Cold water trout fishing in lakes and ponds

[JHawk]

We've been fishing stocked ponds with my nephew, but since the water turned cold the last 2-3 weeks we've been skunked. We've been using the same setups that have been successful in the past, but they aren't producing any strikes at all now.

What should we be doing differently now that the water has turned cold?

Thanks.

 

[troutdude]

Same questions, as in the other thread: what have you been using? Are you fishing the surface, or deep? Bait fishing? Tell us what you have tried, and we may be able to offer some suggestions.

Primarily though...add scents to bait and let it sit. Or, fish flies VERY slowly. This is not the time of year for fast moving spinners, spoons, etc. to work well. Fish will move slow, or just sit still, and won't move far to find food.

 

[nwkiller]

are you on a bank, or boat?? a lot of things could be at play....has the stocked ponds you are fishing at been getting fished heavy? like TD, everything this time of year(presentation wise) is at slow-mo. water clarity also plays a very big part....when the water is cold, clear and stale time of year, the fish like to be in the deepest water away from preditors and where the water temp is more to there liking. Like TD said, give us some more info and I bet we can get you back on the fish!

 

[JHawk]

We've been using flies, various combinations of drys (stimulators) and wets (wooly buggers, scuds, San Juan worms, etc.). Haven't soaked any Powerbait or PowerEggs yet. I figured the Rapala's were too big, and the Kastmasters would just hang up in the weeds.

 

[PNW Sam]

I would think that the body of water you are fishing has probably been fished out. The fish can be gone pretty fast if you are talking about a popular lake.

You can ice fish trout all through the winter and catch tons of hungry fish, so I don't think it's the cold that would completely kill the bite. If anything, the warm water of spring and summer is what I have found really makes them almost impossible to catch.

In most lakes that are stocked, the fish are pretty much gone after a month. Just from personal experience this fall, two weeks after a stocking I caught a limit in a day of fishing (9 to 5:30) with one 9 incher that I threw back, so 6 fish. Two weeks later I caught two fish in the same amount of time. After another week, my brother and I both went for the same amount of time as before, and we didn't get a single bite.

Just my two cents, but I'd say you might want to wait for another batch of fish, or try another method and see if you can get any action.

 

[brandon4455]

when it gets colder out i usually hang a fly under a strike indicator (haven't tried this on stockers but it worked on native lake dwelling cutties) , i just make casts in areas i think the fish will be holding up and cast,then let it sit for a minute,maybe a bit less. if i get no bites i slowly strip the fly back, make afew pauses and then cast in a different spot. casting at the edge of weedbeds has been the most effective. this worked in green colored water in 32 degree weather. I figured since the fish were slugish they would like something that isn't moving because they dont like using their energy up when it gets cold out. ive caught fish on this rig in all kinds of weather, it's a great way to search for fish, often works when nothing else is (trolling,casting and stripping flies etc) the flies i was using for this rig are kaufmann mini leeches,sizes 12-14 i believe the movement is kinda key,especially in a choppy area where the waves give the fly lots of movement while it is still in place. ive fly fished a few stocked areas this year and found the same thing to happen, we had a banner day catching a ton of fish between the 3 of us then another day it's skunk city

 

[JHawk]

We're fishing from the bank, and I've read that you need to go small with flies and lures; any truth to that?

Brandon (and others), are the takes pretty light so it's better to go with a strike indicator and not rely on the tug-on-the-pole method of detection?

 

[JHawk]

We've been bank fishing. I read that when the water gets cold that you should go to small flies and lures, although Brandon's success on 12-14 size mini leeches would seem to contradict the idea of going smaller.

Also, are the takes lighter so it's better to fish under an indicator instead of waiting for the 'grab-it-and-run' kind of take?

 

[JHawk]

Oops. Sorry for the double tap...

 

[brandon4455]

They usually plow it despite the cold water. Sometimes it goes under for a few seconds and sometimes they tap it a few times then it goes under. The strike indicator is to keep it suspended at a certain level rather then let it sink to the bottom. Sometimes i adjust the depth to see if that helps,sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't. experiment with it. Also, the fly size might just be personal preference,but i think that it does add to the success, using a smaller leech pattern seems to work really well, when im just casting and retrieving buggers though i use size 10 krystal buggers. But odds are they don't want to move as much because it takes up too much energy to chase the fly.