Making the fly accessible to the fish will be key to success. Winter fishing generally entails heavier tips that take the fly near the bottom. While I prefer not to scrape the river’s floor, a fly consistently fished within a foot or two above the rocks will bring the most interest. Tips or T-14 or T-17 will be useful on the region’s bigger rivers while T-10 or sinking leaders or tips of type 6 or type 8 will cover smaller waters.
Weighted flies can be used to cut through heavy surface currents or to give the fly the ability to sink at the same rate or even faster than the tip. Big, flowing flies work surprising well during a Great Lakes winter. Marabou Speys and intruder style bunny flies are always a good choice, but patterns representing natural food sources shine in the winter months. Small wet flies, Speys and even wooly buggers are a good change of pace for lethargic steelhead that can’t be enticed by larger patterns.
Fly presentation should follow along the theme of slowing things down. Eliminating the downstream belly in the line through proactive mending will reduce the overall speed of the fly. But rod angle may be even more important than mending. Reaching out with the rod hand and pointing the tip toward the opposite bank reduces the distance that the fly travels across current. This approach sets up a swing that shows the butt of the fly to the fish as it slowly moves across the current. This reduced speed can by an extremely effective approach for the cold-water conditions of the winter months. Wading a little deeper than normal while focusing on shorter casts can create a very controlled swing.
I generally take smaller steps between casts when fishing in the winter assuming that a fish won’t move as far for a fly. And while concentrating on water with slower currents flows than the fall, I still fish pockets and runs by stack mending to get the fly down and using the rod tip to control the swing.