Freezing Fishing
- This topic has 24 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated Dec 21, 2010 at 2:01 am by
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Freezing fly line is very hard on wire guides! If you fish in freezing weather alot you need to cotton test your guides often.
notmo,
Here are my top below freezing pointers from years of arctic like conditions on Lake Erie tribs.
1. Stay home and do some tying.
2. If you are insane in the membrane and must go out, stick to shortline/high stick nymphing and keep as much fly line out of the water as you can and try to strip as little as possible. My casts are just flips back up stream with the same amount of line out. This keeps water out of the guides and you don’t get ice build up as quick. Trying to cast and fish any other way is an exercise in futlilty (for me anyways)
3. Pam cooking spray(as Zach said) does work, for a while. The ice-off pastes are worth the money and work reasonably well and last longer between applications than Pam. You only need to apply it to the first couple feet of line and guides if you follow tip #2.
4. When you do get ice build up in the guides either take the rod apart at the middle and bring the tip back to you to work on it, or set the reel end down out of the water and work on the tip. NEVER try to hold the rod in the middle and reach up to clear ice. Do that enough times and I will guarantee you will eventually turn your pretty little 4 piece in to a 5 piece. Don’t ask me how I know.
5. When clearing the ice soften it with heat from your bare hand before trying to remove it.(a chemical hand warmer works great) See #4 for extemporaneous rod modifications.
6. Keep your reel dry. A dunking in ice water is a disaster for any reel. “My drag is sealed” Put it in the water and it will be sealed alright, with ice.
7. Keep your line in good shape. Any cracks will allow water to soak the core and freeze. I like to water proof my line to leader connection with
I have to agree with you steve about wearing felt even with studs. I learned the hard way last winter fishing for steelhead. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t cross the stream without doing a Dorothy Hamel. Finally I took a look at the soles and lo and behold ice. Next time out, chains. Loon makes a nice paste, but you have to keep up the maintenance of removing ice from the guides. The problem is that I enjoy those days on the river and am willing to suffer the indignity of it all. Silver Doc
We fish year round out here on the west coast, and ice’d up guides and lines are a natural, expected result.
The easest solution for me, is to simply hold the rod tip underwater long enough for the ice to melt. Sure it won’t fix the problem for long, but then again it will give you two or three cast’s before needing to repeat the process.
Anything I’ve ever tried, such as pam or de-icer, quickly wears off and needs re-application, which in the kind of weather we’re talking about is just to time consuming.
Nope! we just hold the rod underwater, let the ice melt, make a few cast’s and do it again.PS: NEVER let your reel go under though!
LB
Zach,
I have never fished in crampons/snowshoes. I do like the idea of a pair of snowshoes to get back to some of the areas I fish that require a little hike. I have never built a fire streamside. Again, a great idea to have the capability to do just in case. Most of the time I am fishing areas that require me to travel over private property. (I could digress here big time about pressure and this access quickly evaporating) Starting a fire would probably get someones panties all bunched up. I like the idea though…getting warmed by the fire, a sandwhich and a few pulls from the flask while discussing the fate of the universe with a good friend. 🙂
papafish,
When the air temp is 25 and water is 33-34, sticking your rod tip in the water is as useful as the old wives tail about rubbing frostbite with snow to treat it.
papafish,
When the air temp is 25 and water is 33-34, sticking your rod tip in the water is as useful as the old wives tail about rubbing frostbite with snow to treat it. I absolutely agree with you if the air is freezing and the water is near 40. Perfect, easiest solution.
SteveAs long as the water is still flowing, it will de-ice the guides even if only long enough for one cast. Now if the water it’s self is solid (frozen), well then forget it! and go home. LOL
Not trying to convert anyone, just a suggestion on what has worked for me the last 30 years.LB
Yes Zach, the BIIx’s and the Loomis Max have them.
The Recoils do spring back when cold, but a little more slowly. That can be speeded up with a little heat.I really haven’t tried simply casting the ice out! You might be on to something there!
The other thread about tungsten reminded me of this thread.
For our cold fishing up here in Nova Scotia, I like to use Loons Stanley’s ice off paste.
Someone told me that Stanley paste is mostly silicone, which makes a certain amount of sense — no water, no ice.
That said, I would refrain from using it on bamboo rods (silicone can cause some real problems when you get the thing refinished) and in fact, when the guides are icing I often fish my 8.5′ 4wt Diamondglass rod, which is a very, very sweet synthetic rod that’s perfect for small bugs.
On the Upper Sacramento, a good snow storm (and the snow plows that follow it) can close off access to 95% of the river in one night, so xc-skiing and snowshoeing gets you to the river when the less adventurous are limited to the stockie spots in town.
I love fishing water when I know that I’ll have it to yourself, and then there’s that ego-boosting realization that you’re one crafty SOB to have figured this out while all the lesser vertebrates are only dreaming of fishing.
One caveat — grim personal experience suggests you’ll want to be very, very careful when fishing while wearing snowshoes.
Snowshoes are things of beauty on snow but wicked, evil things when you’re trying to maintain your balance on icy river rocks, and a collapsing snow bank can have you in the river before you can say “significant shrinkage.”
Hope everyone enjoys your winter. It’s really my favorite time of the year to fish.
TC
You mean like Pamela Anderson?
bd
Perhaps, but I’ll leave it to you to decide which is the more desireable…. 😎
TC
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