By Karl Ekberg
We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and are ready to do some winter fishing. Cooler temperatures through December have pushed water temperatures down to the low 40’s. Enjoy that extra cup of coffee on the morning drive in to the mountains and spend a few minutes with us, and we will convince you that it is definitely a good day to be on the water while the temperatures for the day only achieve the low 40’s. Wearing an extra wicking base layer, a beanie, and a pair of gloves for the day, will make for an enjoyable experience. Please remember that wearing cotton clothing will keep body moisture close to you and in return result in a cold day, so leave the blue jeans for the drive home on your way to dinner.
Enjoying a 50-60 degree day in January is not uncommon here, and some dry fly fishing may be on the menu. Usually these days are “gin clear” water, so adding a little extra length to the leader by adding some 5x or 6x tippet to slide through the eyes of these small little dry flies will do just the trick. For the days where the temperatures do not exceed the 50 degree range, there is no top water activity, so nymph fishing will be your main attraction. Remembering that the warmest part of the river is at the bottom, at this time of year, delivering a cast upstream, mending the line and a “dead-drift”, will be essential to catching fish. Concentrating casts in the deep runs along the seam lines will be critical. In these areas, running heavy point flies, with small trailing nymphs will be a great choice. If no success at first, do not give up, simply do one of two things. Adding a piece of split shot or two to the tandem fly rig will help get the flies deeper in the water column, or changing the point fly to a heavier one will get these flies down to where the fish are holding.
Another avenue of keeping a little warmer on the cooler days is streamer fishing. A few casts, retrievals, and marching along the river will keep the blood moving in the body. We have been having great success, of late, throwing streams, and this trend will continue throughout the winter months. I colder water temperatures, slow down the retrieval rate, and fish lower in the water column. For fishing on days after big winter rains, the use of sink tips will aid in keeping streamers lower in the river. No need to purchase full sink lines, we have a wide array of sink tip leaders, in different sink rates, which easily attach/detach to your floating fly line.
As we start a new year, resolutions always seem to be broken, except one, which we keep each and every year. Each year, we try to pick up more litter from the river corridors, and remind everyone about “leave no trace”. This year, we hope that everyone visiting the river sheds here in South Carolina, along your home waters, or wherever your travels take you, will endeavor to pick up a little more than we walked in with, so generations to come may enjoy our beautiful outdoors.
Happy New Year from all of us at Chattooga River Fly Shop!
Karl and Karen Ekberg are Co-Owners of Chattooga River Fly Shop, located at 6832A Highlands Hwy, in Mountain Rest, SC 29664. Give them a call at (864) 638-2806 or look them up on the web at chattoogariverflyshop.com.