Late winter report

Abby getting up in the meadow

We have had a lot of good weather this winter. Fishing has been very hit or miss on the reef though. Some days can be banging while others slow. I would mostly be chasing a good streamer day if I was going. The nymphing can be good but look for slow mornings and better afternoons. I’d stick with the normal worm, leech, egg and midge rigs. Fish the slow deep water ignore the skinnies unless you are hucking streamers. Be somewhere you really want to be or have confidence in for the afternoon when the bite will most likely be best. You might have to fish up to 7 or 8 feet deep and remember long drifts are key. Let your rig marinate, this is a balance between fishing on the bottom but not getting stuck or hung up down there. Pay attention to where you are hooking fish. Experiment on some shelves but realize that most of the fish are going to be in the major big buckets and holes.

If you’re throwing streamers, I have seen brown, yellow and black colors seem to be the hot ticket. Rusty trombone, Goldie’s and the old reliables can always work but mix it up. Hooley has been doing well with a brown and yellow double screamer. Sparkle minnows and kneelex’s will get it done too.

Tuna with a good one outta outhouse hole.

Upper mile is the place to be!

The slow and low technique I’ve outlined before is always a tactic worth trying throughout the winter but this winter hasn’t seen it to be the destroyer it has been in the past. Retrieving fast and more jerky seems to be moving more fish.

The mile has been fishing fairly well too. Still some big browns wintering in there along with the usual big rainbows. The upper section seems to be buggier and have more fish in it. I had particularly good luck in the canyon around 1:00. RS2’s and mayhems were the most productive to me. As usual worms, leeches and annelids can work too. I poked around the bottom most sections of river and fished it to no avail. I would focus on the upper river and fish heavy and deep.

Fremont canyon has been good too. I’ve been up there a good bit and I would say the fishing has been good but as with typical winter conditions it can be slow for periods of the day. I have hooked some hogs in the morning but the afternoons seem to have hungrier fish. Foam wings, RS2’s, zebra midges..would be a good idea. The worm bite can be pretty wacky up there too some days. I’ve hooked a lot of small fish on annelids while the bigger fish seem to want the goomie, and San Juan worms. Streamers can be good too especially swinging and tugging pine squirrel leeches around. Take advantage of the lack of anglers and cover water!

I got to float the South Fork two days ago and it fished pretty good. It was shockingly crowded but there’s still plenty of room to fish. We floated from the slide down to spring creek bridge. Most the bigger trout seem to be hanging around and suspending in the big eddy’s adjacent to the major tanks. There is hardly any current and while it is possible to get a nymph rig presented to them, the water is barely moving. So patience and good boat control is important. Clear eggs, annelids, midges and streamers were what worked best. The riffles didn’t seem to be holding a lot of fish…they seem very spread out. The south fork though is a weird winter fishery and you never know. I always try the riffles but if I’m not getting them in there I move on quickly and focus on the big eddies, soft edges and tail outs (especially the tail outs in the side channels). The streamer fishing has the potential to be good, and big fish can be chasing but it is very on and off. Black was our best color. The streamer eaters were definitely in certain water. On the big fast banks, or the side of the river with the most current (wherever the cut bank would be at high water), there are slow edges on the banks usually about half way to three quarters down the run. That is where we had the most luck.

Nick getting good in the side channels

Sounds like the Henry’s fork has some fish poking their heads up. I’m planning on heading there in a few days and let ya know how it’s fishing.

Winter 2025

So far we have had a mild and mellow winter. We are due for some crappy and windy weather. I am back in Georgia right now, but as of Dec. 15th, this is what’s happening!

My biggest brown this year came on a swing.

The Reef has been either really good or kind of crappy. Afternoons seem to be noticeably better. Pressure is down so I would be running the heat most of the day. Fish are back into their winter zones so concentrate in the meat and potatoes of the runs. The deep stuff! Worms, annelids, midges and egg sucking leeches. Probably around 0.8 grams or a AAA shot to about 5 maybe 6 feet. Remember it’s winter now so fish the winter water. Banks and skinny water aren’t holding that many fish right now, so unless your streamer fishing, I would stay in the deeper water. Moss has really cleared out on the upper sections and it is ALOT easier to get drifts in the fishy zones without constantly hooking moss. Don’t get out too early, enjoy the afternoons and remember the fish aren’t feeding heavily all day.

Streamer fishing can be good some days. I’ve been doing better with two small streamers, like a thin mint to a complex twist. I just don’t usually do to well on big stuff this time of year. M

Billy a guide from Jackson checking out the Mile for the first time.

The Mile has been its moody self lately. Some days all the fish seem to be on beds and then the next they are happy feeding in the runs. The browns are still spawning and this time of year hordes of Coloradoan’s make their way to the Mile to fish on redds. It’s sad but there’s no point in saying anything to them, you can’t argue with stupidity. There is a lot of bad etiquette and bad attitudes this time of year, I don’t want to hear any arguing on the situation it’s a cheesedick convention plain and simple. Alright that’s enough of me whining. The fishing can be fun. Eggs, annelids, midge larva like Juan’s pale ale and buckskins can be good. There’s definitely some big rainbows to chase too.

Billy with a banger!

My version of the North Platte Special.

The swing bite can be really fun. More and more Spey anglers have been enjoying the mile and some awesome fish have been taken on the swing! I usually fish a Hoh Bo Spey tied in trombone or Goldie colors. I also love putting a size 16 cdc pheasant tail behind these, that can work really well some days. Don’t dredge your swing, fish to fish that will move for your fly. If you want to scrape bottom just fish a single handed, it works better for that. Also remember that a lot of people don’t realize how much water your working if your swinging. Don’t be surprised if some bobber bros blow up your spot.

Apparently these guys are still hanging out…weird.

Hands down my favorite fishing lately has been Fremont. The meadow and canyon have been fishing great. Big hot fish. And all the days I was there I didn’t see another person, it was great. Eggs, all day mays, and annelids. Biggest thing I can recommend is not standing on top of what your fishing. Don’t be an idiot and think you have to fish 6X but then think standing a rod length away from your target doesn’t spook them. The fish are all shiny and angry. It’s such a cool place to fish when you’re the only one there. Again, afternoons are probably the best but sometimes there can be a good morning bite too.

Early Winter Snake Fishing Report

Winter is officially here!  If your looking to fish the Snake don’t be in a rush to get up early.  With the cold weather the best window for fishing is usually going to be in the afternoon when things warm up and the midges get moving around.  But life and colder water temperature’s are going to make the fish’s feeding windows a lot smaller.  A big thing to focus on is that if you find feeding fish don’t leave them.  Fish may be feeding one spot but others won’t have much going on, so stay put if your finding trout.  Nymphing will be the best bet most of the day.  Just because it’s cold dredging bottom with heavy rigs isn’t necessarily the key to success and whitefish can get in the way by doing this.  So try suspended rigs and really concentrate on major feeding lanes.  Soft inside edges can be great and remember the water is low and clear so don’t stand right on top of where you’re targeting.  Rubber legs with small pheasant tails, or zebra midges rigs are a great go to and whatever midge pattern you have confidence in!  Even San Juan worms are good too.  Small emerger’s with cdc or foam post to mimic emerging midges are reliable as well.  But remember put the emerger on behind or after a heavier fly so they ride higher in the water column where trout are looking for them.  Also start your drift upstream of your target area to avoid spooking fish when you rig hits the water.  

If you do see trout rising, try to slow down.  The fish are spookier then in warmer months.  Try to make your first few cast count and minimize unnecessary splashing.  Try small Adams, Grittiths gnat’s, renegades and RS2 trailers.  Small CDC flies that sit in the surface film can be deadly as the weather gets colder and trout are becoming more lethargic.  It’s helpful to put on a larger point fly with one of these smaller patterns trailing behind to help see what your doing better.  Dry dropper rigs can work great too for getting nymphs half way through the water column and sometimes they make less of a splash or ruckus when they hit the water then a big ole bobber.  

The biggest factor right now is time and place.  Finding feeding fish is key!  So get on the water later in the day afternoon and keep those eyes peeled in the soft water and sometimes tailouts for rising cutthroat!

Floating the Reef in the dead of winter

There are two

Winter Streamer Fishing

My man Charlie getting it done on the Mile with the low and slow streamer method!

From January to the end of February the tailwaters of the Miracle Mile & Grey’s Reef has some awesome streamer fishing. Low & slow is the key here. Pounding the banks with quick retrieves is not how I usually go about this. Positioning the boat on the sides of deeper water, whether that be a run or hole and retrieving your streamer slowly while maintaining contact with the bottom of the river is the technique that usually crushes it in the winter. This method is not rocket science but it does take some practice. I do this on Grey’s Reef & the Miracle Mile all winter, and I have become convinced it is the way to go!

Anglers and the rower must be in sync! The rower has to row the boat like he/her is rowing a bobber drift. The anglers should cast slightly upstream of where they normal would & allow their streamer to sink to the bottom. Once the streamer has sunk the rower ideally wants to start chasing the drift/retrieve just like your trying to get a long nymph drift. A slight downstream curve or bow on your line keeps the fly deep & gives the angler the ability to feel even the lightest of takes on this tight line. The biggest obstacle for anglers learning this method is figuring out how to fish and feel the bottom of the river without getting snagged on the bottom. Once again this isn’t rocket science but it does take a bit of practice.

The takes are usually very light! While sometimes you get fish to hammer it, the cold water temperatures having fish more on the lethargic side, so hitting the fish in the face with this low & slow method is usually what gets those fish to eat a streamer! Differentiating between bottom and eats can be a little tedious at first but once you get the hang of fishing deep & slow with a tight line it becomes easy to tell. While learning this you will get a lot of pump fakes from the bottom. Im always amazed how often after being hung on the bottom for a moment and getting the streamer moving slowly again you will get eats. This leads to a lot of “I think I got one!…Wait never mind.” Then two strips later BOOM theres a fish.

Keep in mind we are usually not casting to the banks, but there are exceptions like at outhouse hole where we have our boat left of “the trough” and casting as far as we can to the right. So while the streamer lands near the bank, I’m usually expecting an eat more in the middle of the river, with the first ten feet of the drift just being used to get my streamer on the bottom as much as possible.

It can almost seem like your czech nymphing streamers through the “nymphing water”. Keeping that line tight is crucial. If your stripping to fast you might go over a fish or simply be offer a presentation that requires these cold fish too much effort to eat. We usually use intermediate sinking lines (lines that sink, but only 1 to 2 IPS…inches per second). With these intermediate lines

Craig with a great brown trout on the stream taken in Outhouse Hole with the slow and low method!

Beginning of Winter

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