January 15 and 18, 2019 – A Couple Local Trips after the Light Snows and Before the Next Deep Freeze – SEPA Freestoners

1/15: Sunny but cold.  Fish sluggish and small.

It was not the warmest week of the winter, but it was not the coldest either, so I did sneak in a couple excursions, just chasing fall stocked trout in Montgomery County with midges.  I had equal success in slow holes with an indicator and in soft pockets around riffles and runs while continuing to work on my dropshotting technique with a pair of midges above a split shot anchor, which I find a lot more fun.  Tuesday was barely above freezing, and ice was forming on the fringes of some slower holes, so fish at the first creek, which is getting low and clear (not for long, with heavy rain coming this weekend) were rather sluggish.  I spent 90 minutes on the water, and I landed only one little rainbow that nearly looked like a fingerling stocking, barely legal and still sporting parr marks.  I stuck two other fish on the same rainbow warrior midge pupa, briefly turning them with my hookset before they quickly shook off the line.  Since this stream is tiny (and low and clear as I mentioned) I had the bright idea to fish with my 8 foot 3 weight set up and a pair of Palsa pinch-on indicators, which land almost as gently as a dry dropper and in tandem do a good job of tracking the position of the light midges as they move through the current.  This idea is a work in progress, however.  I am so used to the long rod, which makes line management much, much easier, that I grew frustrated with getting the right drift, especially when fish were holding in slow, soft water adjacent to current, as winter fish are apt to do, and I had to manage fly line on the water without throwing too many mends that would likely spook the hole.  With a 10 foot 3 weight, I think the set up would be very effective, but I will likely employ this short rod in the way I usually do going forward, tossing dries and small streamers on small creeks like Valley and mountain brook trout trickles.

1/18: Picturesque, quiet.  Fish bigger and hotter.

We received a dusting of wet snow overnight, so conditions looked too picturesque to stay home this morning.  I worked last night, and I had some grading and paperwork to do early in the morning, but by 11:30 AM, I was itching to keep working on my midge dropshotting technique instead.  I decided to stay close and visit another nearby creek that received a fall stocking.  There was a sweet spot today, around 1 to 2:30 PM where the air temperatures were mild and comfortable but not warm enough to get the snow melting in earnest.  I caught 7 fish between noon and 3 PM, but most came during this magic time before the snow started plopping off the tree branches and the creek started getting a bit gray from melting snow.  I caught 3 under an indicator in a deep flat hole, but I also caught 4 others nymphing soft pockets with the dropshot set up.  While the hits were very slight, a couple of the fish were hot!  Two of them took multiple runs and leaps, and the average size was 12 to 14 inches, I bet, so they were a lot of fun.  It was quiet and picturesque as expected, but the fish also made the afternoon surprisingly exciting at times.  I guess this aforementioned sweet spot before the water temps started to dive again had them feeling good.  The rainbow warrior accounted for all the fish today, so there are midges hatching and keeping the fish fed and healthy too, it seems.  The weather and my calendar look iffy next week, so I was very happy that I decided to get out today.  I am getting more confident and proficient fishing midges without the indicator too, which may just make things a little less monotonous this winter!

Dropshotting the rainbow warrior above some spit shot was just as effective as the indicator.