After reading the little brook thread and the lovely fish caught I'm wondering how to approach a similar river in the winter.

I've been fishing it with mostly dries and having some success but now the days are colder I guess the fish will more reluctant to rise and heading for slightly deaper water.

Advice appreciated.

Note: River holds a good head of Chub, Barbel and Dace with the odd good sized perch. Depth ranges from 1 -5 foot with a reasonable pace and some colour.

Hi Sunrider, I fish for coarse fish right through the year but it will get much harder as it gets colder and if the rivers get coloured.
I catch a few chub each year when targetting pike but not enough to recommend going for them with big fish patterns, save that tactic for high summer.
If you can't see the fish,and so a take, try fishing on the dangle (downstream) with flies that will get to or very close to the bottom. This holds the flies almost still in the flow and on a tight line so you'll feel the takes but they can be hard to hit...better than no action though! Move about ...a few minutes in each swim, if no action hit the next spot, unless you are sure there are fish in the depths, then experiment.
Flies to try are bead headed tadpoles in olive or black, pink shrimp (I use one with a small black tungy bead head) or just a simple bead head HE. You will need these tied in every weight & size for the various swim flows/depth combos...you do have to experiment, you can't just set up and keep casting the same rig into every swim or even part of a swim.
Try a smaller fly on the point which will be "dragged" down to the taking area by your heavy dropper fly. This will often pick up a bonus roach or dace even in the depths of winter.
Try various weighted poly leaders or even sinking lines (use lighter flies with these), Ive only been confident with a sinking line in coloured water and only if the swims are pretty deep.
Obviously is the river is up a little try the eddys...a taddy twitched slowly over the bottom can pick up perch and small chub when it looks hopeless.
...forget those barbel, they are hard enough in summer, target the chub/perch and if you get an accidental barbel whilst doing so do this...for about a month!
Good luck with the experimenting.
Dee

As a follow on to the winter brook tactics, I had a brief session (90 mins) on the Biame.
The river was rising, already about 6" up and getting rather coloured and it had been pretty cold for the last few days, so coarse flyfishing would be getting tricky...like winter conditions.
I waded in planning to fish at very close range...keeping still and the coloured water should have allowed the fish to be caught virtually under the rod tip.
I concentrated on any eddys/slacks where lightish flies would still just reach the deck, on the dangle. In the main flow it would have needed 3 flies with 3-4mm tungy beads to get down; the slacks could be fished with a couple of small beaded/leaded flies and still touch the bottom.
I wasn't confident of catching but had dace after just a couple of casts, then from a wide pool with a huge eddy I took 5 fish in succsession, missed a few more "rattles" and lost a good roach. All of these were caught with just a couple of feet of line out from a rod that was only 6.5 ft long.
No camera with me but there were two 8oz perch, a dace, an 8oz roach and a chub of about 1lb. I fished another couple of spots but failed to add anything else despite half a dozen raps...they are tricky on the dangle.
The flies that worked:

#16 tungy bead shrimp

#14 HE & Partridge Bug
The shrimp took most fish.
Monday I fished another small brook that was also coloured and flowing...

...check out the clarity!
Only had two hours on here but managed a perch, couple of small chub and a suprise gudgeon but I missed about twenty "taps". This time I fished close to any overhanging branches by dangling a team of flies just off the main flow.
Flies were the HE bug again and a #16 beaded red tag. No big fish but considering the colour I was pleased with anything scaley and another day it is just as likely to get a "lump" as tiddlers.



Not quite winter but getting there and still catching, the smaller the river the better as it gets colder so dig out the tiny rods.
Dee

Well done Dee good catch considering the conditions. I went today on my local river it was well up clear and tanking through, also the wind was a nightmare. Never even saw a sign of a fish tried upstream and downstream nymping even czech nymphing still nothing.
Still it was a nice walk saw kestrels barn owls and even a deer.
Like the flies are they your winter favourites?

To be truthful Paul I don't do a lot of winter river fishing, for silver fish that is. If the rivers are clear I'll go for pike/perch or head to Derbyshire for the grayling fishing. All to often the rivers are just too coloured to make it viable but if you know where the fish hang out, on tiny brooks, it can be relatively easy to catch a few "bits", even under pretty unfavourable conditions.
The pink shrimp has been my best grayling bug for a couple of seasons (with or without a bead) but this summer it has picked up a few coarse fish when fished blind in slightly coloured streams...I tend to sight fish if it is clear.
The HE & Partridge bug is a great all round river pattern, it catches trout & grayling all year , it's a superb stalking bug for chub, takes plenty of dace & chub on the dangle and picks up odd bonus perch when twitched back.
If it had been clearer I'd have expected the fish to fall to smaller flies, dangled on the point below a heavy dropper. I did try this but all the fish took the bigger flies on the droppers. I think in the murky water they were either feeding more confidently or just couldn't locate the tiny flies as well?
We are always learning...well the thinking anglers are, I've not cracked it I have just worked out where, when and how to tackle my local waters. Most importantly though I know where doesn't work (or where I can't catch) which saves wasted effort...some waters are a waste of time on fly or bait.
If you don't tie yourself let me know (PM), I could soon knock you some up.
Dee
P.S. your Trion/Pfueger set up should be with you on Thursday.

Interesting stuff . . . .

Many thanks Dee

On TuesdayI managed 2 1/2 hours on a brook just north of Leicester...not saying which!
The water was still pretty coloured, probably 18 inch of visibility and a good few inches up but deffinately fishable considering 5 or 6 days earlier it was over the fields. In places the long grass was laying flat where the floods had ironed a swathe through the adjoining meadows. It was good just to get in there, knowing with the saturated ground, one good downpour could ruin it for another week.
I targetted any deeper, slack areas with some kind of cover, as the coarse fish wouldn't be in the rapids and it was pretty bright so even with the colour they'd be hiding out...the brook is very small, a deep hole having only 2-3 foot of water and in places only 5/6 foot wide.
The first couple of swims resulted in a few missed "taps" but no hook ups. I was "dangling" two flies and the takes can be very hard to hit when fished downstream.
Further upstream in a very overgrown area this small chub took my bead headed PT as I twitched it back against the slow flow of the inside of a bend.
No dry net

More missed takes followed from each "perfect" looking spot but no proper contacts. The takes were often just a tiny twitch to the join (leader to the fly line). The take I got from this was unmissable though, despite never having caught one from this brook I suspected it was a trout even before the strike. It leaping clear of the water when I did set the hook confirmed it's identity...brownie.

Out of season, and quickly returned but not before my mate had grabbed a quick shot.
That took a bead headed HE, again on the dangle. Check out how wide the brook is. I could touch the far bank with a 7ft rod, I might take a 10 footer next time though just to be abled to hold the line out of the main flow easier without having to get in the water.
This roach to the PT was my only other fish..

..except a massive minnow, I normally can't stand these but this one was huge, thought it was a gudgeon at first, just had to snap a picture.

Not many fish but any coarse fish are hard in winter and I did get the bonus trout.
Dee

Good effort.

I especially like the mad look in your eyes!

Dave!
Like all the photos, fly's look good too; and I enjoyed reading about your fishing expeditions.

You are obviously; A very accomplished angler.

rgs, Mostyn