Winter in the Appalachian mountains is bleak. As deer season rolls to a close the woods settle into silence. Everything switches into survival mode as the temperature plummets and snow blankets the landscape. But for the few fisherman willing to brave the elements… The rewards can be incredible.
Winter fishing can be fickle. As we fished up the creek we netted dozens of small trout, only one of which broke the 10 inch mark. Granted several of these fish were among the prettiest wild rainbows I’ve ever caught, but the size just wasn’t there. On the final stretch of the day, when we had pretty much given up hope of seeing any sizable fish, we finally got a break…
Typically when the water temperature drops into the 30’s I start to hole hop. That’s because the fish slow down and sit in the deepest / slowest sections of the creek or river. I’m not saying they’ll never sit in fast water, but the amount of fish sitting in riffles drops off dramatically. This allows you to predict where the fish are going to be and spend more time in high fish density areas. Even just picking out deeper sections of an otherwise shallow section of creek can yield some big fish… much like the last fish I caught in this video. Just something to keep in mind while you’re out fishing this winter. If you want to make these tips at the end of the video a common occurrence, leave a comment and let me know. Thanks for watching!
