Trout in Cold Weather

[Fisherman]

I fish a very tiny stream in New York right by my grandmoms. It's loaded with trout - rainbows and browns - but whenever the cold weather hits, they are tricky to pull out. The stream is 4-5 feet across, pretty small but there are some good holes. I have the whole stream to myself. The stream is about 6 inches deep in most spots and the holes can be 1-2 feet with dozens of trout laying in them. It's a tricky area to fish with all of the bushes and trees surronding the stream. I've only managed to pull a few out in the wintertime experimenting on different lures. I've caught some on trout magnets and joe fly spinners.

Is there a trick to catching loads of trout in cold weather? What baits work best?

I think the streams so small, once you catch one you spook all of them.

Anyone have tips or tricks for me to try?

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I also fish a large pond. In the summer I've caught bass left and right on minnows every cast. A lot of them are decent ranging from 2-5 pounds. In the winter everything seems dead, hard to pull anything out of it. I know the fish are less active, what lures work best and where are the fish holding? Theres a feeder creek, a small island, and a rock structure. Are they down deep?

I don't like fishing in the winter to much, I find it difficult. =\

[Hawgcatcher]

Fisherman from my experience in cold weather worms have seemed to produce the best results for me. But your problem is going to be spooking the fish. I have a small stream near where i live that i use to fish years ago. It has native trout in it and the stream is a little smaller then the one your fishing. Once the trout saw you forget it they were under the bank and you weren't going to catch them. We use to crawl up to the edge of the stream and dangle a worm in their face it would do the trick. Catch one and move to another spot let the other fish settle down then go back and catch um.

[Fisherman]

Yes a quiet approach is crucial. It's hard because the whole stream is surronded by dense brush and one crack of a twig they are done. A few years ago they stocked the stream with trout but I am sure there are natives in there. Everything is perfect for wild trout. Plenty of food, shelter, cold running water in the summer and overhanging trees along the whole stream.

The one hole I crouched for over two hours to catch just one because they spook so easily. I can fish for hours, all day so I definatly have the patience.

Your really dont even "cast" out you just drop it in the water in most places. I'll take your advice with worms, havn't tried them yet - and I'll hit the next hole after I catch one or two.

Since I recently turned 16, do I need to purchase a lisence like a 3-day one to fish?

Any tips on getting those lunker largemouth out of that pond?

Much thanks for the help Hawgcatcher

[Hawgcatcher]

Just remember to release some fish. You didn't mention is the pond frozen over or are you fishing open water?

[Fisherman]

I catch and release all trout. I'm not a very big fan of eating trout, too bony.

It depends on the weather when I go up for 5 days, sometimes its frozen over and sometimes it isn't. If the water isn't frozen over I usually try to fish it. I don't ice fish because it's too dangerous, especially by myself. In the case that it isn't frozen over, where can I find the fish laying, how deep, and what to catch them on?

[Hawgcatcher]

I take it your probably fishing from shore. In my experience live bait (minnows) will outproduce anything your going to be able to get to the bass in the winter from shore. If your out in a small boat on the pond or on the ice a jigging spoon is deadly. It represents a dieing minnow which there are a lot of as the water gets very cold. And as for where they are located from what I've seen for the most part they do spend a majority of the day in the deepest part of the pond. But they do make trips to the shallows whether its looking for food or warmer water I'm not sure. I kind of lean towards the water warming in the shallows draws them in.

[Fisherman]

I use to catch my own minnows in minnow trap in that creek where I fish for trout. But I could never get any in the winter. The ponds outside of a small town and buying minnows is hard because there really isn't anywhere to buy them because the nearest place is a few hours away. I do fish from the shore.

Should I just try jigging instead? I'm more likely just going to ditch the idea of the pond in the winter and catch me some trout.

[Hawgcatcher]

The jigging i was referring to is vertical jigging can't do it from shore need to be over top of the fish. All tho you can try casting a spoon out and slow retrieve it I have caught bass in the winter using that method

[Fisherman]

Alrighty I'll give it a try. Thanks for the advice!

When I come back I'll post results from the trip on here.

[Fisherman]

Today I had a lot of sucess trout fishing. Caught a 21 inch brownie on a tiny minnow jig and an 18' brownie on a nightcrawler. Later in the day caught 6-7 brownies on nightcrawlers and one on corn - only about 10 inches. Lost another few using the tiny minnow jig.

Hawg I've been taking your advice on catching one in a hole and then moving to the next. It works great - just hoping the one I catch in the hole is the biggest. I've worked about 2-3 miles of stream. Worms seem to be working great and so it would seem like minnows with all of the brownies I caught on the minnow jig.

All fish were healthy and released.

Why is it that it seems like only the brownies are biting and not the rainbows? Is it just which trout takes the worm first or do rainbow trout not feed as much in the winter? Or do rainbows prefer other baits?

I have a few pictures of the bigger trout and I'll see if I can post them when I get back. I'm going tomorrow again and the fish I caught today I'm sure I won't get skunked.

[Fisherman]

Caught 4 more nice brownies yesterday. All were released. Great trip overall.

[Fisherman]

Pictures of some of the fish and steam if anyone is interested in seeing them.

www.snapam.com/SlideShow.aspx?AlbumID=391&PerPage=16&SortBy=AD

[Midnitebasser]

Hey Fisherman, good going and nice photos.

[Fisherman]

Thanks - couldn't get one of me holding any because I was by myself unfortionatly. I just took a quick picture on the stream bank and let them go, I didn't want to keep them out of the water more then 15 seconds.

[outdoorsboy67]

nice catch guy