You can’t feel your fingers. Your breath is fogging up your sunglasses. Your waders are just a little bit frozen. Obviously, it is the perfect time to tie on a dry fly… in the size 22-28 range.

Even when bigger bugs aren’t fluttering around the stream, smaller insects are probably hatching. In long runs, glassy pools, and off-current eddies, trout of all sizes will orient themselves upwards. A midday sun or even precipitation can trigger insect activity.

“However,” you may object, “the flies are really tiny.”

True. But the fish don’t seem to mind. If you’re looking to take trout off the surface in January and February, midges are probably your only option.

If you haven’t committed to making midges part of your winter angling repertoire, here are three things that will hopefully encourage you to do so: