Fishing in the winter?

[OttoDita]

Hey everyone,

How many of you fish in the winter? I'm guessing quite a bit. My questions are about line and tippet. Do they get too cold and break? Do you need special mono or fly line for it? It gets pretty cold here in Canada, and I don't wanna freak up the line and break it Any special care needed for rods FF in the winter?

Thanks a lot,
Shane

[DG]

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/feat...otg/69eotg.php

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/feat...otg/60eotg.php

[Bamboozle]

Great stuff in those links provided by DG!

Shane:

I fish all year long and winter is one of my favorite times due to my cold blooded nature . There is nothing like the beauty of a wild trout to break the bleakness of the season.

I use the same tackle as I do in the summer with no ill effects. The only thing that can drive me nuts besides ice on the guides is line coils. If you don't already use a cold water or really limp brand of fly line you may want to consider one. IF you are planning to trout fish; I recommend the Rio Selective Trout, Sci Anglers Trout or XPS. All three are extremely limp lines and work great in the winter cold.

Have fun!

[JohnScott]

Shane -

Can't add anything to what Dennis and Bob wrote in the links provided by Dennis.

Man, that is GOOD stuff, Dennis. And Bob pretty much nailed the nymph fishing part of it.

I fish all winter, usually the South Fork of the Snake, any given day that the temps are in the mid 20's or higher and there is no appreciable wind. Used to have a back up rod, but I sent it off to a friend so I'll be using my primary rod or building a winter nymphing rod for the coming winter season ??

It's really all a matter of how you deal with the cold. Follow DG's recommendations and you'll do just fine. Your line will take something of a beating compared to fair weather fishing, and conditions will make it harder on the other equipment. But that Scott 5 wt is experienced at cold weather fishing, except for the new tip, so don't sweat it.

John

[Mike Thomas]

Hey Shane, the winters down here are nowhere near as cold as most parts of the States but mornings on the Tongariro often result in the fly line being frozen in the rod rings. I simly dip the rod in the river to defrost it as the water temp is higher than the air temp. As for gear I mostly use Rio Grand lines and flourocarbon leaders and do not have any trouble.
I think most lines I have tried are O.K. in the cold but I would not use the same lines in the tropics as I think they would not be good.
Any warm water fishers care to coment?
All the best.
Mike.

[Fly Goddess]

I fish year round also, but man Canada...it gets cold up there don't it?
If my guides are icing up on every other cast, I go home. My Brother broke the tip of his rod because the tip iced up.
I like ST II line, it is soft in any weather, but keep in mind that ice is not line friendly. I have had ice cut into my lines.
But it is the BEST time to be fishing to me. No people!

[sagefisher]

Shane,

Yep, I love winter fishing since so many people don?t. You hardly ever see anyone else out there and nymph fishing is great year round. You just have to have your nymphs at the right depth, on the bottom, and simply work each seam or ledge really well, the fly has to come really close to them for the trout to hit. Iced lines and ice clogged guides are the norm, and not much you can do about them.

However, I see you live in SW Ontario. That really restricts your winter fishing. Most of the rivers will be frozen over up there as are many of the lakes. That makes for poor fly fishing. It also makes for a great time to tie flies.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[pharper]

You'll get a few good chances for winter fishing out there... Look to some of the Great Lake Steelheading websites for info, but you're in a pretty good area (I lived in Guelph and fished year round).

It will be frustrating because all your line out of the water will freeze, and if you strip line in, the water will freeze in your guides.
You can use an ice-off paste to keep ice free, but you have to keep reapplying it, as the line will rub it off and add water to freeze.

I found that the SA nymph line worked well and stayed supple. Warm water lines will get too stiff and retain their coiled memory.
A Clean line is very important.

Nymphing (like mentioned) is just about the only option, although a slowly retrieve streamer works also.
If you can, stay on shore (ice is deadly). Waders are okay for staying warm, but you'll need to layer... And NO felts in the snow... you'll just build up ice under your feet.

Oh, and if you are wading... watch out for ice flows.
My wife took this shot of me as I drifted down the Grand a few years ago.


I was lucky because I had drifted to a shallow area near an Island.

[OttoDita]

Thanks for all the replies. Those links pretty much summed it up. I'm not doing any fishing come winter It gets in the -20's almost all winter here. With the exception to last winter. Only a few days were in the -30's, and most the time was in the -teens. But, if it's harder on the gear I'm not doing it. I'm hard enough on gear as it is lol.

Looks like I'll be doing a lot of tying hahaha.

John. The Scott may be well seasoned for winter, but I don't wanna stress it out. It's experienced, I'm not lol Thanks again my friend!

I figured winter would be rough on gear. but I've seen so many people fishing. Fly, ice etc. Doesn't matter, people fish So I thought I'd toss it out there and find out.

Much appreciated everyone!
Shane

[crcaddis]

Pick a spring fed river...less ice

Keep the ice out of your guides...

Dont get hypothermia..

Dont dunk your reel when its cold enough to freeze solid..

Good Luck.