Today let’s discuss the fly fishing on the large stocked trout streams. There are many streams that have an abundance of springs that produce great midge hatches. Big Stoney Creek, Mill Creek, and Hidden Valley of the Jackson are just a few that have great midge hatches.
At dusk there are often thick midge hatches in the tails of the pools bringing many trout to the surface to feed. Recommended flies include:
Birchell’s Hatching Midge
Mr. Rapidan Midge
Griffith Gnat
Fish these on a Classic Leader 9ft 7X. If I spot rising trout, I fish one on one to these trout using a dead drift. If there are only a few feeding trout, I fish these same flies upstream and impart a gentle twitching action.
Smallmouth Bass Fly Fishing in the Winter
The mouths of feeder creeks flowing into our smallmouth rivers can give us some early smallmouth fishing. These feeders are warmer than the rivers and they hold large populations of
crayfish, sculpins, and shiners.
A good tactic is to wade into the upstream side of the feeder creek 30 feet out and cast down and across stream. Slowly strip the flies through the water flowing from the feeder into the river. Continue to wade downstream in the river as you move across the flow of the incoming feeder casting your flies broadside to the feeder so all of the bass will see your flies. We are still early in the season so don’t expect to catch a lot of smallmouth.
