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3. New fly fisher needs help

I recently found a river in western Massachusetts. I am eager to try fishing net location. I took pictures, but the pictures I have don't show the fish I saw there. My question is. Is it normal for fish to swim close to the bank in cold weather?

That is an interesting question. There might be a seep coming into the river there that is actually warmer than the water in the river. Just as trout seek out cooler water in the summer if the water in the river gets too warm I think they might seek out warmer water in the winter time. Just a guess on my part though. There are some really knowledgeable fly fishers on this forum that may shed more light on your question.

How cold is it there? How fast was the current? Is the stream a trib to a lake?

That day was around 40 degrees. The water was fairly shallow. But a steady fast movement. On that day the bridge was about ten feet off the water surface. The first time I went over this bridge. The water level was much deeper, closer to the bottom of the bridge. On this day you could see the you could see the medium size bolders in the water. I found out the name of this river is "Millers river". Im not sure if this water is coming from a lake. I don't think so. But, I do know it connects with the Connecticut River.

Here is a link to guided fly fishing on the Millers River. There is also a lot of good information about the river, flies, etc.

http://millersriverflyfishingforum.blogspot.com/

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Victor,

Here is a link to a site where you can purchase all kinds of books for beginner fly tiers.

http://rsearch.shopathome.com/?q=beginners fly tying books

In winter trout tend to crowd fish into deeper holes -avoidance of fast current is the primary motivation. On nice days they may move in closer to, even into, runs or riffles to feed some -esp later in the season after they've acclimatized. Winter holds are often deep holes but also pocket water with large enough boulders, or wood, that provide pockets of calm water. I've also found numbers of wintering trout in relatively flat stretches with moderate current, the fish using the slow shoreline currents beneath ice shelving for current break and cover. Just gotta explore with your mind and eyes open for winter habitat.

Neat fly, btw. Do make sure that there is enough hook gap exposed to hook fish well. Can't tell by the photo angle but you may have buried the gap a bit too much on that one.

Just trying something new. I know I have seen this somewhere before.

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Thank you. I'll check it out.

I would be surprised if a trout could get this in their mouth. This bead is not small. The hackle is pretty soft. I'll take another picture with a ruler so you can see scale.

For wet flies you want the hackle to be soft so it "breathes" and pulsates as you strip it back in or it is just drifting in the flow. You only want stiff hackle barbules when you are tying dry flies. Also that bead is not overly large for that size hook. One constructive comment I would suggest would be to use a softer, more supple, tailing material than woodduck fibers. You can use marabou, ostrich plume, or long webby wet fly hackle barbules to name a few other tailing materials.

Thanks. Ill remember that for the next one.