By Aaron Kephart
With the mid-November cold snap we just experienced, our winter patterns on the Murphy area lakes are starting to take center stage, and while the species I primarily focus on in cold water are smallmouth and striped bass, I have been doing an increasing number of trips each winter for brown trout. While most of the trout we catch are in the 12 to 20 inch range, we do boat a lot of 5 plus pound fish each winter, and we even manage to boat a few every December and January in the 10 plus pound range. With that in mind, I would like to take a little time this month to look at patterns, timing, and advantages involved with this fishery.
First and foremost, I feel that there are a few advantages to a winter brown trout fishery in a lake versus one in a river or stream, particularly for older, younger, less mobile, or more inexperienced anglers. Winter wading can be a challenge, as waters are often high and swift, but my brown trout fishing is done from a boat. In addition, it is, in my opinion, much easier to keep warm in mid-January, for example, in a 22 foot bay boat than it is wading waste deep in 35 degree water. Legal methods are also different on the lake. While a number of our best rivers and streams have very restrictive limits in terms of lures, hooks, and equipment you can fish with (and rightfully so), the browns that I fish for in our local lakes have no such restrictions, meaning bait, spinning, and casting tackle are all on the table.
In terms of bait selection, the one thing you have to remember is that a brown trout in a lake is a predator, and he is looking for meat. I have caught fish on a wide variety of lures (jerkbaits, crankbaits, spinners, spoons, hard swimbaits, and soft swimbaits, just to name a few), and I am sure I have caught them on more that I just can’t think of offhand. The smaller fish will also take night crawlers and small minnows. However, most of our biggest ones (over 5 pounds) have come on live blueback herring. The reason for this is that these fish, within just a couple of days of stocking, seem to learn what a herring is, and the rest of their life revolves around eating them. Matching the hatch has been a phrase I have heard my whole life when it comes to trout fishing, and it is hard to beat a live herring when fish are accustomed to feeding on them.
If you are a fly fishing purist, I am assuming that a quality baitfish imitation, somewhere in the 3 to 5 inch range, and with a bit of flash tied in, would probably be very enticing to these fish. I would also guess that you would be much better off with a weighted fly or line, even though I will readily admit that flyfishing is not my specialty. While I have never had a winter fly angler pursue browns from my boat with fly tackle, I welcome anybody out there to come try it, particularly because I feel like it might work really well, and I would be interested to see the results.
If you are interested in pursuing a big winter brown with me, the best time to go is mid-December through January. Interestingly, this also coincides with the best smallmouth fishing of the year, and combo trips for the two species are the norm. While this style of trout fishing is definitely different than what you would experience on one of our pristine mountain rivers or streams, both have their advantages, and we are blessed to live in an area with so many options and species. If you would like to learn more about this fishery and book a trip with me in the Murphy area, or purchase a gift certificate as a Christmas gift, please give me a call at 865-466-1345. Thank you, and I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season!
Aaron Kephart is the Owner of Mountain Lakes Guide Service. To book a guided trip on one of the Murphy area mountain lakes, contact him by phone or by email at mtnlakesguide@outlook.com Checkout his website at http://www.mtnlakesguideservice.com and catch him on facebook@mountainlakesguideservice.