Early spring freshwater fishing around most parts—and the parts where I live—is often cold, wet, misty, rainy, even sleety. In addition to tips mentioned last year about parkas, gauntlets and gloves, I like to prepare ahead to prevent those things that made me miserable in the past. This correcting of past mistakes and lapses is called “experience.”
In addition to warm gloves, visit a discount store to pick up a large pair or two of rubber kitchen gloves; the kind worn when your wife makes you wash pots and pans. Rubber gloves allow you—with or without gloves underneath—to handle fish, wet lures, bait and tackle without freezing your digits off. You can switch back and forth between gloves to keep your hands dry.
Similarly, during spring fishing trips I often wear a heavy or high-collar sweater to keep the chill from around my neck and wrists. These specialty sweaters keep my neck dry and can be augmented with the addition of a long scarf.
If you can find them, I also like the knee-length waterproof parkas that used to be standard in outdoor catalogs. I like them not only for standing up when fishing a shoreline, but also when sitting down in a boat or on a log where they protect your butt from getting waterlogged and chilly.
If lacking these accouterments, stuff a couple of trashcan size plastic bags into your gear. Do this even if not lacking proper gear. These are handy for storing wet clothes (we all fall in now and again) or as additional rain protection. When needed, punch holes in the bottom center and two bottom corners of the disposable bag to make openings for your head and arms. It will work if you lack a raincoat and additionally help repel rain if you pop it on over existing gear.
I normally wear a baseball-style cap (pardon the term in this column) but that won’t protect the back of my neck against rain and sleet. For the spring nasties, I like a floppy cap of the style worn by Bob Denver (Gilligan) on the old Gilligan’s Island TV show. An alternative is the back-flap cap favored by saltwater tropics and flats fishermen.
It also helps to carry a small hand towel, stuffed into a plastic bag to keep it dry. These are handy for drying face, hands and tackle. Sure, it will get wet in time, but you can always wring it out and still use it. Better still, carry a second towel, stuffed into a separate plastic bag. Carry some thick wool socks in a separate plastic bag for changing if necessary.
The above won’t make you feel as if you are on a Rio beach, but will keep you drier and warmer than others out for early season fishing. Add a vacuum bottle/jar (wide mouth) filled with your favorite chili for lunch and a trip that otherwise might be miserable can turn into a lot of fun.
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