Solid Strategies for a Successful Winter Fishing

With the arrival of colder temps don’t put up that fly rod. Winter provides some of the best fly fishing for trout, salmon and steelhead. In the extremes, below freezing, we have to do some things differently to have our equipment work.

First let’s start with the fly line. Not all fly lines are cold weather friendly. Those of us familiar with winter fishing know this well.

For the uninitiated, this may come as a surprise. Nothing will kill a day of winter fishing like having stripped line coil on the waters surface and nearly refuse to come uncoiled.

Most line companies tout this line or that line as having good cold water characteristics. These are the lines that should remain supple in cold weather. Some are better than others.

The average cold weather line will fish very well only after a good initial stretching. I generally pull of about sixty feet and give it a good stretch. Pull the line then let it relax. If the line lies straight, you’re ready. If the line still is a little wavy, stretch as needed until it lies straight.

A great cold weather line will require no stretching. Temperatures in the single digits make almost any line a little stiff. Always keep your line dressed but more on this later.

The next issue to address should be the reel. Keep it dry! I’m a bad one to dunk my real every now and then. Nothing makes an experienced angler feel foolish like turning a reel into a block of ice.

Believe me, I mean a block of ice. Locked up, won’t work either direction, done fishing until thawed and dried.

There are reels that have all moving parts sealed off from the environment and this can be a real plus in below freezing conditions. If your reel freezes up don’t force it!

Some reels can be damaged in doing this and might even require a trip for warranty repair. Should your reel freeze up, unzip your jacket and put it under your armpit.

This is one of the warmest parts of your body. You’ll end up a little wetter and a little colder but let that be a lesson to you. Regardless the advertising, there really isn’t much you can do for your rod.
I have tried too many products that all lay claim to keeping rod eyes from freezing. Basically these products inhibit water from sticking to the eyes.

All require re-applications. I use 100% silicone spray. True enough, most help but they are far from effectively stopping ice building on eyes.

Eyes ice up when line carries water through them. One of the best things you can do to prevent eye freezing is to keep your line dressed.

A well dressed line shucks water much better. The water is what builds ice on the eyes.

So a well dressed line leaves more water in the river and brings less to the eyes of your rod. You will also benefit from reducing the amount of line movement through the eyes, remember the line is what brings the water.

Try to fish with a fixed distance of line as much as you can. Don’t single haul as this builds ice singularly. Double hauling will build ice doubly.

Try to prevent shooting line if possible. Minimizing line movement through the eyes requires some thought, and change in habits and strategy, but it really has the biggest affect on reducing ice.

Once ice builds on the eyes you need to get it off. Usually a little squeeze of the fingertips is all that’s required to break the ice loose.

Some folks will lower their rod into the water and shake it. This thaws the ice and frees the eyes up.

Should you employ this method there are a couple of things you should know. Once out of the water give the rod a real good shake.

This will rid the rod of excess water. Keep the reel out of the water. The other thing of note is the rod must be taken down and dried at the end of each day.

Don’t forget water expands as it freezes. This can damage your rod. For rod dunkers, make sure and wax your ferrules very well. This will help seal the hollow rod core from water invasion.

Admittedly I use all the aforementioned methods with limitations. I never submerse a rod in freezing weather below the first ferrule. Water inside a rod blank with temperatures in the single digits can destroy a rod. Now you know why I prefer two piece rods…

Never use high temperatures from household appliances to thaw that frozen rod.  “Too hot” can easily damage your casting machine.

Let the rod and reel come up to inside temps slowly and gradually when you get home. Wipe it down, wax it up, give the eyes a little silicone spray, and be ready for the next time.

By applying these strategies, you will remain on the water longer and make more drifts. Dealing with ice is just part of winter fishing.