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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | Not your emotional layers. I don't want to know how you stayed home with the little woman last night, watched "Beaches", and sobbed uncontrollably.
I would like to hear from those of you that head north and fish in extremely cold weather. I'm heading to Presque Isle in nine days for a gathering of hard core musky fisherpersons. Some of you may have heard about this little get together. As this will be my first Fall foray onto northern waters, I want to make sure I'm covered, so to speak.
I believe I have the water proof shells, boots, and gloves required. The outer casing, if you will. What layers work well to fill the space between the body and the casing? What keeps the body toasty warm, yet not overcooked?
Please keep in mind I am a husky gentleman, thus already quite a bulky package. I'm sure those that have been kind enough to offer me a spot fishing would appreciate a passenger slightly smaller than a Volkswagon, as room for baits and other essentials must be considered. Are there space age materials that allow for freedom of movement for both myself and my boat partners, yet will also keep me warm? Or are the tried and true natural fabrics that have kept humanity alive in cold climates through the ages still the answer?
Help a newbie Fall trophy hunter out, if you would. Open your outer casings, and expose those inner layers.
Kevin
Sausage. |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Layers are still the key Kevin. Mix the tried and true with the best technology has to offer. Polypropylene first (keeps you dry), fleece second (traps lots of air and keeps it relatively warm), wool third (insulates even if wet). Avoid cotton (easier said than done though). You have the outer shell, so I won't go into that (I'm a fan of Gore-tex and Thinsulate; especially if someone else is paying for it...).
Lambeau is an expert on this subject, he'll let us know everything we did wrong on Thursday!
S. |
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Posts: 1286
Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | Kevin, dress like an onion, lots of thin layers. Stay away from anything cotton. Polypro or polar tech fleece are my choices, but there are many others out there. On top, I like to stick with vests. Too much bulk in the arm area makes casting a chore. In the past, wool worked well for me also, but the newer materials are a lot lighter. A hand warmer muff strapped around the waist and filled with a chemical hand warmer pac helps take the stiffness out of cold pinkies. A few of the chemical pacs kept in interior pockets, down near the kidney area, helps keep the inner core comfy. If nothing helps, tough it out and look forward to the cocktails waiting at Skyview.  See you there. |
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| here's my packing list...
inner layers:
- heavy polypro pants (Army)
- heavy polypro shirt (Army)
- light polypro shirt (EMS)
mid layer:
- fleece pants (Sierra Design)
- wool sweater (100%)
- polypro neck gator
outer layer:
- wind pants (Nike)
- fleece vest (Gander Mtn)
- rain bibs (Gander Mtn H20)
- rain jacket (Gander Mtn H20)
- cold weather jacket liner (Colombia)
- cold weather parka (Columbia)
- wool hat, small
- wool hat, oversized (i double up sometimes)
feet:
- polypro sock liners
- wool socks (100%)(Black Mountain)
- light-weight boots (Merrel)
- hvy-weight boots (Matterhorn; Gore-Tex, 200g Thinsulate)
hands:
- casting gloves (Glacier Glove)
- wool glove liners (100%)
- leather choppers
as a big guy, don't be shy about getting oversized stuff, especially for your outer layers. if the system fits too snugly you will lose the benefits.
the key is adaptability. being able to add or remove layers as the conditions and your body heat dictate. overheating is just as bad as getting chilled: if you get hot and start sweating, you'll be freezing cold very soon if you can't vent heat.
i've used this system on winter snowshoe camping trips in the Adirondacks where you're extremely active for 10 hours and then sitting still in the snow not moving overnight for 12 hours.
my experience has been that these three basic layers are all you need if you pick the right things. the biggest mistakes i see people make are to wear tight-fitting clothes, wear cotton, and to rely on single layers: wearing a shirt and jeans with a winter coat works well when you're going from your house to the car, but not when you want to stay outside all day long.
we were out on Saturday night, air temps got down to 35 degrees. i had on my polypros, fleece, bibs, and wool hat. my partner was wearing jeans, a jacket, and a baseball cap. guess who was cold? of course, when he fell in the lake, that didn't help warm him up any...  |
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Posts: 2068
Location: Appleton,WI | its wisconsin the weather can change in a day bring shorts!!You never know. |
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Posts: 82
Location: Cottage Grove, Mn |
Kev;
Consider a Mustang Survival Suit as must have in November and December.
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | Lambeau, I think when I was kid, we called a neck gator a dickie. Everybody was wearing them.
Now we're talking.
Kevin
Call me Haggis. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | the $10.00 quilted knit cuff pants you get in the cheap work section of fleet farm
underwear
a pair of socks
a pair of boots that i could kick and swim with if i had to (not too big)
a pair of quilted painter carhardts
a t-shirt
a long-sleeve mock neck t-shirt
a wool sweater
a hoodie
a pair of gander rain bibs
a headband ear band (knit)
a stocking cap
... a float coat for the baddest weather (buy one guys ... they are important!)
... the jacket to go with the bibs in-case it rains or wet snows
- gloves are for sallies
it's not as bad as so many make it out to be and so many people are so full and stiff that they are ineffective in the boat and dead men if there's an accident! ... don't overdo it! ... oh .... get a float coat? if you can afford to buy 5 musky baits, you can afford to make sure you float and can get back to the boat in time to stay alive if there's an accident.
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | what is a float coat? Where do you get one?
Edited by Raider150 10/15/2006 6:36 PM
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | it's a winter jacket that's a lifejacket ... comfortable as a winter jacket with knit cuffs, looks and feels like one but is a floatation device. mine is from stearns ... i got it by ordering it locally through a sports store after a near accident about 10 years ago when i stepped in a beaver run off a river duck hunting. my buddy saved my life by luckily grabbing my wader straps after i had gone under from the weight of the water filling up my waders.
after that near miss happened, we would dress in all of our duck hunting stuff with our float coats and waders and test our clothing in a swimming pool during our summer get together as we planned for the upcoming season.
Edited by jonnysled 10/15/2006 6:51 PM
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | Coveralls....gotta have em.
RM |
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Posts: 91
Location: Wausau | A great peice of clothing I wear in cold weather fishing as well as hunting is a wool vest. These things are not very bulky and still give your arms freedom of movement but they still keep your core warm. |
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| Polly pro long underwear,top and shirt,,,and if your not one of the many that are itchy from wool 100% then wool socks,shirt, pants,,,then a rain suit over that,,one of the warmest things you can wear are Bibs because they cover your lower back,,and wool fingerless gloves 100% wool. wool retains its warmth even when wet |
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Posts: 106
Location: Des Plaines, IL | Bibs are THE BEST!!! You will never get that cold rain down your crack again. |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | Don't forget the thong Kev!!! If you have an extra sock from a warm day (didn't need to wear it) you can use that together to lure in some cutties from da Nortwoods.  |
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | Joel,
The innermost and daintiest of the layers is a private thing. What I wear for that layer shall remain a secret.
As for the old sock trick, my days of enticing northwoods cuties are long in the past. I leave that for the younger men. On the first day, my goal is to stay warm and not irritate Sorno and Lambeau. On days two and three, I want to stay warm and irritate Slamr, but only a little.
Oh, yeah, catching a fish would also fit into the plan nicely.
Kevin
A cold weather plan. |
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Posts: 7084
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Check the Cabela's Bargain Cave online. Seem to be some good deals on base layer kind of stuff. |
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Posts: 8828
| Kevin, I've been wondering the same thing. I usually quit fishing when it gets below 40!
But alas, this year, I've decided to be stupid...
Got the Arctic wool Wigwam socks, got the 1000 gram insulated gore tex boots, my feet won't be cold.
Got the polyro underwear from the Army surplus store
Got the Tech20 (uninsulated) rain gear
Got some fingerless wool gloves and some glacier gloves with polypro liners, I think my hands are covered.
I've already gone way over budget on fishing stuff this year, so buying a coat and pants might be kind of tough.
Do you guys think sweats over jeans over polypro will cut it if I wear the uninsulated bibs?
As for the top layer I was thinking polypro/windshirt/fleece sweatshirt/Tech20 rain jacket...
I'm not a sally when it comes to cold, but I don't want to be stupid and freezing, either!
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Like my daddy used to say, "If you have it on, you can always take it off; if you don't have it, you'll get cold and wet."
He also said this about fishing in the rain: the fish don't mind, they're already cold and wet.
If you've got it, bring it. m |
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Posts: 476
Location: WI | I learned to dress for the cold all over again a few years ago, and it's worth it! The rule of thumb is:
ABC (Anything But Cotton)
Throw away the cotton long johns, and get some fleece and poly underliners, don't use a cotton sock and use some poly thin socks and 100% wool socks and it will make a world of difference.
GotOne |
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Posts: 8828
| My daddy has a phrase he likes to use too, Mikie!
"You guys are going FISHING in this weather? I don't even want to go outside and get the newspaper! You're all ^%&*%^& CRAZY!!" |
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| 1) under armor 2) loose layer of polly pro 3) fleese (upper body only) 4)cabelas wool with windshear 5)grab bow or fishpole and go!! |
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Location: Lake Tomahawk, WI | One item of outerwear I've found invaluable for late season fishing is a pair of neoprene chest waders. They fit over a few layers, and a parka can be worn over them. 100% water/wind proof. Nice for landings, can jump right in the water for some of those bad landings that always seem to be on good lakes
JS |
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| Got the Arctic wool Wigwam socks, got the 1000 gram insulated gore tex boots, my feet won't be cold.
i'd suggest you also bring a pair of light-weight thin wool socks. the combo of "artic wool" and 1000g thinsulate could easily mean you end up TOO warm with sweaty feet if the weather isn't absolutely freezing. you want to avoid overheating just as much as getting cold, b/c sweating is the fast path to getting cold.
Do you guys think sweats over jeans over polypro will cut it if I wear the uninsulated bibs?
you've got polypros...add a pair of fleece pants over these, some nylon pants for extra wind-blocking, and put the bibs over the top and you'll be fine. i would avoid sweats (cotton) and jeans (cotton) at all costs. they don't stop wind, won't retain heat very well at all, and they trap moisture.
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Posts: 8828
| Thanks, Lambeau.
Yah, I wore the boots the other day working in the yard. My feet were so hot it made my head sweat, LOL!
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