Catching Iowa winter trout on the fly

Warm winter offers unique February experience for fly fishermen

With the 60 degree weather and cabin fever, my dad and I set out to catch some trout on the fly. Winter fly fishing can be a great time to land a large fish, but it can be pretty difficult as there are not many insects hatching around this time, making fly selection sometimes fairly tough. Most fly fishermen agree that in the winter, it’s a “bigger the better” scenario, so I decided to use a Sculpzilla streamer that I bought from Cabela’s a few years ago. I moved up and down the stream but unfortunately could not get anything to go for the fly.

This year has made for some good winter fly fishing, as it has been so warm. It is a little odd when it’s a sunny, 65 degree day and yet there is still four inches of snow on the ground. The fishing is far more difficult right now rather than during the warmer months, but when you land the big rainbow or brown trout, it all pays off.

After an hour of nothing, I switched my fly again to a flying black ant pattern. I traveled up and down the stream casting up, and then letting it drift down through the cold water, but I found nothing. There was not a fish to even be seen. We went without any fish, but we did not go out empty-handed.

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