If the high temps for the day are in the upper 40's, and the wind is not howling, I will try to fish. 

 

Yesterday the high temp was 32, winds out of the north 10-18 mph, with gusts to 25. Hard no for me. 

 

What is your cut-off point, weather wise, where you will not fish? 

 

 

I fish ponds until my lure bounces off the water. This time of the year I don’t take the boat so unless it is unsafe to go out, I go. Some years that’s through December and maybe passed new years. Other times it’s early December. 

 Cold spring mornings are the norm here but it almost always warms up.

The important part is I get bites, sometimes big ones. 

In fact, a couple of Aprils ago I had a decent morning in the snow.

Never really warmed up much that day, but I wasn't complaining.

https://youtu.be/k3Z48BqFWuw?si=4C5OUO4FGA9NjsQZ

Late season, if the 'high' for the day is below 40 - I'm staying by the wood stove.

Air temps above 40 with winds forecast below 10 mph I'll chance it.

I've done the frozen line in the guides, the frozen reels

and the frozen human deal enough times to know,

that I'm not a fan.

Stay Safe.

🥶

A-Jay

 

 

Today is that day, 22 degrees with a 15mph wind.  Yesterday was 38 degrees with a similar north wind and I ended up crushing.  I fish braid to leader and can't deal with all the crunching ice that well.  I need to find a couple rigs to move over to straight floro for times like these.

 

scott

Wind is the main factor. Below 28 I don’t mess with it, mainly because it freezes the line in the eyelets 

As I've shared many times, a canoe is a wet boat. When I shift the paddle from one side to the other, water drips along the way. So, I'm wet, my gear is wet, and the canoe is wet. If I were fishing a dry boat, I'd linger longer, but anything under 40 degrees is too cold for me.

We’re going to find out this year. In the past, I spent a lot of time in waders in the winter fishing streams for steelhead and other things. I’d be fishing in temps in the teens with ice floes coming down the stream. That was cold and I was young. Then again, being in the boat means not standing in the water so there’s that.  Tomorrow is 26 in the morning and warming up to 40 in the afternoon with clouds and 10-15 mph winds. I think that wind is going to be miserable and might cut me short, but I’m making a go of it. Heated vest, hand warmers, and good insulation. 

When I was young living in Alaska, I Ice fished without a shelter when the temperature was 20 degrees below zero.  Now I consider it cold if I don't run my AC in my car on the way to the lake, and I have to wear a long sleeve shirt for the first hour in the morning.

Bass when the water temps drop below 40 degrees it’s time to hang it up.

Fishing in general when the line freezes to the guides it’s time to go home.

Those who drill holes in the ice to fish, enjoy your toddies.

Tom

For most of my fishing life if the high was predicted to reach 32° no matter the starting temperature we went. Since my cerebrovascular accident I have to take blood thinners and can’t stand the cold so the predicted high now is 50° with soft water.

Not to derail this thread but when I was guiding I had the attitude it was better to acclimate to the colder weather than to try and fight it.  Now, that’s within reason, I’m not advocating going out in a tshirt in freezing weather but I do feel we have a tendency to overdo it with hand warmers, electric vests, socks and 20 layers of cold weather clothing.  I was working in Grand Forks North Dakota in the dead of winter and it was 25 degrees below zero.  The guy that managed our location there came into the office in a windbreaker and when I questioned him about it, he replied that it was not even cold yet.  😂 I know that’s extreme and no one should risk frostbite but there is some truth to the position that it’s easier to get used to the cold than to fight to keep warm.  

When I was younger living at Big Bear lake in SoCal the weather at 7,200 feet gets cold, the lake freezes over. We nearly always had frost on the boat dock at the marina where I worked in the summer! The afternoon temps were in the high 80’s in the summer. I worked wearing a T-shirt because being acclimated to the climate. We called it having thick blood! Customers would come wearing parkas all bundled up and shivering early mornings and there I was in a T-shirt. 
You can’t acclimate to cold weather over night, it takes about a full season. My point is we are all different with  different reaction to both hot and cold weather. 
Now in my 80’s I bundle up warm when frost is on the dock!

Tom

Around 40 degrees air temp is my cut off but 40 degree water temps will keep me at home as well. I usually fish from a kayak and when it becomes so cold and windy, the danger of being on the water isn't worth the reward. 

I've waded down to the high 30's (air and water) with tolerable wind. Much beyond that it becomes cumbersome and borders on unsafe. 

21 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Not to derail this thread but when I was guiding I had the attitude it was better to acclimate to the colder weather than to try and fight it.  Now, that’s within reason, I’m not advocating going out in a tshirt in freezing weather but I do feel we have a tendency to overdo it with hand warmers, electric vests, socks and 20 layers of cold weather clothing.  I was working in Grand Forks North Dakota in the dead of winter and it was 25 degrees below zero.  The guy that managed our location there came into the office in a windbreaker and when I questioned him about it, he replied that it was not even cold yet.  😂 I know that’s extreme and no one should risk frostbite but there is some truth to the position that it’s easier to get used to the cold than to fight to keep warm.  

 

@TOXIC, good points. If I am working outside, big game hunting, hiking, etc., will adjust my layering to manage moisture. I tend to sweat a lot...and then get wet and cold. No bueno!!

 

The wind always seems to be blowing here in Nebraska...and on the lake, that makes life extra chilly. I have also noticed humidity plays a large factor in how cold I "feel."

 

 

 

 

 

  Here in Ga. it's never too cold, too windy, or too wet for me. The air temp is way down on my list of concerns as our water temps rarely drop below 45 on our bigger lakes. 

If I have the time I'm gonna fish. I have to ride tractors, work on equipment, mend fences, feed & wrestle cows in those conditions. But I'm hard headed, hot natured, and YOUNG.😁

I didn't even know that was a thing.  I fish all year long.

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

I do feel we have a tendency to overdo it with hand warmers, electric vests, socks and 20 layers of cold weather clothing.

 

Totally agree. Spent some time in Finland where it can get brutally cold. The less I tried to fight it the easier being outside became. I did get overconfident (was young and dumb) and ended up with mild frost bite on my hand while on the Russian border and my finger tips are still numb years later, so there IS a rational limit like you're saying. 🤣

 

In terms of fishing, I'm out there in all weather. I don't ice fish just because ice over in NC is like a thin sheen and not real hard ice. 

 

My wife is from Michigan. There's some really high end ice fishing shacks I've seen. I'd be in those all winter if I lived there.

I've never been that cold.............but in Florida we fish year round.......

I will fish into the low 30's but its really the wind that gets ya. as far as becoming acclimated to the cold that's so true I have worked construction my whole life and in the winter I would go the bus stop and all of the office workers would be there with so much stuff on they could barely move and all I would have on was a hat, gloves and a hoodie with good thermals on and a sweatshirt in my bag. My crazy postman wears his shorts all winter long and I'm talking all winter long even with snow on the ground.

Too cold to fish?

 

NONSENSE.

 

Currently here we have snow flurries and the wind chill is 22 degrees with 20 mph winds gusting to 30 mph.  

 

It's too cold to fish!!!

 

The high will be 63 on Wednesday and 75 on Friday.   I can wait.😊

 

6 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

We’re going to find out this year. In the past, I spent a lot of time in waders in the winter fishing streams for steelhead and other things. I’d be fishing in temps in the teens with ice floes coming down the stream. That was cold and I was young. Then again, being in the boat means not standing in the water so there’s that.  Tomorrow is 26 in the morning and warming up to 40 in the afternoon with clouds and 10-15 mph winds. I think that wind is going to be miserable and might cut me short, but I’m making a go of it. Heated vest, hand warmers, and good insulation. 

The boat is colder than the waders 100% 

When I owned my own pest control company and lived in Iowa, I was in the elements year round.  It got to the point that I could operate outside in top and bottom long Johns, jeans, shirt and down vest.  When I first went to Florida from Virginia, I was staying with a friend while looking for a house and it happened to be Halloween.  He had to run an errand and asked me to hand out candy if any kids came by.  The doorbell rang and I went to the door in my gym shorts and tshirt. Standing on the front step were some kids with their parents in the background in full winter gear, gloves, hats, North Face coats and boots.  I found it extremely funny.  Then I moved back to Virginia after 2 years in Florida with a 3 month stay in Puerto Rico and in the first winter back, I thought I was going to freeze to death.  😝 

Today, November 10th, 42° with winds gusting over 20mph, it was almost too cold.  Same conditions in February will be ok...lol.