Gereral Scouting & Winter Hole Spoting.

[PlayDoh]

I almost always get this feeling like I'm at the wrong spot and despite a proper presentation I'm wasting my time cause nobody's home. I'm sure thats a common problem, usually referenced as 'Confidence', yet as the saying goes "theres a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot". I have a 'fly fishing idiot complex'.

 

I hope to get out with an experienced angler soon so I can remove "am I at the wrong spot?" factor and concentrate on presentation alone. I'm getting a little to old to be hiking up and down cliffs or through flood prone bush, and until I 'get the drift'-boat I'll need to find some easy spots for everyday fishing. I live outside the city and I haven't been there much lately since winter, or I'd be at FC and the sh1t-hole constantly.

 

I've been told many times that the Bow is a challenging river, and I've had the idea that learning 'Trial by fire' style I'll be better off in the long run. I've learned a butt load (technical term) about fly fishing in the past couple months, yet when I get to the river to fish I feel so restricted that I get the impression there is some place 'just over there' where the fish are, and I'm forever searching with little faith theres any fish near by. I tend to go to the same places I would have without learning what I have recently and just rely on my gut.

 

For all the books and articles I've read there's little reference to winter holes, "seasons of the trout" being the exception. Since hunting season started I haven't been able to fish my money spot which is a 15' deep seam in a slower split side-current. However its most likely nearly completely covered with ice, which was the case yesterday when the seam I hiked to fish at was a skating rink.

 

What do winter holes look like on the Bow? Will trout inhabit completely covered water? Do they like the edges and use shore ice in the same manor as undercut banks without ice? I noticed that any change in current, was much more profound since the ice would cause narrower routes and any 'Riffle' was more like a torrent rapid. I couldn't imagine even a Bow lying in there. I also noticed large amounts of anchor-ice and wondered if the trout would use it like stone obstructions or is it too cold? I also tried to think about finding Nymphs in the river as apposed to Trout, since they're one in the same. I also theorized that drift ice might not bother trout much, since they're likely near bottom feeding on nymphs exclusively. Despite how it makes fishing difficult is drifting ice something to always avoid and rather fish out of the pack channel?

 

 

I wonder if I'll ever stop asking FF'ing questions?

[Brownstone]

toughest part of winter fishing I believe is finding fishable water than is also "fishy" (technical term) .. think of all the deep runs you fished this past summer, next to a cliff or bank on a big bend in the river..these are probably your best bet for finding some fish..find one and usually you'll find a bunch, fish will hold deep in the runs and spend as little energy as they have to so alot of times you'll have to drop it right on their nose..although warmer weather will bring activity up..fish creek offers some good winter fishing conditons most days, its frustrating alot of the time, but atleast your out fishing..

[Castuserraticus]

I always key on the colour change - lite to dark blue - that comes along with drop-offs and current seams. Put on the polarized glasses and scan from up on the bank. I've found fish in some surprisingly small pockets in the winter. Once you've found the blue water, play with the number of split shots to where you're ticking bottom regularly. On several occasions, adding a medium shot has produced immediate results. On some of the smaller pockets, a strong surface current can be hiding a much calmer underlying pocket. In bigger holes, it's a matter of getting the fly to the bottom and being sure to cover the water with several casts and different fly combinations.