Winter Fly Fishing

I do believe in allowing people to fish for rainbow trout on stillwaters in the winter if they want to, because I don't think they are doing anything or anybody any harm at all. Rainbows here feed all the year round, and certainly through the cold­est winter weather, and the fishing is probably bet­ter in the winter than it is through most of the summer.

I have no qualms about this at all because the rainbows are 'artificial' anyway. In the wild, a trout should be five times as long as it is deep, whereas here, because of artificial feeding, they are probably only three times as long; you can see that they are man-made fish, and so they should not be subject to the good rules we put down for wild ones.

Rainbows are much more susceptible to high temperature ranges than low ones. In summer, once the temperature gets to 60 or 70°C, the fish will have no appetite at all; if they do feed then it will be very early in the morning, and they will spend the rest of the day moving as little as pos­sible, just enough to allow some water at least to go through their gills and keep them alive.

Cold temperatures, however, don't bother them and I have seen great feeding activity even when the water temperature has been approach­ing zero. In fact I have considerable problems here as there are warm springs which enter the lakes and keep the ice off in a few places; the rain­bows leap through these holes and then find themselves skidding along the ice, unable to get back into the lake. I have to get into a boat then, and hack my way to them and return them before the seagulls can get them!

So a winter rainbow is much more likely to feed than a summer one, partly because the water suits it better and partly because there is very little nat­ural food in competition. Also the water is colder and there is more oxygen in it, and so the fish fight and look better anyway. So as far as I can see, if an angler wants to brave the cold, then let him. Believe me, fly fishing on a cold, crystal-clear frosty morning is quite an experience, and something I would recommend to anybody.

John Bailey

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