Fishing in the winter?

[pharper]

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

You'll be fine for fishing in the winter around London.

You can fish Bass till the end of Nov, sunfish are open all year. While warm water species will be a little sluggish, there is opportunity to fish coldwater species. It is above freezing till December, especially on sunny afternoons, and it warms up in March.
There are many rivers (Lake Ont and Erie tribs)open till Dec 31... you'll get steelhead though.
The Niagara is open for big fish, but you'll need a big rod and sinking gear.

And its not that hard on gear to fish in the winter, and it is nice to get out.
If there is a nice day (and there are lots in SW Ontario over the winter)... take the rod and go.

At the worst you drive to a creek that remains open throughout the winter, you feel to cold to fish, you buy a coffee for you and your wife and head home.
I fished year round from Wasaga Beach down to Niagara Falls... only in late Jan and Feb were there times when it was too cold to do anything but tie flies. Your biggest hickup will be finding waters where you're allowed to fish in the winter.

[Bobinmich]

Hey Otto,

MI is a lot like sw Ontario in the winter. We have a lot of open water all through the winter.

We started fishing the Pere Marquette River in Michigan for steel head in winter many years ago. We would fish it all fall and winter into spring for the silver devils. River looks like this in the winter. Many wonderful memories.


You can read the whole account on the link below. Be careful, it's big. Don't try it over a phone line.

http://www.hatofmichigan.org/uploads...lies_ebook.pdf

Godspeed,

Bob

[lastchance]

I fish all winter. If I start developing a lot of ice in my guides I quit. That really annoys me. It's a great time to fish. I love fishing during a light snow fall.

[tigfly]

Shane, I fish all winter along Lake Erie. As long as the rivers have some open water for steelheading I fish it. I haven't broken a tip or pulled off a guide yet, but they do ice up. I use chapstick on the guides, I really glob it on straight from the tube BEFORE I start fishing. Once you get it wet forget the chapstick unless you dry your guides off again. I am also very careful to wade as close as possible to the fish in order to shorten the amount of line I have out, and many times I am able to cast quite a while before drawing the wet line into the guides except of course if I get a fish on. Allowing the ice to build up too much while you are fishing really wears out a flyline in a hurry. I usually try to dress the line at least once a day and at the end of the day. Remember to take your rod out of the case and your reel also to get them to thaw out and dry out before storing them.

I think that fishing in freezing weather is very hard on breathable waders because of the ice crystals that form in the seams and the fabric itself, so I usually only get two season out of a pair before they start getting a lot of leaks. I have been trying a pair of Simms G3 since last fall, and so far so good. All of my winter wading gear is oversize to allow for extra fleece and socks without being tight feeling, this goes for wading shoes also, mine are two sizes larger to accommodate two pairs of wool socks. We also use those hated plastic grocery bags over our feet, you wouldn't believe how easy it is to take off your waders at the end of the day. Using those bags you just have to shake your waders off and they slip right off.

Also a good tip to keep your hands warmer is to use a good hand lotion, work it in well before you start fishing, to keep your hands from drying out from the cold. That also goes for your face as well. I don't know why this works but it does. I usually don't wear gloves until I get my hands wet, and then if I can't get them dried I use wool fingerless gloves. I carry a towel in my backpack to dry my hands after releasing a fish. I also use it to dry my flyrod if the blank itself is icing up a lot.

Those little chemical handwarmers are nice, I use the ones for your body, and in extreme cold I put one on my shoulders just below my neck on top of a heavy polypropolene tee shirt. I would also add that if you have a long hike in to where you are going to start fishing, do not overdress for the walk in, carry most of your jackets/fleece, in a backpack and put them on later. Sweating is a sure ticket to being cold.

These are a few tips that have helped me fish in extreme cold. The coldest was a few years ago at NY Salmon river in January, 15 F degrees below 0, that's -26 C, I won't do THAT again. Under those conditions you were very careful not get anything wet that didn't absolutely have to. We did catch fish but I don't recommend lifting the fish out of the water anymore because I think exposing a fish to those kinds of air temperatures could cause freeze injury very easily. So for us, no pictures when it gets that cold. Usually it is the river condition that keeps us home, not the weather.

Good luck this winter

Glenn

[Arctic Grayling]

I don't mind fishing in the cold. I often fish when it is in the 20s. But most of the streams freeze solid here, so once we get ice up here in October or November, there isn't any fly fishing again until ice out in May or so.
The exception is where Kenai Lake dumps into the Kenai River. Many people fish that section year round. So far I haven't done that because of the 100 mile drive down there through the mountains. I made that drive one Easter years ago to attend a family gathering in Kasilof. Haven't made that trip in the winter since.

[Slate_Drake_9]

I spend a lot of time flyfishing in the winter. Snowstorms are a blast to fish in, like a rainstorm without getting very wet. It's all about dressing for the conditions to stay in the water, the fish are there and willing to be caught.

It's really cool to fish over rising trout when there is snow on the ground.

[OttoDita]

I'd love to fish in the winter. Especially since all these tips are helpful and make it easier to do so. The only thing that'll keep me from doing it is, well making the drive to the water to do it. I just can't drive that far alone unfortunately

Tigfly, thanks a lot for all those helpful tips and information. If I manage to get out and do some fishing sometime it'll sure help out a lot.

Well, I guess once the water starts to freeze I'll be indoors for the winter lol. This season anyways

Thanks again,
Shane