It was a snowy winter weekend in Kansas, along about 1960, and I was bent on getting dual exhausts installed on my old car. Several inches of snow covered the ground, as I lay on my back, working underneath "my wheels" all weekend long.
After watching me come in the house both days, wet and nearly frozen to the bones, my ever-so-wise mom predicted that I was going to come down with "a death of cold" as a result of my bull-headedness, and you know what? She was right. A few days later, I was so sick I hardly could hold up my head. It was a couple weeks later before I finally was well enough to take my car to my best friend's dad (a mechanic) and let him finish what I had started.
Thank God, I've lost a lot of that tenacity over the years, but there's still enough left to make me want to sneak in some fishing trips over the winter months of December, January and February. And, I'm not the only one who feels that way.
A lot of folks would prefer to don an extra layer or two of clothing and head to the river, rather than sit on their duffs all weekend watching TV sports...and only wishing they had gone to the water. As one fella remarked, "Nothing compares to braving the elements for a few hours of solitude and winter-fishing bliss. Personally, I'd rather fish in winter than the middle of summer. There are fewer pleasure boaters, skiers and jet-skiers, and also fewer bass fishermen."
"What can be more simple, calming and refreshing than spending a brisk day on the water in the deep of winter?" lamented another angler.
Make sure you don't overlook some nice socks and headgear. For warmth purposes, "jeep caps," like "Radar" O'Reilly wore in the MASH hit TV series, are hard to beat. As for gloves, some love 'em, and some hate 'em. For me, a pair of warm, fingerless gloves are a "must have" item; otherwise, I'm dogged with arthritic pain all day. I also wear a good ankle-high, waterproof pair of boots, along with the usual year-round pair of polarized sunglasses.
Once you're properly dressed for the pursuit, the next thing you need to concentrate on is the timing of your trip. The best time to go in winter, by most accounts, is during the middle of a warm front. For at least some I read about, they prefer days when the air temps range from the low 40s into the 50s. Personally, I like the 50s, but if cabin fever is getting me down, I will consider a day in the 40s, especially if low winds are predicted. Incidentally, you always should check the wind forecast before planning a cold-weather fishing trip. Winter wind is brutal and really can mess up a day on the water.
Some people won't hesitate to go, even in freezing temps, but then you have to deal with annoyances like ice freezing in your rod guides, and that ruins it for me. I would do that when I was younger--but that was before I decided to turn the switch "on" in the upper story.
In researching the Internet on this topic, I found one guy who characterized winter fishing as "nothing more than an excuse to drive a long distance on terrible roads to the middle of nowhere, whereupon you will find very few other sensible creatures, besides maybe a few birds and hopefully some fish." Another admitted that his wife is right: His winter-fishing habits "border on insane."
I don't feel like I fall into either one of those categories. I occasionally just like to wrap up, grab a thermos of coffee, and go spend a few hours of the day communing with nature, as I simultaneously try to catch a few fish. If that makes me borderline crazy or insane, then so be it. I'll keep doing it for as long as my health allows.
My dad had the same philosophy, and I unfortunately had to witness how making what he knew was going to be his "last cast" affected him. There's no doubt in my mind I, too, will experience the same emptiness. Just knowing I one day will have to accept the reality of there not being a "next time" is more than I can fully comprehend at the moment. At the very least, it's a truly sobering thought.
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