[fishortho]

Since it appears to be heading towards a chilly weekend, I thought I would start a short list of things to take and things to wear when the weather is rearing its ugly head. These are a few things I take when the weather is going to be really nasty and the rivers will be on the drop. Feel free to add to this post so we can all prepare ourselves and some of the novice's....
Always take: A complete set of dry clothes, including a warm jacket
Extra pair of warm socks and boots
Handwarmers,waterproof matches, candle
Sturdy rope, shovel, first aid kit, fire extinquisher
Should take: Extra fishing rod & reel

Clothing: Fleece gloves, fleece hoody, rainjacket with hood,
Warm hat, ski underwear (thermal),Extra hat,
Wool garments and fleece are a lot warmer than cotton stuff
Fleecy pants are better than jeans in the waders.
Reminders: Tell someone where you will be fishing
Be careful wading, and crossing loose rocks and log jams
Take a cell phone, and your fishing licences
Fish with a buddy
Be sure to turn off you lights in the car
Don't drive solo into roads that are lightly used especially
during high wind or snow
If you'r going into the backwoods, take a chainsaw.
As for fishing gear..........DON'T FORGET IT EITHER!!!!

Next..........Ortho 8)

 

[professori]

Good post Ortho. Regarding hand warmers, Lee Valley sells reusable ones. Activate them, use them, then boil them and they are ready to go again. Use them more than 100 times. My wife gave me 4 of them for Christmas 2005. I've used (and reused) them many times. They run somwhere under $10 if I remember correctly.

 

[Chris]

I had one of those reusable hand warmers too, it was great, and I think about $8 if I can remember. That list is pretty thurough, it's more stuff than I usually bring. : Just a question, why the fire extinguisher specifically in cold weather

 

[slamdunk]

Chris, the reason for the fire extinguisher is because Othor builds these gigantic fires large enough to make a young man bald!

But, your shots stays nice and warm....

 

[Rib]

Also, with snow covering the rocks along the banks of most of our local flows, remember to tread carefully while walking the river banks...once you get a significant amount of snowfall as we have today, often it is difficult at best to see whatc your stepping on....the last thing you want to do is crack your head open, your supposed to be fishing here remember? It's our target species that have the "steel" heads, not us.

 

[Bent Rod]

Leave the fancy felt soled boots at home, they will collect snow and try desperately to break your ankle or have you slip and smash your melon.
In snowy weather wear a pair of oversize rubber boots, better if they have a decent sole.
Frickin ankle is still hurting, DOH.

 

[kettlefisher]

.......all of the above where I live and plus don't forget your auger, tire chains and a snort or two.....LOL........

Kettlefisher....aka Bud

 

[DMW]

Thanks for the reminder Ortho. I have to get me some hand warmers perhaps, and check my truck to make sure that my emergency kit is ready to go!!

 

[fishortho]

Well, yeh, ya gotta take a little snake oil, but i also fogot to add a power bar or two to the backpack or fishing side bag. I also take an extra car key with me in my fishin gear

Now that we have covered the gear lets look at the river we are going to fish. First thing to do is take the temperature of the water. What, you say, temperature??....Yup, the temp. of the water is really important. Generally, if Water temps. are below 40 degrees F (5 degreesC)most fish will become pretty lethargic, and not get too excited about chasing any offering any distance....Not many fish will be caught on hardware. Most fish will hug the bottom, so it is important to get your offerings into the zone and keep them there as long as you can. In other words if things are going by at 20 mph 3 ft. above, they most likely will not rise or give chase. Later in the season,or after some warm rains which will make the rivers rise, the hardware will become the "go to" especially later in the season when steelhead will become pretty agressive in clear, warmer water, and will often chase a fly or a wobbling lure for some distance.
I usually stick with prepared roe, single eggs, ghost shrimp and natural baits during the cold water periods. Keep things close to the bottom and try to keep it in front of the holding fish as long as possible.
Other suggestions??.....Ortho 8)

 

[South Texas Salt]

Just a comment: when in the Mountains in winter, in addition to all the good recommendations above I would add a "come along" , a hand winch that you hook to your truck axel and then to a tree or whatever you can find (unless your truck has a front winch). And a shovel and ax (Ortho, sometimes the chainsaw will not start) and a good commercial jack, not the stuff you got with your truck. Just some comments from many years hunting and fishing the Mountains down here(Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, etc.) Salt.

 

[Fish Finder]

Don't forget the TP if you're heading into the deep 40! :Hey you never know right Ortho!

Finder

 

[darcycote]

a pair of neoprene gloves with the right thumb tip cut off ,dry warm hands all day.

 

[Spoonman]

Well, yeh, ya gotta take a little snake oil, but i also fogot to add a power bar or two to the backpack or fishing side bag. I also take an extra car key with me in my fishin gear

Now that we have covered the gear lets look at the river we are going to fish. First thing to do is take the temperature of the water. What, you say, temperature??....Yup, the temp. of the water is really important. Generally, if Water temps. are below 40 degrees F (5 degreesC)most fish will become pretty lethargic, and not get too excited about chasing any offering any distance....Not many fish will be caught on hardware. Most fish will hug the bottom, so it is important to get your offerings into the zone and keep them there as long as you can. In other words if things are going by at 20 mph 3 ft. above, they most likely will not rise or give chase. Later in the season,or after some warm rains which will make the rivers rise, the hardware will become the "go to" especially later in the season when steelhead will become pretty agressive in clear, warmer water, and will often chase a fly or a wobbling lure for some distance.
I usually stick with prepared roe, single eggs, ghost shrimp and natural baits during the cold water periods. Keep things close to the bottom and try to keep it in front of the holding fish as long as possible.
Other suggestions??.....Ortho 8)

Good advice mostly(especially the snake bite medicine)butI'm going to have to disagree with the hardware/cold water opinion.Steelheading guru Bill Herzog (and some personal hands on results) advises that a silver spoon is one of the best things to use when the water temps drop.The combo of flash and vibration gets lethargic fish to wake up.But, as you say it needs to be presented as slow as possible near bottom.I have found a large hammered silver(or gold depending on clarity/depth) colarado to be a good choice also(maybe better) since it can be fished under a float and be presented very slowly(even stationary) Not trying to bash,just adding my $.02 to a good thread

 

[Chris]

Chris, the reason for the fire extinguisher is because Othor builds these gigantic fires large enough to make a young man bald!

But, your shots stays nice and warm....

OK I understand now, I'll know who to go to when I get cold then

 

[fishortho]

Hey Chris........It,s not so much the size of the fire, but the type of wood that is used. The round wood with the tread seems to work really good in cold weather( ask Ogobogo, I burned up two of his tires) LOL ;D(just kidding)....Fact is, Never start a fire until you have enough wood gathered for the night! Ortho 8)

Spoonman, I appreciate your input on the topic.....You know, I suppose it's kinda like the ol' pink worm. I have caught a lot of steel' on a wide range of gear, but I have never caught one on a pink worm....Generally,My experience has been the colder the temperature and the colder the water, the harder it is to fool em'..........Ortho 8)

 

[Bent Rod]

Big spoons are sometimes deadly in cold water situations , their ability to entice cold water steelhead is legendary. Gonna start packing the second rod with the silver wwwRVRFSHR.com spoons starting tommorrow, it will get swung through some runs I've been eyeing for spoon use.

 

[Spoonman]

.........................................................
Spoonman, I appreciate your input on the topic.....You know, I suppose it's kinda like the ol' pink worm. I have caught a lot of steel' on a wide range of gear, but I have never caught one on a pink worm....Generally,My experience has been the colder the temperature and the colder the water, the harder it is to fool em'..........Ortho 8)

One of the hardest things to do is to fish with a bait/lure you have not had any success with.The lack of confidence usually prevents it being fished effectively or long enough to produce results.It took me a couple of seasons of half-hearted effort (and finally a fish) trying "pinky" before I could fish it for more than a few casts.

 

[berean_man7]

I am in agreement with Spoonman here,
A few years back after reading an article in Canadian Sport Fishing titled "Steelhead love hardware" I decided to put this theory to the test so I set out on some of the best waters for steel that I know in B.C. many of wich I do not wish to promote here as they will turn into the status of the Veder if I did.
Fished spinners mostly Silver and Brass and sometimes with red added with great success that year and have never looked back.
I saw people fish the same runs as I with Pink worms,roe,wool,flies etc. and would let them have first crack and wait till they left then cover the same run.
It is true there is no denying it *Sealhead Love Hardware*

 

[eggma]

I am in agreement with Spoonman here,
A few years back after reading an article in Canadian Sport Fishing titled "Steelhead love hardware" I decided to put this theory to the test so I set out on some of the best waters for steel that I know in B.C. many of wich I do not wish to promote here as they will turn into the status of the Veder if I did.
Fished spinners mostly Silver and Brass and sometimes with red added with great success that year and have never looked back.
I saw people fish the same runs as I with Pink worms,roe,wool,flies etc. and would let them have first crack and wait till they left then cover the same run.
It is true there is no denying it *Sealhead Love Hardware*

...So if you don't mind me asking, are we talkin bout like the "Blue Fox" in-line spinner cast and retrieve type thing or drifting colorado type spinners under a float?
I've been heading out evey year for the better part of a decade now and have yet to touch one Steelhead. Pretty discouraging but I have no plans of giving up yet. I've read/heard alot lately about people getting Steel and Pacific Salmon on hardware and have tried it out many times (spoons, spinners, colorados, etc.) to no avail. Not even a Coho or Spring. I'm sure it does probably have alot to do with the whole confidence issue that has been brought up a couple times but I swear I've pretty much tried it all and I'm getting rather frustrated. :'(
Thanks for your time..

 

[berean_man7]

Both methods and spinner types you mention here will work.
The trick is the presentation as we are talking about light gear here, you need to make some on the spot judjments and get the presentation down to where the fish are lying.
Keep at it you will find em!
Also I have caught Coho on silver and silver/red blue fox and I know this is going to sound wierd but may I suggest you try green and pink wedding bands foe Ho's there was a thread here last year and others have also gotten them on it.