What's your winter fishing program?

Mingo said:
winter means 7 and 8 wt rods and bonefish for me...some trevally mixed in there too. Add some Green job fish and amberjacks on my boat. Plenty of reef fish on 5 wts. Lots of sushi and ramen feasts.
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Uku May be one of my favorite sashimi …
 
Early winter is sort of a grab bag for me. I love euro-nymphing/streamers the big D in the shoulder seasons and winter, fewer people around, the fish usually still oblige, even a steelhead might be around. Weather can even be pretty nice! I wish it was closer, Id probably just hit that all winter.

I start to chase steelhead in late Jan/ or Feb. I have kind of given up on the early season on the coast, it's just so competitive. I might fish one of the local ditches once or twice before February to remind myself why I should wait. I've been swing only more and more. I put the gear rods away at the end of Feb last year and just swung only the rest of this year. I still cary a pin rod for the pocket water, or other slots I can't resist, but I've just gotten tired of lugging around all the stuff for bobber fishing since I am a bank bound angler. Swinging I just carry a couple tips, a small box of flies, a spool of ultragreen, and that's it.
 
I'm going to fish this winter like I did all summer. I thought about it, but I didn't even get out. A broken leg and getting older fucked me up. And being that I'm so ancient that I only get out if the sun is warm on my back. I won't have to pencil in a outing until maybe June (y)
 
Local beaches for SRC because it's just nice to get out. I hope to start figuring out lowland lakes, and have a Commander that needs some attention. Probably visit my brother in Loreto in February and fish the Baja, I need to hook up on the fly down there with something big!
 
I will be fishing be fishing chum until Thanksgiving with SRC feathered in here and there. I may also throw in a lake trip or two as well. I’ll be in @Mingo land soon after and will take a rod to catch nothing substantial diy’ing it on the local beaches for a couple of weeks. Still a ton if fun catching reef fish I cannot identify. December- February is SRC 100% for me with the occasional beach blackmouth session thrown in. It can get tough come February but I find some willing fish. That said, this summer, I got a 3 hour lesson in spey casting while in AK. I ended up catching some rainbows swinging and it was a ton of fun. That led to me buying my first real spey rod to try steelhead again this winter. I’ve been out two dozen times since 2014 (last time was probably 2017) and have hooked two fish. No idea if they were steelhead. The wrong time to try out that fishery again but I have never caught a fair hooked steelhead and I need to get it done at some point!! March-June will be a mix of SRC and lakes with maybe a little river fishing thrown in. Maybe some steelhead early in the spring if rivers are open. Then an AK trip and finally back to salmon and tuna and the cycle starts again…

When I grow up like @DimeBrite I’ll start weaving in some cool exotics as well :).
 
Ordinarily, I would go snowboarding. However, I haven't done that since COVID started; everyone says the lifts are horrendous. Instead, I just keep doing what I do for the rest of the year; explore the rivers that are close to my home.
 
I have been charged by the family to dispose of my deceased brother-in-law's load of fly fishing gear. It's incredible how much there is!
I'll start posting in the classifieds next month.
 
jaredoconnor said:
Ordinarily, I would go snowboarding. However, I haven't done that since COVID started; everyone says the lifts are horrendous. Instead, I just keep doing what I do for the rest of the year; explore the rivers that are close to my home.
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I mean, I didn't find them any worse than normal last year. But I guess it probably depends on where you are riding.
 
Winter fishing? Standing in the rain and snow, smoking an occasional cigar and enjoying that summer is in the rearview mirror. Viva la winter steelheading or something like that
 
The wife can't complain about lack of yard work during winter fishing. Bonus
 
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