How cold is too cold to go fishing

[salmonoid]

PennypackFlyer wrote:
Remember, do not put your tongue against anything metal - especially if it's stationary.

I fished one night last month where I took an air temperature of 9 degrees. The bare skin on my hand flash froze to my reel a number of times, but since it was aluminum, my body warmed it quickly and flash unfroze it.

 

[addictedangler]

I do not think cold weather affects fish as with ice in the gills. I ice fish and have thrown Trout on the ice when it was 5 deg. or so. Took them home 3 or 4 hours later put them in a bucket of water to thaw. Many start to swim around. Yes 3 or 4 hours on the ice and many come back to life.

 

[Maurice]

We did that with blue gills when I was young...caught about two dozen and threw them in a cooler filled with ice, took them home to filet them and tossed them all in a bath tub, turned the water on and they all started swimming around.

It was kinda neat till we realized we had to kill two dozen fish. Gutting them alive. It was an eye opener for a 12 year old.

 

[SlingerFlyRods]

coldest air temps. Nothing below 25 for me. I'll be out this weekend for sure.

I keep mindful of the trouts gills and not having it out of the water longer than needed. It may not be necessary but it's a old habit I suppose

 

[sandfly]

NOW ! its to cold.
haven't fished since November and the way its going here won't get out till middle of May ! fish skin is freezing now, I don't recommend lifting them out of the water now.

 

[tomitrout]

40ish depending how raw it is, below that and I'll be skiing.

 

[streamerguy]

Usually mid 20s or above I'm fishing. Leaky waders can change that though, and of course water conditions.

The lowest I'll probably go is 15 if the urge is that bad.

 

[redrockgrizzly]

I'm going by the age rule. Im 44 so anything under 44 degrees is too cold. LOL.

 

[poopdeck]

I put the fly fishing gear away in the low 40's then I start primping the ice gear. Never to cold to ice fish but some days its just to windy to go. You just have to bundle up in a manner that's not conducive to wading streams and waving long rods in the air. Working with Mother Nature is a lot more enjoyable than fighting her.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

ToooODaaaAY TODAY TODAY TODAYEEAA

I'm glad you can't hear me sing this one.

 

[FlyForFun]

damn beat me to it, i was gonna say today.....today is an example of too cold to fish.

 

[BREECHESANGLER]

10 degrees is my limit for fishing. Anything "warmer" than that I will be out. Just carry some lip balm for your rod guides.

 

[pcray1231]

At 10 degrees, it's not just the guides. The whole line freezes up to about 1/2" thick. Casting it breaks it, in places, and the thing appears to be a bunch of candlesticks with the wick still connecting them. You can still cast, but even if your guides are completely ice free, you lose the ability to strip or reel line through the guides because the iced line is too thick. So you got what you got out and can cast it back and forth. Till you hook a fish. Then all you can do is back up and drag the thing on the bank and then run down and get it.

Not to mention that if the stream is that cold, it's not just slush and bank ice to deal with. But anchor ice begins to form under your feet as you stand there.

No thanks.

In the 20's, you just gotta worry about the guides. That, I'm fine with.

 

[McSneek]

Yeah - I think some of you guys exaggerate how cold you're willing to go out fishing in just like the size of some of the fish I see posted on here. lol

When it's so cold that your fly line starts to grow to the diameter of a clothesline due to ice accumulation and slush ice or big sheets of loose ice are floating down the stream I question anyone that says they're fishing, at least more than once.

 

[afishinado]

pcray1231 wrote:
At 10 degrees, it's not just the guides. The whole line freezes up to about 1/2" thick. Casting it breaks it, in places, and the thing appears to be a bunch of candlesticks with the wick still connecting them. You can still cast, but even if your guides are completely ice free, you lose the ability to strip or reel line through the guides because the iced line is too thick. So you got what you got out and can cast it back and forth. Till you hook a fish. Then all you can do is back up and drag the thing on the bank and then run down and get it.

Not to mention that if the stream is that cold, it's not just slush and bank ice to deal with. But anchor ice begins to form under your feet as you stand there.

No thanks.

In the 20's, you just gotta worry about the guides. That, I'm fine with.

^ Yep. Headed up to the Salmon River for steelies with my buddy. The weather turned real cold while we were up there......like 10*, but we there and gave it a go anyway. The steelies were "on" for some odd reason that day, maybe because we were the only fools out there fishing for them.

Anyway, like PC wrote above, basically you are fishing a Tenkara rod at that temp. We would hook a fish and try to run downstream on the icy bank to land it....but every fish broke off....:roll:

My friend was a pretty experienced angler, but not a steelie guy. He was determined to land his first fish. Without my knowledge, he tied on a heavy tippet to his rig. Whattaya think happened?!?!.......yep, the ROD broke instead of the tippet. :roll: That was the end of our day...thank God!

Good luck out there....and be sure to lighten up on your tippet.

 

[pabrookie94]

The coldest I have been in is high 20's I believe 28ish. At that point ice still forms on the guides and there is ice on a lot of streams I fish. The cold doesn't bother me(I'm 20) but breaking ice rather than casting isn't fun. If its colder than say 27.2 degrees...Ill tie some flies

 

[FiveWeight]

PennypackFlyer wrote:
Remember, do not put your tongue against anything metal - especially if it's stationary.

Soooo, the truck would be ok?

 

[PennypackFlyer]

For me alot depends on the wind chill factor. I will go out Fly fishing if there is no wind to deal with at a much colder temperature and there are openings in the ice . Today's wind chill is something like -17.

McSneek - you will need to talk to my Lawyer if you question me more than once.

Fiveweight - depends on how fast and far you can run.

 

[McSneek]

A few more things to consider:

When your hands get so numb you can't unzip your fly to take a leak it's too damn cold to fish.

When you dread the thought of breaking off your fly on a snag and having to tie on a new one or worse yet, having to add a new piece of tippet to your leader plus a new fly, it's too damn cold to fish.

When you actually start to hope you won't land a fish and have to risk getting your hands wet in the process of unhooking and releasing it, it's too damn cold to fish.

 

[LongLineRelease]

I got a new tenkara rod recently. Gets rid of the problem with icing guides. 20 degrees is still the limit though for me.