I personally fish throughout the entire winter and wanted to see what measures you guys take. The lowest temp. I've ever been out in was 15°F. I also fish in heavy rain and in the 90's with breaks.

Single digit temps with surface temps of the river at 31.8 degrees is probably the coldest temps I have ever fished in where I wasn't inside a heated ice fishing shanty.

The coldest I have ever been was probably 30's and non-stop rain steelhead fishing in the PNW or there was this time in Louisiana where it dipped down to the upper 20's at night and only made it up to the 50's during the day or so, those morning boat rides at first light in sub freezing temps in all that humidity, insanely cold, had good cold weather clothing on too, cut right through it...

On the flip side, extreme heat, muggy and 90 degrees can produce some amazing topwater fishing for river Smallies, but our heat pales in comparison to say Arizona or many Southern locales in the Summer months and I definitely don't travel to hot places in the Summer lol

Trout fishing on laky Taneycomo it was -5°. It took 30 minutes to get the motor started. The steering was frozen so we piled paper from the trash can in the splash well and burned it to thaw the steering. After a 6 mile boat ride I deployed the trolling motor and it was frozen.

It turned out to be a very cold skunk day.

I have a few of these from over the years worth telling stories about but we will do one to start with - my buddy from Charlotte came to fish and spend a day hanging with me and on that day a cold front hit with half dollar sized 40 degree rain drops falling non stop - not wanting to spoil the occasion or waste my buddies time - we fished about 2 hours of miserable soaked to the bone failure - it was so loud and constant we were yelling over it to speak to each other - just goes to show we were really making time to do something we loved in spite of the worst odds. A fond memory for me!

I fish up to and through breaking skim ice in boat and kayak. Air temp is somewhat immaterial to me. High 20s with sun and no wind can be almost pleasant with right humidity if guides, spool, level wind all stay thawed. I fished a couple days ago in mixed precip and wind close to 40°, and I was in pretty bad shape by the time I finally acknowledged the stupidity of staying out. Glad I could just motor home, tie up and come in.... I doubt I could have managed loading on trailer in those weatherand ramp conditions...not to mention my condition

I used to fish year round and, once the ice sealed everything else up, I would go to a cooling lake for a nuclear reactor. I fished a few times when the air temps were in the single digits. Every time I had to wear my Gore-Tex rain gear. The water coming out of the discharge is so hot that you are fishing in steam. Every single thing gets soaking wet and then freezes. The very first time I fished in those conditions I made the mistake of pulling out a rod lined with braid. After the second cast the braid was loaded with water. It freezes as you get it out of the warm lake water. By the fourth or fifth cast I could no longer reel in line because ice had piled up on the tip of the rod.

I still fish this in winter but the catch rate isn't good enough to keep me out in weather that cold anymore. Not to mention the boat ramp which isn't salted. I had to pull a guy and his boat up it once. Fortunately he wasn't sliding into the lake, but he certainly wasn't going anywhere without help.

Man, you guys are much more commited to fishing than I.

Committed? Not yet, but pretty sure my wife is considering it

I've fished in 25 degrees air temp with a north wind. I didn't do well.

November kayak fishing in Wisconsin builds character.

Wow this thread is revealing some serious dedication 😳.

I've never bass fished below upper 30's.

Fished lake Anna several years ago with an air temperature of 98* and water temp 95*....... thought that was extreme.

Fished one day with my dad in the Fall. Air temp was in the 50s but a nasty storm rolled through. It's the only time I haven't been able to at least hold position with his boat with the trolling motor on 10. We were about 200 feet from shore....and I couldn't see it with how intense the rain was.

We drifted with the waves through a windblown cove and I was actually doing pretty well on a bladed jig.

Only other time that sticks in my mind was I launched my Kayak in February in MA on a river when it was sunny in the 30s, but very windy. I had outriggers for safety and paddling back to the launch, against the wind, with outriggers....was not fun.

I'm retired and live on a lake; I can go out whenever I wish, and that is exactly why I do not venture out in uncomfortable conditions.

I am going to start this reply off from the opposite direction.

On many trips fishing on the local waters,

I am blessed to fish in extremely perfect conditions.

When the wind, water clarity, and air temps on a big body of water

that's completely void of any other anglers are extremely pleasant.

And it's Extremely perfect when plus-size brown bass slide into my net one after another.

On the other side, a more traditional version of extreme,

I routinely bass fish in air temps below freezing.

Just part of the early season deal here.

But the payoff is often well worth the frozen fingers.

When I'm lucky, I am able to fish in the subtropical conditions south of the border.

No wind and 108 degrees is a bear.

Especially since I am never used to it until I get in it.

All that said, perhaps what sticks out the most in my mind when it come to extremes,

are some of the boat rides up, down, and across Lake Menderchuck.

It's been know to get a little sporty.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

I fished 7am - 2pm in a Gale Warning with some rain in my 1448 jon. I was fishing against a couple friends for $5 each for the best 5 fish. I took off at 7 on the dot, figured they were running late. I called them at 9am just to check in and they were sitting at Denny's eating and forfeited their money. Sissys.😁

I won't blink at fishing in Small Craft Advisories. It's a very wet surfing trip in my little boat but the bass don't care. I usually wind up standing a fishing from the middle seat to lessen the waves rolling over the bow. It's one of the reasons I run a 80lb Terrova on such a little boat.

If the waters not hard, cold will never stop me from fishing.

If I go fishing on Friday I could be an extreme angler too. It is going to be -22 degrees here. I normally don’t go when it is much below freezing. It is not worth the trouble.

I did go fishing once in AZ when it was 114 out. I got to the lake at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and fishing to midnight. It never really cooled off. I also found out lake humidity makes it feel worse.

2 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

Not to mention the boat ramp which isn't salted. I had to pull a guy and his boat up it once. Fortunately he wasn't sliding into the lake, but he certainly wasn't going anywhere without help.

You ALWAYS should have some kitty litter with you in the Winter for boat ramps, and maybe some metal spikes in your boots so you don't go feet up when you step out of the truck lol

If guys would just let their trailers drip dry a bit before pulling all the way up the ramp, wouldn't have such issues typically, but they never do...

I shore fished around 30 degrees a few times. Didn't last long.

There were a few, hopefully they were all in the past.

Night whiting fishing in January in the Atlantic ocean on a party boat, was fishing in the stern and coffee was blowing out of my cup, it was blowing and temp in the high 20's.

Fishing on the Delaware River as a hurricane was coming in, rain and wind, caught a sunfish and as I had him reeled in it took off like a kite blowing above my rod tip. We were fishing right below where a creek came in and it was non-stop action with channel cats. A ranger came down and said are you guys out of your minds, we pulled up our stringer and showed him it full of nice channels and he just shook his head and said just be careful. Was a white knuckle ride home though.

Shark fishing at night in the Mud Hole, sudden thunderstorm came in, lightning hitting the water around the boat, water was like a washing machine. We were with a guy on his boat who I was told he knew what he was doing, he turned to me and said what do I do! I said it's time to put on the life jackets, I really thought we would be going down.

Tog fishing in our kayaks, me and my son, bad timing as I screwed up and it was a super moon tide.

It was getting real sloppy we said we better get back to the launch, which usually is a 30 minute paddle. I thought we were making ground as my gps said we were doing around .6 , next thing we realize were getting pulled into the shoals, waves were breaking around us as we were actually doing .6 backwards. The paddle back took us 2 hrs of constant hard paddling against an outgoing tide, my son asked what channel do we call for the coast guard when we got back to the launch, it was that close.

-5°?! 114°?! And I thought I was crazy, my goodness. I think if I really wanted to, I'd fish in colder weather, but a couple of decent bass in frigid temps just isn't worth it to me. Thanks for sharing.

It was actually a beautiful, warm, sunny day on a lake in Northern Manitoba. We were 3-4 miles west of our camp when the wind kicked up hard. We were motoring back against the wind in our 14ft boat with a 9.9 outboard. The wind was so strong we were barely moving against it. The white caps and waves were pounding us. We weren’t sure the little boat was going to remain upright. There was an island where we could beach the boat protected from the wind and we could wait it out until the winds died down. The only problem was that this island had had a fire and all the trees were just bare, standing logs. The wind was knocking down these dead trees all around us. We were genuinely concerned that if the waves didn’t swamp the boat and drown us, the falling trees would fall on us and kill us. Fortunately, the wind let up enough that we could actually move, barely, we could have easily walked back faster but after an a couple of hours, we made it back to camp in one, dry piece.

My brothers and I secured permission to fish a pond about 30 miles from our house. The big day came and we awoke to horizontal snow in the air. Still, we set out on our bikes pedaling heads down into the teeth of the storm. We made it about ten miles before turning back. The ride home was easy: We were blown home.

One time a thundering storm hit a pal and I in northwestern Ontario. The thunder was in the rain. It was so intense. Big drops churning the water. We paddled as hard as we could and then we strangely stopped paddling at the same second to laugh at our absurd behavior. We couldn't possibly get any wetter, so there was no reason to scurry back to camp. We just sat in the middle of the lake and enjoyed the fury.

I've been on water too big in boats too small to recount, but I remember being in the troughs and keeping an eye forward and an eye aft, lest the crest behind me break onto and into my boat.

One time on the Mississippi River in mid-November, I got pinched between a tow pushing barges. It was longer than an aircraft carrier and turned into the current to negotiate a bend. So, the waves it was creating hit the shoreline and bounced back. It was chaos, with waves crashing everywhere. One fell on my kayak and I clenched my paddle. If I'd lost it, I might have died. The wave broke through my spray skirt, making my boat heavy, and snapped my hull, which I didn't realize until I reached the shore. Even though the shore was only about 50 yards away, it took about 15 minutes to reach it. There were even whirlpools and vortexes: That's how agitated that water was. I literally crawled ashore and my situation worsened and worsened, but that's another story.

6 minutes ago, Scott F said:

It was actually a beautiful, warm, sunny day on a lake in Northern Manitoba. We were 3-4 miles west of our camp when the wind kicked up hard. We were motoring back against the wind in our 14ft boat with a 9.9 outboard. The wind was so strong we were barely moving against it. The white caps and waves were pounding us. We weren’t sure the little boat was going to remain upright. There was an island where we could beach the boat protected from the wind and we could wait it out until the winds died down. The only problem was that this island had had a fire and all the trees were just bare, standing logs. The wind was knocking down these dead trees all around us. We were genuinely concerned that if the waves didn’t swamp the boat and drown us, the falling trees would. Fortunately, the wind let up enough that we could actually move, barely, we could have easily walked back faster but after an a couple of hours, we made it back to camp in one, dry piece.

Gosh, it's good to read a Northwoods adventure. Thanks for sharing it!

My buddy Jon and I launched my boat on a morning it was -2 outside and never made it above 25*. We caught about 30 bass that day with our biggest being a 5, 6.75, and 7.5. This was the 7.5, my second fish of the year that year.

Our kayak championship this past season was the worst wind I've ever fished in. I should have been a little protected if the wind was coming from the forecasted direction, instead it was pounding straight into where I had to run. If it wasn't for the fact that I was running through waist deep water, I'd have never done it.

This day the heat index was upwards of 130*. It wasn't bad just sitting on the river bank once I got to my spot but I was soaked getting to it, pedaling against the current in my days before I had a motor on the yak.

This wasn't the "most extreme", but the wind combined with the steam off the water made it look pretty extreme. It was still single digits when I launched and never made it out of the 20's.

I have fished in some pretty extreme temps. We had a trip to Bay of Quinte Ontario for big walleye in December. Ice had formed overnight at the dock where we left my boat with the motor in the water. It took about 15 -20 minutes of running time at the dock before the motor was warm enough for the thermostat to open & start peeing. By the time we ran out to our spot to start trolling we noticed the line counter reels were covered in ice from the spray during our run. We had to thaw them from our hot thermos morning coffee. I have found when it gets so cold that you constantly have ice forming in the rod guides it's time to give up the ghost.

Few years ago it was 8 deg when I was fly fishing for trout. Line froze up, reel froze up, guides froze up. But i destroyed the trout.

The other time it was in the teens and sleeting. I fished for several hrs and then when I was done I could not get out of the water from all the ice. I had to toss gravel on the bank for traction.

Couple weeks, if its really cold I'll do it again. LOL