Cowboy Heaven Consulting, LLC
6116 Walker Road
Bozeman, MT 59715
406-587-9563
1-877-613-0404
info@cowboyhvn.com

magine you are fishing one of Montana’s blue ribbon trout streams. The sun is starting to sink in the sky, a slight breeze is sighing through the pines, and a raven perched in a tree across the river is croaking at a group of elk foraging nearby. You’re drifting a nymph through a deep green hole, intently watching your strike indicator, which suddenly dips below the surface. You reflexively raise your rod tip, tighten your line, and are rewarded with the tug of a fish on the line. No matter how many times you’ve experienced this, it always seems a minor miracle, and your pulse quickens in anticipation of the upcoming drama.

What’s different about this scenario? Well, for one thing there’s a foot or two of snow on the banks, and the temperature is only in the forties. No matter, you’re dressed for the occasion, and having the time of your life. That’s right, winter fishing doesn’t have to mean standing over a small hole drilled in the ice, freezing and wondering if there are, in fact, really any fish down there. The fish are still there in your favorite rivers, and while they aren’t as active as in warmer weather, they are still catchable.

I must confess that not too many years ago, I lost all interest in fishing from about mid-October until spring. Once snowfall turned the countryside white, my thoughts turned to skiing and big game hunting. Some avid fisherman friends, however, refused to put their fly rods away and kept at it on nicer days virtually all winter. Eventually, I was enticed to join them, and realized what I had been missing. Given a few adjustments in clothing and techniques, winter fly fishing can be a comfortable, successful activity. Obviously, the weather is going to preclude fishing on more days than it does in warmer seasons. Personally, I am not too interested in fishing unless the temperature reaches into the mid to high thirties. Below this point, you will find your guides constantly icing up (your line guides, although perhaps your fishing guide also, if you employ one). Also, since positive attitude never hurts, I am assuming you are going to catch fish. After you handle and release a couple of fish, your hands are going to be wet, and subsequently, cold. However, on many Montana winter afternoons the temperature reaches well above the freezing point, especially in February and March when the sun is getting higher in the sky. On days when it gets into the forties, it can seem absolutely balmy, comparatively speaking, and on the river is a fine place to be.

Since comfort, and in some cases, survival in the great outdoors is dependent on adequate clothing, I will address that issue first. Aside from a set of neoprene waders, clothing need not differ greatly from that used for any other cold-weather activity. Dressing in layers makes it easy to adjust for variations in temperature or activity level. For any of my winter outdoor activities, I start out with an inner layer of long underwear and long-sleeved undershirt. For those who find wool underwear uncomfortable polypropylene or the various other synthetics such as Thermax or Thermastat are excellent. I have a personal dislike for garments that are tight around my neck, like turtlenecks or crew necks, and am fond of Henley style undershirts, which have a few buttons on the upper chest. I especially like the two-layer ones from Duofold, made with Cool-Max. A pair of wool/synthetic blend socks complete my inner layer, except in very cold conditions when I wear a pair of lightweight synthetic liner socks inside heavy wool socks. The next layer consists of wool or fleece pants, topped with a fairly heavy shirt. I normally wear a wool vest over the shirt, but a fleece or down vest or jacket would substitute nicely. The outer layer, which I usually only put on in windy and/or stormy weather is a parka made of Gore-Tex or similar waterproof, breathable fabric. Short, waist length parkas are the fashion amongst the fly-fishing crowd these days, due to the decreased likelihood of getting them wet while wading. I’m sure that’s a valid point, but I use my thigh length mountain parka and haven’t felt handicapped. In the places I fish in the winter, I haven’t found it necessary to wade over thigh deep. A warm hat is vital, as over half of your body heat can escape through your head. I am fond of the outfitter style hats, which consist of a wool or fleece cap with a bill to shield your eyes from the sun and earflaps which can be worm up or down depending on temperature. Stocking or ski hats also work well, but I am partial to a hat with a bill to help keep the sun out of my eyes. Fishing adds some additional constraints which somewhat complicate the choice of gloves. One needs dexterity for tying knots and attaching flies, and after trying several alternatives, what seems most practical to me is a pair of glo-mitts, sometimes called converta-mitts. These are wool or fleece mittens, with the nifty feature that the finger section can be flipped back exposing your bare fingers without removing the rest of the glove. This facilitates handling fish and tying knots without having to remove your gloves, which gets tedious, especially if you drop them in the water. A popular glove for fishing is the Glacier Glove, made of neoprene. I must confess I haven’t tried them, but experienced fishermen I know say they leave something to be desired in the warmth department. Another alternative is to use a pair of lightweight liner gloves under a heavier pair. I’m told that these liner gloves allow adequate dexterity for knot tying, etc. without removing them, and it’s easy to carry several pairs so they can be swapped for a dry pair. One still must constantly take the heavy outer pair on and off, though, so the glo-mitts seem more practical to me. The rest of your fishing outfit need not vary from any other time of the year, with the possible exception that unless you are masochistic or suicidal, you are not going to want to wade without a pair of neoprene waders. The water is cold, in the low thirties, and you need insulation from it. Obviously, you aren’t going to be in the water for as long as you would in warmer seasons. Quite often, daytime temperatures don’t get above freezing until afternoon, and two or three hours of fishing is going to be plenty.

Your choice of places to go fishing are considerably more limited in the winter, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The fish tend to be somewhat more concentrated, which provides some obvious advantages. Also, even though your alternatives are somewhat more limited, the number of fisherman is greatly reduced and you are likely to find all the solitude you desire. Many of the smaller streams are likely to be out of the question since water levels are low and they are going to be largely, if not completely iced over. The fish are not everywhere even in the larger rivers, though, as they tend to concentrate in the larger, deeper holes. Again, this does not seem like a bad thing at all to me, as it makes locating fish an easier proposition. The fish are going to locate in the warmest water they can find, so look for deep holes and you will find fish. One other alternative I should mention, perhaps the best alternative for winter stream fishing, is below a dam. The dams on the Missouri; Toston, Hauser, and Holter all provide this situation, especially the last two. In fact, record fish have been taken below Hauser during the rainbow spawning run, although that is perhaps more spring than winter fishing and outside the scope of this article. Since I brought it up, though, one more quick note on that subject. Fishing below Hauser in March can still produce some dandy fish, but rainbow numbers in Holter Lake downstream are somewhat depleted from the years when the state record was caught there due to the increased competition from Kokanee salmon. Fishing below dams also provides some exceptions to the general case of poor fishing on smaller streams in winter. One case in point is the Ruby below Ruby Reservoir, which can provide superb winter fishing.

So, now you’ve got your warm duds on and are standing below a dam or next to a deep hole on one of our larger rivers. Now what? Well, I’d suggest tying on a nymph or two and chucking them out there. Seriously, with one notable exception all the action, such as it is, is occurring below the surface. The exception: on warmer days midges may be hatching. When that is the case, the fish will feed on these minuscule bugs, and a #20 or smaller imitation, such as a Griffith’s Gnat will catch fish. Personally, I haven’t run into this situation all that often, and almost exclusively use nymphs. My favorites, and apparently, the fishes, include the various stonefly nymphs (especially golden stones), hare’s ears, pheasant tails, princes, and brassies. Soft hackled versions of these seem to produce more hits. I also like tying a second nymph on a dropper, which effectively doubles your chances of a strike, compensating for the proportionally increased chance of finding your terminal tackle in a massive snarl due to careless casting. More often than not, the first thing I rig up with is a golden stone nymph a few inches below a split shot, with a beadhead prince nymph on a dropper. Oftentimes, that is successful and all I fish with. Due to the cold water temperature, the fish can be somewhat sluggish and strikes can be hard to detect. A strike indicator of some sort will greatly increase your success. Some other alternatives include the ever popular wooly buggers, muddlers, and various streamers. In later winter, egg patterns also produce. I have had by far the most success with nymphs, though, and usually stick with them.

So there you have it. Instead of whiling away the short days and long nights of winter dreaming of summer fishing, put on some warm clothes and go for it. Many of the best spots are easily accessible, making it a great way to spend a few hours without mounting an expedition. Winter flyfishing also provides a great way to break up a ski or snowmobile trip with another activity. You won’t be bothered with crowds, and in many areas the wildlife is concentrated at lower elevations, making for great viewing opportunities. See you on the stream.