Overcoming Your Fear of the Cold
Ever since I began writing this column almost 19 years ago, I have tried to convince you to keep your fishing tackle, cold weather gear, and even your boats ready for late fall fishing. I know that many of you use the first of October as the drop-dead date to store and winterize most of your fishing tackle and certainly your boats.
Some of you still don’t know what you’re missing.
Let’s take a look at how and why you should move beyond your fear of the cold and capitalize on some of the best fishing of the year.
We are blessed to have several reservoirs (in our local area) that provide fantastic fishing opportunities that seem to get better the colder it gets. Jordanelle, Deer Creek, Starvation, and Strawberry Reservoir are the most popular destinations and with good reason. Each of these reservoirs “turn on” for most trout species in the fall and some of the largest fish of the year are on the prowl looking for food.
Most of the largest fish roam in search of minnows and gorge themselves in preparation for a long winter. Fishing with minnow-type jerkbaits, tube jigs, and swimbaits are very effective ways to target these fish.
The fear of cold
The best way to destroy a good fishing trip is to be too cold to fish. Yet, when you understand how to stay warm it becomes much easier to brave the weather and capitalize on the hungry trout. Here is a list of items to make sure you stay warm.
- Dress in layers, thermal underwear (bottoms and tops), wool pants and long sleeve shirt, a waterproof outer shell, and a heavy winter coat.
- Take two hats, a baseball cap (if it warms up), and a stocking cap that will cover your ears. A popular item now is a balaclava that takes the place of a hoodie if you don’t want that extra bulk.
- Always have two pairs of gloves. One, like running or driving gloves that you can wear and still fish, and a pair of insulated gloves you could wear if the other pair isn’t quite warm enough.
- Wear a good pair of insulated boots (not bulky if possible) and insulated socks. Some one-use feet warmers could also help.
- Finally, take some hot chocolate or your favorite hot drink or soup in a thermos that will stay hot for most of the day.
It is rarely as cold on the water as you imagine when you leave home. Right now, the water temperature on Strawberry is hovering close to 42 to 44 degrees. This means when you are in your boat, the air on the lake should be close to the 40s (based on humidity) unless wind in present. I cannot tell you how many times I over dress and have to shed some layers once on the water.
Catching huge trout
When you get beyond the fear of the cold and you catch your first huge fall trout, the weather will not be a problem. You see, in the fall, most reservoirs clear up and you can see up to 10 feet below the surface. That means that if you fish jerkbaits (and wear polarized sunglasses), you can actually see many of the fish BEFORE they eat your lure. Few things excite me (or most of those that share my boat) more than watching large trout eating lures.
I took my son, Mark, to Strawberry last Saturday morning. We had the best time catching and releasing well over 20 large cutthroats and Mark, caught the largest cutthroat of his life, a 24 ¾-inch 6-pound monster and several four to five-pounders. The photo (accompanying this column) shows him decked out in his cold-water gear and a big smile on his face while holding an enormous mid-fall cutthroat.
Overcome your fear of the cold, and get out to one of our local reservoirs and take advantage of the opportunity that awaits. Good Luck and Happy Fishing
!
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