Using Weighted Flies
A Super Article by R Alden Bean
It's possible to find some surface activity at times. For the most part, however, the winter fly-angler will concentrate on subsurface presentations. The use of nymphs and wet flies is more productive over the long haul. Carry some dry flies for those days or parts of days when the fish start to work the surface, but realize that you'll probably do most of your fishing with sinking flies.
On small streams and modest-sized lakes, a full floating line is all you will need even for presenting a nymph to trout holding in the depths of the larger pools. A weighted nymph or wet fly gets down pretty fast and can be fished as deep as you need on small waters. It matters little if you add internal weight to your nymph patterns as you tie them, either, with lead wire or a beadhead design, or add the weight externally.
Generations of fly-anglers have used small split shot on the leader to get the fly down among the rocks and bottom gravels to reach fish. What you need to look for are the tiny shot that are perfectly round and don't have the little lips projecting out like bait-fishing shot. Those lips allow you to open and reuse shot, but they also hang up on every little obstruction on the bottom.
With the lipless shot, you'll need to crimp the shot on the leader with hemostats or a small pair of pliers. Where you place the shot is up to you and is dictated by conditions. In ponds or small streams that flow gently, I like to position the shot at the knot between the leader end and the start of the tippet. This allows the nymph a more natural action. There are times, however, when placing the shot at the head of the fly makes sense. In fishing rough pocket water where you need to get the fly down quickly in a small area, the closer the weight to the fly, the faster it reaches the trout. Of course, this need is matched very well by using a bead-head fly.
Fishing a "cast" of weighted nymphs or wet flies is another excellent way to get the flies down toward the bottom. Two or three flies - one tied at the point of the tippet, and the others on short droppers - can sink quite well, and you have the added advantage of being able to present different colors, sizes or designs all at once. Be sure and check regulations before using multiple-fly rigs.
On larger rivers and in deeper lakes, however, sinking flies only happen with sinking lines. A decade ago, experts recommended sink-tip lines as the solution for fishing the depths, but the reality of sink tips is that while they can get the fly down, even the best of them has an awkward "hinge" where the sinking portion joins the floating line. There are also modular lines created of short sections of sinking line that can be tailored to give a sink-tip approach or a sink-belly design depending on the need. These are better than the older sink-tip designs, but suffer oddities during casting.
One of the quick ways other than adding lead shot to the leader or weight to the fly is to create a mini lead head. This is a short section of leadcore line with loops in each end that can be inserted between the line tip and the leader; this sinks the tip of a floating line quickly. Couple that with a short leader, and it will take a fly to the bottom quickly; also, it can be removed easily for other conditions. The only requirement is that you use a looped connection at the end of the line and on the leader butt.
Of more use are the nice full-sinking lines of intermediate sink rates. The extremely fast sinking lines are not generally used in streams, but a predictable sinking line of Type I or II is a good line to start with. Type III or IV might be needed on larger lakes and really deep river sections.
Rod selection is also up to the angler. The author tends to like short fly rods for dry-fly fishing on small streams, mostly due to the difficulties imposed by brush and overhanging willows and such, but for fishing a weighted nymph or a cast of wet flies, a longer rod gives excellent control over the fly both in and out of the water.
If you want to go fishing in winter gales and snowstorms, then a 7-weight is not too much rod. For most of us, a 6-weight or even a 5-weight is more than enough rod if it is coupled to a rod length of 9 feet or more. This extra length translates into efficient casting on still waters, and is good for "high-sticking" a nymph or wet fly on streams.
The kinds of nymphs and wet flies you fish are not always as important as how you fish them. Many aquatic species are dormant in very cold water, so a bit of rock-rolling to investigate what's living in the water you're fishing at the moment is a good idea.
Nymphs that resemble a number of different kinds of insect larvae and nymphs are probably the most practical. Such old standbys as the Pheasant tail Nymph and the Hare's Ear are well worth carrying, as are imitations of large stoneflies and dragonfly nymphs. Flies that have served the author well include the Woolly Worm and its cousin the Woolly Bugger. These resemble a variety of aquatic critters. You could probably make up a list of your own to match your waters quickly.
The other classes of sinking flies of use to the winter angler are baitfish imitations. Small streamers and bucktails that mimic small fish are excellent winter flies, especially when the water is roiled or discoloured with runoff. They also work when water temperatures are too cold for insect activity. We've already discussed such wet fly/streamer patterns as the Woolly Worm and Woolly Bugger, but there are some prime baitfish imitations that you should carry.
Actually, trout in true winter conditions may not feed very aggressively, but they do need to eat when the opportunity presents itself, and a fat minnow or smaller trout is of more interest than any number of insect larvae or nymphs. Almost any small streamer will work, provided it has life-like action and isn't too far off of the colour of local baitfish