Winter fishing. Be careful out there.
Now that we're approaching the winter season and there are many of us who continue to fish, I thought it might be helpful to bring up a couple of points about fishing safely in the cold.
On average, I fish as many days where the daytime high is 3 degrees C or less than I do where the high is 15 C or above. I fly fish in deep snow, I fish while standing on ice shelves, I fish in water temps of 36 F or lower.
With advances in gear and clothing making more people willing to try fly fishing year-round, a couple of safety tips that I hope everyone will find helpful and I'd encourage others with cold-weather fishing experience to add thier thoughts.
1. Felt-soled wading boots + temps below freezing = instant death.
If you are still wearing old-school felt soled wading boots, be aware that they are absolutely lethal in conditions that are below freezing. What happens is that you step out of the water and within seconds your wet felt soles freeze. Then you walk down the bank, blissfully unaware until you go to step back into the water.
One step onto either a frozen puddle or an iced over rock and you will fall instantly and without warning! Essentially, you are trying to walk on ice with wet blocks of ice on your feet. Several times I have come to my senses after falling in this way and I can tell you that it is so sudden that you will have no chance at catching yourself. You simply get your head bounced off of whatever happens to be behind you at the time. A very bad situation, obviously. Be careful!
2. Falling through the ice - it isn't like they show in the movies.
In the movies, there is always creaking and groaning and cracking for an extended period of time before someone falls through the ice. Usually there is plenty of warning before someone falls in.
Believe me, after falling through ice several times in my hunting and fishing career, it doesn't go down like that. In reality, what happens is like a hangman's trapdoor has opened below your feet. Bang! You're instantly wet and it takes your brain several seconds to even realize what has happened, much less respond.
Many people make the mistake of thinking that just because they stepped onto ice without hearing the Hollywood sound effects, they are then safe to proceed. Wrong! The best thing is to avoid walking on ice full-stop. If you fish in an area where on-ice crossings are necessary, you MUST own and be trained in using ice safety equipment including an ice bar and emergency picks.
3. Hypothermia is far more likely to kill you than is drowning.
Boat and big river anglers tend to understand the need to take precautions against drowning, but few understand that in water below 50 degrees, unless you can get out of the water and protected from the cold within minutes, a flotation vest only makes it easier to find your body. Hypothermia is a far greater threat in the cold weather months.
Unless you've experienced a sudden dunking in water below 50 F, you won't understand how debilitating it is. Essentially, you have from a few minutes to only a matter of seconds before your arms and and legs stop working and you lose your ability to swim or climb to safety.
A flotation vest is ALWAYS a good idea, but in cold weather you need more. Fishing with multiple other boats so that a quick rescue is possible, always use the kill lanyard on your outboard, have a means to get an overboard angler into the boat, and always be able to summon help by multiple means.
I love winter fishing and being out there when few others are, but IMO it needs to be recognized that more things can go wrong out there and the consequences can be more severe as the temperature goes down.
Be careful out there.
Grouse
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This was the middle of January with the air temperature at 5 below zero fahrenheit in a very bitter cold South Dakota, USA!
SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.
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