Winter Fishing Crooked Creek

[KrookedKreekKing]

Has anybody had the gall to fish Crooked Creek in the cold months and come out successful? If so I'd appreciate some tips. I went out this last december around christmas and didn't even see a fish much less get one to bite. Any input would be great. I'd much rather go out and catch one fish on a float than sit in the house all winter with cabin fever.

[Ham]

It's all your's son. Once the water cools down enough that the fish are mostly inactive, I head to the lakes where I have a lot more action from the fish. I do trout fish rivers when the water is cold though.

[Al Agnew]

I've tried a number of different streams in the winter (not Crooked Creek, but streams of similar size, as well as smaller ones and bigger ones). In my experience, it's a matter of size and to some extent of how spring-fed the stream is. Smaller streams, especially those which get very cold (cold enough that the slowest pools sometimes freeze over) are usually barely worth the trouble to fish, if at all. Bigger rivers, or those that are more spring-fed and seldom freeze, are much better bets.

But if you want to give it a try, look for the deeper, slower pools, especially those with lots of rocks. Fish mostly in the afternoon when the water has a chance to warm up a bit. Use small lures you can fish slowly on the bottom...hair jigs and 2 inch tubes work well, as do finesse worms at times.

The "cold water" period, as far as I'm concerned, starts about mid-October and runs until about mid-March or early April. Basically when the water temps drop down into the mid-50s. Water temps, and water temp trends, are important. Warming water during a warm spell is better than cooling water during or after a cold snap. Water temps in the 50s, suspending jerkbaits and crankbaits work well. Upper to low 40s, you can still catch some on the suspending jerkbaits but the tubes and jigs start to come into their own. Low 40s to upper 30s, strictly a jig and tube game. Anytime water temp is below about 37 degrees, enjoy the scenery because the fishing will be very tough.

[taxidermist]

Small white Road Runners can tear them up!!! I have fished CC a lot inthe winter. and if we have heavy fall rain, it can be a rainbow trout heaven.