By Ronnie Parris
Hey folks I hope you all had a great Christmas. The temps outside are dropping but the bites heating up. Although it may be uncomfortable if you can tough it out your gonna get in on some of the best fishing of the year. There’s several things you can do to help hedge your bets on a good trip starting with your boat.
Always check your batteries before heading out the cold can weaken or kill a battery faster than anything. Also, if you’re still using a 2 stroke or you haven’t cranked your boat in a while it’s not a bad idea to do so before you head to the lake. As far as tackle make sure you service your rods and reels good too. The cold especially below freezing temperatures make drags sluggish and line frailer, so I’d make sure I checked those really good before heading out.
Once on the water your clothes are probably the most important thing as far as comfort. I like to either wear a really good cold weather waterproof pair of coveralls or layer with good moisture wicking base layers a finishing with a waterproof outer shell. Boots are very important as our toes seem to take the worst from the cold. I have a really good pair of cold weather mick boots, which come in handy if I need to wade at the landing for any reason. Wool socks or battery powered socks are also nice in the cold. Gloves can be great if you can fish with them on. Sometimes it’s hard to find a pair that you can fish with so you may want to experiment to see what works for you. Also, you can put hand warmers in your pockets and there are several different types of these I got introduced to the rechargeable ones on a recent trip with friends and I’m sold on them. Also, hot hands have the ones you shake and throw away at end of the day if you prefer them.
Between netting, fishing and water from minnow buckets, your bound to get some ice buildup in the floor of your boat, so be really careful. I usually have a stove on the boat in the winter but take precautions as this could be a fire hazard. Travel and launching takes a little more care too as road conditions an ice buildup on the ramp can add to safety issues. Bottom line is it may be a little more difficult, but the winter fishing can be the best of the year. Be safe. Have fun. And when it warms up, take a kid fishing.