Deeper, faster, and deadlier!

Well that was supposed to be the abilities of the Russian Typhoon class of nuclear submarines towards the end of the cold war; a 20,000 tonne plus tube of titanium zipping about beneath the waves.

While this pattern is not quite a nuclear submarine, it still hunts its prey effectively, goes deeper than most ordinary wet flies and above all is deadly on those winter trout looking for an easy feed.

Winter fishing for trout is essentially a search and destroy type mission, the bulk of it will be conducted in cold, sometimes-dirty water. Very few hatches bring trout to the surface to betray their presence, so the key is to employ a fly that will get down to where the trout are and in their feeding zones.

Anytime from July through to August/ September on any impoundment that has spawning streams flowing in, anglers will find trout in numbers in these areas.

They are there for a reason; they are either entering or leaving the stream for spawning. Therefore the pre-spawners are looking for a good feed to pack on condition to spawn. The post spawners have barely eaten for some time, so are also looking for a slap up meal as well.

The Red October is just the fly to be slammed by either.

Impoundments that do not have these spawning streams still provide the angler with many options in terms of likely trout holding spots. With no spawning reds available, trout can be found across areas of these lakes with gravelly bottoms, cruising in the forlorn hope of being able spawn, most will re absorb eggs and milt.

Rocky shorelines or steep rocky points are also good spots to get this fly down deep.

Some bays or inlets may have drains that deposit runoff into the lake after consistent rain, trout will cruise into these areas as well as they can be rich in food washed into the lake.

The Red October is a fast sinking fly, so get it into the water and start fishing it with a good old fashioned rip and strip retrieve.

I have found it most effective when attached to a shortish leader, no more than 2m on the end of a sink-tip line to get down really deep.

If you are fishing it in shallower areas use a floating line with either an intermediate sinking leader or just your normal 3m lake style wet fly leader.

Takes can be ferocious so hang on.