Fish for trout in deeper water when the weather turns cold

Is it ever too cold to fish?  I don’t think so.

 

However, on Sunday morning, Brody (the amazing fish finding and stock trading dog) said that it was. The air temperature was 21 degrees and the wind chill felt much colder. We debated what to do and decided to fish in the afternoon when the temperature was a bit warmer.  

 

After lunch, Brody and I bundled up and walked out to the skiff. The sun was shining but it was still chilly. As we pulled away from the dock, the surface water temperature was 47 degrees. I put a blanket on the deck for Brody. He dragged it into the sunshine, curled up and went to sleep. It became clear that I would have to find fish on my own.  

 

As we idled down the creek, I kept a close eye on the depth finder. Typically, in cold weather, trout gravitate into deeper water. So, I idled the skiff in the deeper sections of the creek. It took a bit of looking but I eventually located a school of fish in 15 feet of water.  

 

I picked up a rod rigged with a Z-Man Finesse TRD and deployed the trolling motor. Once in position directly over the school, I dropped to the lure bottom. The bite was extremely light. Almost imperceptible. I set the hook, and the trout came right to the boat. 

 

Brody said it was too cold to put up a fight and told me to release the fish in the water. I told him I was not going in the water! It was cold. Brody shook his head and explained that I should keep the fish in the water. That was a much better idea.

 

For the next 30 minutes, we caught and released trout on nearly every drop. When the bite slowed down, my fingers were frozen, and Brody was shivering. We called it day. A very short day but at least we went fishing.