01-02-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 29
gear
These are some of the
best days on the water, in
December and January,
when a lot of other
sportsmen are watching
football. Fly-rodders watch
the weather and hope for
a hatch of midges and
look forward to the little
black stoneflies, but there
are better ways to tempt
bigger trout in December
and January. Plastic worms
and minnows can tease big
trout out from beneath the
undercut banks and beads,
tailored to size and color
can turn on the bite.
TWITCHING PLASTIC
Plastic worms tend to
produce as many fish as
natural baits. And you don't
have to dig through the
compost pile to find them.
Adapted from steelhead
drift fishing the best rig is
a six-pound main line tied
to a barrel swivel. A sliding
sinker on the main line is
a good way to get the bait
down but another option is
to leave a tag on the main
line knot and crimp on
removable split shot. The
leader should be 20 inches
long terminated at a No.
10-8 single egg hook.
Rig to drift the edge of a
seam with just enough
weight to tickle the tops
of the rocks. Jeff Warner,
founder of X Factor Tackle,
relies on three main colors
in cold winter water - hot
red, fluorescent pink, and
natural worm.
Warner's go-to for brown
trout on his home water is
a 1/16-ounce jig head on a
No. 4 hook and an X-Factor
Teaser minnow. He fishes
without a float.
"In my experience, it is
better to allow the bait to
do its work as an injured
bait fish. I don't want a
natural drift, I want violent
rips and jerks. It's why I like
the lightweight jig. I don't
need it to be down on the
bottom. It lets the bait look
more erratic than it does
with a heavy jig head."
Warner's favorite on a
bright sunny day is motor
oil with red flake. Warner
recommends a plastic
minnow in the tail-outs
and along the seams and
ripping it back.
"I like to cast it upriver and
then work the clock so to
speak. Even cast it straight
downriver and twitch it.
If I don't catch a fish by
that time there ain't one in
there."
The bite can be hard to
detect. Keep the index
finger on the line to stay in
touch with the rocks and
set the hook at the least
tug that signals a grab.
FLY ROD EGGS/BEADS
When fishing egg
imitations and hard beads,
the big challenge is to get
them at the level the fish
are holding and allow a
dead-drift presentation.
Try to position the bead
about two inches above
the hook. This can be
accomplished in several
different ways. One easy
way to do it is to nail knot
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