I’ll start this thread off with my advice, but please feel free to jump in with yours.
Colorado’s fishing season is year round. I don’t like doing it when the temperature is below freezing as having my line freeze in my rod guides annoys me. I do enjoy the lack of crowding that winter fishing provides. The catching is reduced by fish lethargy. They don’t eat as much and you pretty much have to bump their noses with the fly as they won’t move for food. But they are there and they are feeding and you can catch some great fish in the winter.
The trick is staying warm and well geared. Here are my tips on that.
Keep your head and ears warm. I prefer a hat with a brim to keep the snow off my eyes and neck, accompanied by an ear covering. But a good watch cap does fine when it is not snowing.
Breathable waders will keep you warmer than neoprenes. I think it is the extra insulation that comes from the air inside these more baggy waders.
Do not wear cotton! It absorbs your perspiration and eventually chills you. Stick to synthetic, wool and silk breathable fabrics. Swimming trunks are way better than cotton underpants if you don’t own breathable underwear.
Layer like crazy! But only with the right fabrics.
Your outer layer needs to be breathable, wind proof and waterproof or water repellant.
I don’t like neoprene gloves. I prefer fingerless wool gloves. If it is really cold, I will wear disposable latex gloves under them. But I usually just pack in a second pair of wool fingerless gloves.
I’ve come to really appreciate rubber-soled wading boots in the snow. Felt soles turn into “platform shoes” that take up a lot of energy moving around. Consider going up one size for your winter wading boots. The extra pair of socks, or just air space, makes a big difference.
Have a set of dry & warm clothes back in your vehicle, along with a bath towel. They can be lifesavers if you take a spill in the water. I take along a heavy duty sweat suit for this.
I was out fishing yesterday here in SE MN. There were several inches of snow on the ground and the air temp was about 20 degrees when we started at 10 am. I think oldfart clearly speaks from experience and his comments above are on the mark. For me, keeping my hands and feet warm is the real challenge.
I use rubber soled boots year round. For winter fishing, I add a few sheet metal screws to the soles for better traction on ice. Ice usually isn’t a problem in the stream, but it can be a problem walking to, from and along the stream. I also use boots that are a little oversized in the winter. This allows me to use heavier socks without the boot being too tight and constricting blood flow (which will make your feet very cold). Lastly, I try to wade less in the winter. Fishing from the bank vs. standing calf deep in water makes huge difference.
For my hands, I use wool fingerless gloves like oldfart. I always have a pair of disposable hand warmers and wool mittens in my pockets. If my fingers get too cold, I’ll take a short stream side break and stuff my hands in pockets. I sometimes also fish a short, fixed line with one hand in my pocket (this also helps with guide freeze since your not retrieving line and collecting water in the guides). It helps if you can make short, fixed line casts with your off hand as well, so you can alternate hand warming.
I think it also helps to think of winter fishing as slower paced fishing. I start later, don’t hike as far, fish less water, and make fewer casts. It’s also a great time to fish with a buddy and take turns – ie, one casts while the other warms up and heckles. In my experience the fish tend to bunch up in holding lies during the winter and, as oldfart mentioned, you need to put your fly right on their nose. So a slower, more methodically pace is not only more comfortable, but it’s also very effective in getting your fly on the nose of deep, bunched up fish.
I was steelheading in PA two years ago and even the guides were complaining of cold feet. They asked me and I said I was fine. Merino wool socks, neoprene booties, breathable sock foot waders and rubber soled boots. The second layer of neoprene made the difference.
I wear polypro sock liners under my Smartwool socks; provides a little extra wicking (once my feet get cold, it’s over). I also make sure I let someone know where I’m going to be, just in case. Never have tried the surgical glove suggestion; sounds interesting.
I dunno. Having fished the Juan a hundred days or more over the years, you couldn’t pay me enough to wear rubber soled boots down there on that snot. I stick with my studded felts in winter because I am much more at risk of falling in the river with rubber soles than I am of hurting myself walking on the bank in felts. YMMV
Sunglasses and sunscreen. UV is a killer in winter.
Water. I dehydrate more this time of year than I do in summer, since in the summer heat my body tells me to drink and in the winter it refuses to do so. Catch a fish, take a drink. Finish a pool, take a drink…
You can put handwarmers inside your fingerless wool gloves and then just pull in your fingers for a minute when they get cold. Not enough mass there to get in the way of casting for me.
And I only wish winter kept the crowds down. Fished the Gunnison on Wednesday last and when we gave up and left, there were 17 other people on the mile of river we fished. Couldn’t budge from a spot once it got busy, so we gave up and left. I prefer to fish nastier weather just to keep the crowds down but 40s and calm doesn’t count.
And now you know why I fish at sunup, and stop before noon if I can’t float fish.
There is some pretty good advice on this thread. Not really a life saver, but I keep a thermos of hot water, and a thermos of hot coffee at my truck. The hot water is for cup of soup. Works pretty well for getting your core temperature up when you get chilled.
A cold day here is 55F (some would say 65). I’ve been a few places where it’s been 10-15 degrees colder with some wind chill. So not really cold compared to where many of you fish.
But weather it be 55 or 35 or whatever, I like to carry hot food stored in a food thermos. Soup or chili or some pasta or beans and rice with chicken, etc. The pint size containers. They hold just enough for one meal or two snacks to share and don’t weigh too much. A hot or warm meal ( depending on how long the food has in the canister) during the day can really improve my mood and help warm up a bit.
It’s much easier to do it that way if I am alone. My fishing bud doesn’t like cold unless he is hunting ducks. Bear in mind we had the place to ourselves when we showed up. This is another reason I try to always report lousy results on the water.
A hardcore steelie fisherman that I work with told me that his secret to keeping warm was the neo socks as mentioned above, but also, he had an old pair of neoprene waders that he cut the worn out boots off of and wore them underneath of his breathables. He insists that he never ever got cold even on the worst days.
Advice given above is all good and I will also confirm that when I go fishing in the cold water, I never wear jeans. Poly pro thermals and a pair of good thick fleece pants always keep me warm enough…and then of course there is ALWAYS coffee in the thermos.
Up until a couple years ago, I fished extensively during the winter for Great Lakes steelhead. I’ve been out many days in sub-zero temperatures and white-out conditions, and loved (practically) every minute of it!
For the bottom of your feet on ice and snow, there’s only one way to go. That’s rubber soles with spikes or cleats. Whether you wear neoprenes or breathables, the key is to have them relatively loose fitting, with layers of moisture wicking material underneath, topped off with a windproof/waterproof jacket. I always wore a Patagonia SST jacket, and feel that having the hood up kept me much warmer by keeping air off the back of my neck, than simply wearing a hat without using the hood. Of course, like everything else, it all depends on just how cold it is, how much wind there is, and how much body heat you are expending from the walking, wading, etc.
My hands never stayed warm with fingerless gloves, even with ones like Simms, that are fingerless with a removable mitton top. So, I often wore inexpensive polar fleece gloves, that still kept my hands warms when they were wet, or I didn’t wear any gloves at all (down to about 20-25 degrees or so).
If I were doing much winter fishing these days, I’d definitely get a pair of Hotronic bootwarmers, with wire extensions so I could keep the batteries in a shirt pocket.
The only other thing is to make sure you take a good pair of polarized sunglasses and reliable wading staff.
DG’s comments about staying hydrated are very important in the cold… After living here in AK since just 1964 I have had occasion to get cold a few times. This past October we camped out at -20 for a four-day caribou hunt. It did not get above zero for the duration.
Niacin is a huge vaso-dialtor. In cold weather a niacin tablet will warm extremeties very quickly. If you get a skin crawling itch from it you really need the niacin and should take another. Seriously, it gets blood moving out to the fingers and toes and I always have some when going out in the cold. Kids get lots of benefit from it as well.
The loose, synthetic clothing lines have been covered, but need to be followed.
Chipping ice from guides is a very good way to break a rod and there is a debate about whether it is better to chip or soak the guides free of ice… Soaking is only marginally successful for me, but I have broken quite a few rods over the years while chipping ice…
art
Art is dead on onthe Niacin, I take Niaspan, a prescription version, I have about gotten use to it but it feels like my head was on fire for a little while. It also helps prevent plaque build up in the arteries. My doctors wants me to die healthy.
My advice for winter fishing is don’t go north of Georgia, it gets cold enough here but not for long.
Seriously, it gets blood moving out to the fingers and toes and I always have some when going out in the cold. Kids get lots of benefit from it as well.