Greedy Streamer Eating Trout

Sluggish in the heart of winter, they rarely come to the surface. Small nymphs drifting by their nose comprise the bulk of their diet. A move of more than a few inches constitutes significant effort.

With trout lurking in deep pools, some of us moth ball the fishing gear until spring, waiting for the bugs to hatch and the fish to begin rising again. Others diligently mend double nymph rigs, mimicking the most prevalent food sources in an effort to fool their quarry. Both are reasonable approaches and ones I’ve adopted.

But sometimes the trout get greedy. The allure of a big meal becomes too strong and their predatory instinct kicks in. A sculpin or juvenile trout catches their eye and with a flick of the Caudal fin they attack with reckless abandon. For this reason I can’t help but to chuck some meat in the heart of winter.

Throwing streamers may reduce your catch rate on some days, but when you hit it right it’s hard to beat. As the photo above demonstrates, big trout aren’t the only ones who like a big meal, but on average the saying that big flies catch big fish holds merit. And regardless of the size of the fish, the hopes of inducing a voracious eat and a long distance handshake with an aggressive trout are too much to ignore.