Monday, December 9, 2019

An 88.7% Fly And Winter Tactics

Winter outings are tough. The fly selections you have used during the rest of the year seem to draw no attention. Even my favorite soft-hackles and that never fail dry the bomber are ignored. I find this issue to hang around until the true winter sets in. Brook trout can adapt to cold water better than other trout and will adjust to it in time. It is at that time when I stand a better chance of catching brookies on more familiar patterns. Until that happens I will fish a fly that I consider the best winter brookie fly around. As I show this fly most will say, "that's not a fly" and probably so. But then again is a gray ghost a "fly"?...all that stuff is for another day and discussion....focus.



Here is the best winter brookie fly. It's called "pinkie"...tied a bit different than the San Juan and obviously a color that is not common in our streams. Aquatic worms are present in almost all streams and can be found in sunken leaf debris. I once observed a group of college students surveying a stream. They showed me the aquatic worms the found in a few yards of stream and I could not believe it. The other fact that was pointed out was the speed at which these worms moved. They lifted one out from the bucket and put it in the water, it gone in a second. There are few materials needed to tie this fly, and it is quite easy to tie.


On this day I found willing brook trout. "pinkie" requires little finesse in presentation.


This my friends is a perfect winter stream brookie lie. You have a gentle seam, with moving water. The shallow depth also allows for some warming of the water. There is a undercut bank close with deeper water....and it will give up a strike and a trout 88.7% of the time it's fished.


This brook trout was taken in that spot above. A pretty good sized fish for such a place. Winter requires different tactics, and those tactics change almost daily with exception. Fish "pinkie"...








24 comments:

  1. I need to fish worm flies more... Pretty brookie!

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    Replies
    1. Hibernation
      Thanks
      Will I give other flies the first shot, and if nothing happens then pinkie comes out.

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  2. Nice Brookies. I agree with Hibernation about fishing worm patterns more.

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    Replies
    1. billp
      Thanks
      Bill give them a try. I like pink but I have also used black in the past.

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    2. I'll try 'em tomorrow. Looked at your Pinkie post from Dec. '17 this AM.

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    3. We will be waiting for your report.

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    4. Not much of a report, forgot the box with them in it. Next time.

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    5. Bill we all have done that...

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  3. Pink is good. Caught my largest Rainbow (9+ pounds) on a pink (and black) Woolly Bugger. Winter is almost here.

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    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz
      Thanks
      Mark that's an impressive rainbow for sure. The wooly bugger is the most successful soft-hackle fly created. Add the colors pink and black and hold on.

      Delete
  4. I have used San Ron worms tied by Ron Gaddy a lot. This winter I have been having a lot of luck with a Pink Squirrel 2.0 tied by Richard from UK Barbless Hooks. The common denominator seems to be Pink. But yes, brookies seem to go for worms year round.

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    Replies
    1. dpnoll
      Thanks
      Aquatic worms are a bigger part of a trouts diet than most anglers know. Now aquatic worms are different that night crawlers and earthworms. So that is why these worms should be tied very thin to represent the actual worm. The "Vladie" worm was popular at one time, maybe it still is.

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  5. Such a distinctive color pattern on that last Brookie; subtle and light. I keep telling myself to try a worm pattern, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Beautiful pictures, Alan.

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    Replies
    1. mike
      Thanks
      Mike to add to your comment on the color pattern of that brookie I would just like to add he was sitting in about 6 inches of water. Those worms have their times.

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  6. I'm a big fan of a simple pink worm. They work all year, and not just for brookies.

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    Replies
    1. Chris Stewart
      Thanks
      Chris I first learned of the pink worm while fishing for Salmon river steelhead and browns. I have had success with rainbows. Simplicity.

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  7. Beautiful brook trout taken out of that seam, Alan. Your post is a good reminder for me to try a worm pattern this time of year. I received a few from last winter's fly swap I took part in, but honestly I have never fished them. I will now though.

    Regards, Sam

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    Replies
    1. Sam
      Thanks
      Sam if you have them winter is a great time to use them. Those days when nothing is working very well often the worm flies will produce some action.

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  8. Alan
    Amazing what trout will go after especially if they are hungry---no weight just dead drifting I assume?? Thanks for sharing

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    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell
      Thanks
      Bill the only weight is the beadhead. They take it moving in the current or sitting on the bottom.

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  9. Beautiful trout but I have never tried a worm fly. I looked up the pattern "Pinkie" but did not find a fly that looked like yours.

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    Replies
    1. NJpatbee
      Thanks
      Pat I tie a variation of a San Juan. I like pink as to the usual red.

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  10. Being from NW Washington, I know how popular & effective worm patterns are. Fire-orange & red too.

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    Replies
    1. Matt Harding
      Thanks
      Matt so those colors you specify work out there. Where as here I find pink to be the best. We had a blogger that tied some beautiful aquatic worm patterns. No longer doing it.

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