I went stream fishing yesterday where I live in SW PA for rainbow because it was not too cold - ~40 degrees and stumbled upon two things that I did that I thought my benefit you folks too.

First, since it was cold, I bundled up and put on a hooded zip up pullover ski jacket to keep warm. Well, I wasn't going to be out for very long, so I did not bring my vest and I also did not want to pin holes in my waterproof jacket. What I did bring was a beaded lanyard that I made (from a FAOL article) for hot summer fishing when a vest would be too warm. Well, it worked perfect for cold weather too! I just slipped it over my hood and fished.

The second tip/observation I want to offer was based on reading a Whitlock article when he was fishing in NZ. He said his guides used wool from sheep that rubbed against a wire around the fences to keep them in. They would take some of this wool and fashion it as a strike indicator. Well, since it was cold and I was getting over a cold, I had plugged my ears with some cotton before heading out. I took a piece of the cotton from my ear and attached it to the section where my line and leader meet and used it as a strike indicator. Recall I did not bring my vest and did not have the necessaries. This worked well enough to give me something to focus on since it was early evening and quite gray.

I did land a 13 inch trout and the day was a success even though I only went out for an hour.

Hope this helps you folks in the future and good luck.

Regards,
paff