Beating the Winter Blues

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Photo by Louis Cahill

Photo by Louis Cahill

By Kevin Howell

As I travel around to fishing shows I often hear people talking about wanting to get on the stream and go fishing once it warms up.

In reality, some of the best fishing of the year, here in the Southern Appalachians, takes place in the winter. Here are some ideas to help you get through the winter blues.

Fish in the winter. Winter fishing in our part of the country is fabulous. I agree, on days when it is 22 degrees and blowing blue snow, you probably do not want to go fishing. However, we have plenty of days when the air temps will hit the high 40’s to low 50’s and it makes a nice day to get out of the house. Remember a trout has to eat to survive, and you can not catch him if you are sitting on the couch.

Tie Flies. Another great way to pass the time is to tie flies. If you are new to tying or want to learn how to tie, then hang out at your local shop and take some tying classes. A lot of stores like Davidson River Outfitters even offer free or low cost classes or nights you can just come into the shop and hang out and tell fish stories.
Build a rod. Again if your local shop or fly fishing club offers a rod building class you can build your own rod and customize it in any manner you like, except for Tarheel Blue (sorry, I went to NC State).

Take a Trip. If you can afford it, take a trip. It does not have to be a $10,000 around-the-world trip. You could go to south Florida or Louisiana for a day or two and go Redfishing. You could go to south Texas and fly fish for bass. You could go to North Georgia and fish the Toccoa tailwater and camp overnight in a public campground for $2. If you want to go to Argentina or New Zealand, or the tropics like the Bahamas or Christmas Island, you can find a lot of good deals at the moment due to the world economy. My trip to Argentina this year cost $3800 per person which included English-speaking guides, all meals, lodging, and transportation– that breaks down to $600 per day. You are going to pay that just for your guide in the states.

Take your Spouse to Dinner. So now you are asking yourself, how does this help? Simple, score all of your brownie points with your spouse now so you can fish longer and harder in the spring when the fishing is fabulous.

Kevin Howell
Gink & Gasoline
www.ginkandgasoline.com
hookups@ginkandgasoline.com
 
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2 thoughts on “Beating the Winter Blues

  1. I set out a few years ago with the goal to catch a trout on the fly rod in every month of the year in North Carolina. The toughest month of the year was July! I only caught one trout in July. I had some pretty good days in December and January with ice on the guides. But the July heat that year was tough, on me and the trout.

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