow. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

 

[TrashPanda]

Any day out is a good one. You caught 11 more than I did and got a lot more exercise doing it. Hard to believe there was already someone at the first spot. How do you suppose you came up with the two rainbow stockers?

 

[Trout Traveler]

Any day out is a good one. You caught 11 more than I did and got a lot more exercise doing it. Hard to believe there was already someone at the first spot. How do you suppose you came up with the two rainbow stockers?

I wasn’t surprised at all to see someone there, in fact I almost expected it. That stream has become really popular.

The stream is stocked upstream from where I was fishing and it has stocked tributaries.

 

[TrashPanda]

That 10 trout per day thing doesn't really sound like all that much. And if you only fished on hand-picked days, it likely wouldn't be. But when you fish when you can and look back across the entire season and all the various conditions that you face, I doubt that I've ever fished an entire year and caught at least 10 every single time out. Never thought much about it until you posted this. Fishing pressure, cold water, high water. etc. Any number of things waiting to derail you.

 

[Trout Traveler]

That 10 trout per day thing doesn't really sound like all that much. And if you only fished on hand-picked days, it likely wouldn't be. But when you fish when you can and look back across the entire season and all the various conditions that you face, I doubt that I've ever fished an entire year and caught at least 10 every single time out. Never thought much about it until you posted this. Fishing pressure, cold water, high water. etc. Any number of things waiting to derail you.

I originally started with a goal to go through the entire season without getting skunked 20 years ago, but it has changed to catching at least 10 every time out. It’s not a big deal if it doesn’t happen and it doesn’t keep me from going. Every year, there’s at least one day but usually a couple more where I catch fewer than 10. Sometimes, it’s due to high or cold water as you mentioned. Sometimes I fish steams which have a low number of trout but have big trout and I tend to stay longer on those streams, even if the action is slow. Sometimes my stream selection is poor or I’m just off that day. It happens. The only year that I went through the entire year with getting at least 10 in every outing, I only was able to fish about half as many days as I usually fish due to the surgeries mentioned earlier.

I hope to be able to fish again before the end of the month but you never know what you’ll get this time of the year.

 

[rtkbowhunter]

Winter trout fishing is all the rage on social media. Its a completely facebook and instagram driven phenominon.

Exactly! Seems interst in all things outdoors, hunting, backpack hunting, fishing... is being driven by social media influencers. What really sucks is they have zero compunction about sharing where they are at. Several years back the Born and Raised Outdoors (BRO) gang descended up northern Colordao in GMU 161. Rolled in with all their trailers replete with sponsor decals, trailhead clearly shown in the video. Following year, over 40 vehicles parked at the trailhead.

Social meida, influencers, hunting and fishing for likes and shares is NOT good look for us. Any doubts, look at the ******* defending Josh and Sarah Bowmar.

Apologies for the rant.

 

[Trout Traveler]

Exactly! Seems interst in all things outdoors, hunting, backpack hunting, fishing... is being driven by social media influencers. What really sucks is they have zero compunction about sharing where they are. Several years back the Born and Raised Outdoors (BRO) gang descended up northern Colorado in GMU 161. Rolled in with all their trailers replete with sponsor decals, trailhead clearly shown in the video. Following year, over 40 vehicles parked at the trailhead.

Social media, influencers, hunting and fishing for likes and shares is NOT good look for us. Any doubts, look at the *** defending Josh and Sarah Bowmar.

Apologies for the rant.

Rant understood! Quite a few on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram will mention stream names, even if the original poster doesn’t. I’ve seen social media posts where they take to task those who don’t want to divulge where they’re fishing.🙄

Occasionally, someone posts a video here where they’re looking for subscribers. Too often on those videos, they tell not only the stream being fished, but even the exact spot.🤬

Thankfully, for the most part, the people who post here, respect the secrecy aspect. Hopefully, that will continue 🙏.

 

[Trout Traveler]

Delayed Winter Outing
​

Due to cold weather and starting a new job, I hadn’t fished in over a month. With the unusually warm weather this week, I wanted to try fishing one day. I selected Thursday as the day to go, hoping that the rainy forecast would keep other anglers away.

Arriving early and seeing no other vehicles, I readied my gear and walked a long way down the trail. Normally, I start with a spinner but figured that the water had likely been fished with a spinner the day before, so the day started with a plug. Unfortunately, there was no interest in it, so I tried a spinner. A few trout followed and two short struck, and not surprisingly, I missed both. After a while with no further action, it was time to try a different plug.

Several trout followed before one ambushed it in front of a large rock. My first trout of the day was a beautiful 15 inch brown. A short time later, a trout hit and got off. A few more trout followed without hitting. Upon reaching a section that was shallower, I tried a smaller plug. A little trout hit but got off quickly. After that, a larger one hit and also got off. Finally, a trout grabbed the plug and my hookset was true. After a short fight, I led the trout to my feet for a quick measurement and a photo. It was 16 ¼ inches, my first big trout of 2023!

A trout followed without hitting. Unfortunately, I noticed a leak in my waders. There was nothing to do but put up with it. It took a while to catch another trout, but the next one was a nice 13 incher. I fished a tiny tributary for a few minutes and caught a 7 ½ inch native brook trout. It’s my first brook trout of the year and it’s very unusual for me to catch a brook trout in February.

After returning to the main creek, I tried a smaller spinner and caught browns of 11 and 11 ¾ inches. I lost two more trout and had quite a few follows. Then for whatever reason, the spinner stopped drawing interest, so I returned to the plug that had been most effective so far. It resulted in a beautiful brown on the thin side and measured 15 ¼ inches. After a large trout followed without hitting, a feisty 10 incher came to hand.

More trout followed without hitting, then a dandy brown darted in and smashed the plug. It cleared the water twice and made several line peeling runs. I knew if I managed to land it that it would be my second hog of the day. Thankfully, it finally tired and eased toward me. It measured 17 ¼ inches.

A little while later, another nice trout struck. That one measured 16 ¾ inches. A friend had texted me earlier in the day, joking that he expected me to land 5 hogs and not to let him down. I’d never had a day where I’d landed 5 trout over 16 inches in a day in February but began to think it might happen. After that, the action totally died. Rounding a bend, I saw fresh boot tracks. I foolishly continued upstream for a little while and only had one small trout follow before spotting an angler a way upstream, so it was time to wade out.

I walked a long distance upstream of the angler before wading back in. Unfortunately, I only had two more hits before reaching my vehicle, so I waded out and drove to another section. The action there wasn’t much better as only three trout struck. I missed one hit, lost one, and landed a 12 ¾ inch brown. I considered heading to a different stream, but it was late in the day, and I didn’t want to go elsewhere. After trying one more spot in a different section without success, I waded out and headed for home.

My catch for the day was a mere 11 trout; 10 wild browns and a native brook trout. After not fishing for over a month, I was clearly rusty, which is likely why I lost almost as many trout as I caught. Though I would like to have caught more trout least the trout caught were nice size. Three were in excess of 16 inches and two were between 15 and 16 inches. Nine trout were caught on plugs while the other two hit spinners. It was nice to finally be able to fish after a month. I walked 7.2 miles.

 

[TrashPanda]

I've actually been wondering when you were getting out and how long you were going to make us wait for another post...that work bit sure gets in the way of outdoor activities.

I wouldn't be too disappointed with 11 fish when you caught that kind of quality. That 17 1/4 is a beauty. Things will be looking up soon, hope we get some rain.

 

[Trout Traveler]

I've actually been wondering when you were getting out and how long you were going to make us wait for another post...that work bit sure gets in the way of outdoor activities.

I wouldn't be too disappointed with 11 fish when you caught that kind of quality. That 17 1/4 incher is a beauty. Things will be looking up soon, hope we get some rain.

Thanks.

I was very happy with the quality of trout I caught. My disappointment is with me for losing as many trout as I did. While my casts were pretty accurate, my hook setting was off.

I’m hoping to fish again next week.

 

[Trout Traveler]

Another February Outing​

I took advantage of the unusually warm weather to fish on Sunday, though I started later in the day than normal. It was cold early in the morning, so I waited until it warmed up before venturing out. Two small trout struck soon after starting, but I missed both strikes. While retrieving my spinner against the far bank, a heavy trout intercepted the lure. My first trout of the day was a 17 inch rainbow, my first hog rainbow of the year. The day was off to an impressive start, but the next hour produced only a follow and a hit on a spinner and a hit on a plug. Both trout got off. Just before reaching a posted section, a 10 inch wild brown was added. I waded out and headed to a nearby tributary.

The action started quickly with wild browns of 9 and 8 ½ inches on back-to-back casts. Two more trout followed without hitting. A short time later, a 12 ½ inch brown drilled the spinner, with a 10 incher a few casts later. After a short lull, sub-legal browns of 6 ½ and 6 inches were added. Unfortunately, the action wasn’t sustained, and I managed only an 11 inch brown in the next half hour.

The action didn’t improve, and the next area only yielded a 9 inch brown, so I walked back to my vehicle. The next question was whether to try another section of the same stream, or head to a different stream. I decided to try another creek, which is a class A, but is downstream from a stocked section, so Sunday was the last day I could legally fish there until Opening Day. I went to a familiar section, but a long section failed to produce even a strike, which is highly unusual. It’s very likely that it had been fished earlier in the day. I scaled the bank and walked upstream a short distance and made a cast. A nice trout blasted the spinner, but quickly got off. Further upstream, my spinner stopped, and I set the hook. The rod throbbed with the weight of a big trout. It was several minutes before I even saw the trout, which surprisingly was a rainbow. It measured 18 inches. It’s highly unusual for me to catch two big rainbows this early in the year. The rest of that section granted only one trout, a 13 inch brown, so I again returned to my car and headed to another nearby section. The last half hour of the day had by far the fastest action, with six trout landed and two lost. Those trout were all browns ranging from 8 ½ to 12 inches.

My total for the day was 18 trout, all on spinners. All but two were wild browns, but both of them were hog rainbows. I had successfully patched the leak in my waders which plagued me on my previous outing, so the 4.2 miles walked were with dry feet.