Three Tips for Winter Fishing
By Mike Hodge
Thanksgiving has come and gone. Christmas is not far behind. It’s getting colder, so a lot of anglers will postpone fishing until spring. Winter, however, can be quite productive, if you know when and where to go. Here are a few suggestions to catch fish when wintry conditions arrive.
Sleep In
You don’t need to set the alarm. Fish late morning or early afternoon. Why? Because that’s when chilly water temperatures will peak. Water temps are now in the 40s, which is very manageable.
Dress Warm
Days of wet wading are long gone. Wear your waders and layer up. Make sure to protect your head and hands. Wool over cotton is preferred. Wade safely to avoid a fall and possible hypothermia. If it looks too deep to cross, it probably is.
Fish Small
The hatches of Western NC have largely subsided. Still, blue wing olives and midges are on the menu. Sizes 18-22 are advisable. As for tippet, 6 and 7x is a smart move when the water is clear. You might be able to get by with 5x if the water levels are up.
Any more questions? Feel free to give us a call or stop by one of our locations in Sylva, Waynesville or Bryson City.
—- Mike Hodge
The sleep in advice is the counterintuitive part most anglers need: the fish feed in the warmest window of a winter day, and photographs of a cold morning on the water are usually what convinces someone to go out in February instead of waiting for spring. We build AI Fruit (https://aifruit.net/): give it one of your own photos from the water as the reference plus a prompt and it generates or reworks the supporting illustrations so the tips and the shop posts look like they come from the same river.