HATCHERY AND
WILD TROUT
In cold water, there’s a big difference between hatchery fish and wild fish. The wild bunch is better able to tolerate cold water, said Jackson.

That makes them likely to feed more often than hatchery fish. So target your February efforts towards waters that support wild, naturally reproducing fish.

In conditions like these, make sure you limit your catch. Extremes on either side of the optimum water temperature put the trout under a great deal of stress. February’s cold water is not a time to try to rack up big numbers of fish caught, even if you practice catch-and-release.

Big, deep lakes stratify into three temperature zones, with the coldest water, which may be barely above freezing, in the bottom zone. Don’t spend any time fishing down there.

The thin middle layer, known as the thermocline, is a nutrient-rich layer, populated by fish. February fishers can really benefit by using a thermometer to locate the thermocline, then keeping their offerings in that layer.

GO BIG
Upsize your offerings. Make it worthwhile for the fish to eat what you’re tossing. Go one size larger with your lure. Use a nice Egg-sucking Leech instead of your standard Woolly Bugger. All forage fish will have a full year’s growth under their belt. If you use bait, trout can home in on a night crawler more readily than a salmon egg. Remember that some states like Washington include every bait-caught fish as part of your limit, even if you release it.

If you toss spinners, retrieve your lure slowly so that the blade barely turns. If you’re fishing moving water, cast upstream and let the spinner tumble down with the current.

When casting streamers or Woolly Buggers, let the current do the work, using the occasional slow strip with a long pause. In lakes and ponds, slow is the watchword as well. You’ll need to adjust the size and weight of your lure so that it stays in the fish-catching zone as long as possible. Fly-fishers need to adapt too, by using the right fly line and leader length so their fly stays in the zone.

In rivers, the biggest fish will be in the deeper pools. That’s where you should be, too. Fish the bottom, fish it slow and fish it big. Sure, you’ll lose some gear, but it puts you in the best position to hook the largest fish in the water, whether it’s a 10-inch cutthroat in a headwaters creek or a 10-pound rainbow in a reservoir.

Trout fishing in February is a wonderful excuse to get out of the house and on the water. Make sure you have plenty of warm clothes, target the warmest part of the day and adapt your tactics to the slow-moving fish.