]Most people, (myself included) generally think that once the temperatures reach below 30 degrees the season is over until a full blown spawning run. While this may be true most of the time sometimes you just get lucky and turn miserable winter fishing into what seems like mid-summer glory.

What can I say, the powder this year has been lackluster and as much as I enjoy spending 5 hours in traffic on my way to the lifts, I think I will beat the crowds and head off to the mall to do some fishing. Grab yourself a couple desert storms, eggs, and autumn splendors and your arsenal is ready. All you need to do now is figure out someway to motivate yourself to head out when every bone in your body is saying, “Sportscenter, HBO, XBox…” I generally just promise myself McDonald’s breakfast. Hasn’t failed me yet.
Flies and jackets are just part of the equation, you need some pretty good gear too. For instance, this nice Litespeed did the trick while completely frozen. As far as rods, none of that matters. If you get suckered into a $700 Orvis/Sage/Winston P.O.S. I’m sorry, no rod is worth more than $300 unless you are fishing salt.

I have yet to see someone need to make a 70 foot cast or make one better with a more expensive rod. Just go buy a TFO and spend the extra money on gas so you can warm yourself up at lunch.
Oh yeah, and if you want to get nice fish moving I suggest throwing some stuff at them that gets their attention. While Rainbows aren’t as carnivorous as Browns, they will get territorial when they are getting ready to start making babies. Just think of the way women act when you don’t put away the dishes and they’re 35 weeks along. Doesn’t take much to get them irritated.