Winter Holding Water with Mike Dawkins
Winter fish have moved off their summer holding water in favor of tailouts and slow, deep holes…
Mike Dawkins, a fishing guide and president of WorldCast Anglers from Victor, ID, talks about finding (river) fish during the winter season.
Water is low and clear, fish are extremely spooky and they have vacated their summer holding zones, preserving energy and avoiding predators.
“The winter season creates low, clear and cold water conditions, where we can find our trout very spooky, because they can see a lot in that underwater environment.
Anglers can be challenged because of the cold water temperatures and low, clear flows.
These conditions provide very limited dry fly fishing opportunities and trout (feeding) activity on the surface. Most times, your angling pursuits will be subsurface, targeting slow water with nymph rigs, because the metabolisms of the trout will be at the lowest point of the angling year.
A tip I always recommend during the winter season: don’t get caught up with fishing your summer water.
The fish have moved off of those grassy banks, riffles, rock walls, boulder pools and buckets in favor of the tailouts and slow, deep holes, where they can consume energy, but not have to expel energy.
Prime winter fishing opportunities also occur during the warmest parts of the day–10 a.m. until about 4 p.m.– when insect activity is at its peak, and the fish are most active.”
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Mike Dawkins is a fishing guide and the president of WorldCast Anglers, an outfitter, fly shop and destination travel provider from Victor, ID. As a Teton Valley resident, he is an active Jackson Hole One Fly board member and policy advisor for Idaho Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.