Giant’s Cup

We are deep in a full-on winter and just like that fish movement patterns and the angling that follows them, is turned on its head. In our dam virtually overnight the fish abandoned their usual lies amongst the weedbeds and along structural features and moved in mass. Those gravid hens ready to spawn headed upstream in small knots and pods, departing  mostly under cover of dark. Everything else began congregating in  deep water  (6~8 meters) above flat, featureless mud bottoms.  The anglers that found the fish began enjoying good catches once they switched to small bloodworm imitations. The pattern worked for a few weeks, then suddenly, although the fish were still there, catches ceased abruptly… until anglers began to fish the Chironomid pupa (black buzzers) rather than the larvae (bloodworm).  Not for nothing is the Midge fly also known as the ‘snowfly’. It is one of few items on the trouts’ menu that remains active into the colder part of the year.

So the hot tip is; in the weeks ahead fish chironomid pupa imitations is sizes fom 18~14#.  Fish them deep over muddy /sedimentary substrates.

Tight lines