Macchina
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2006
- Messages
- 5,213
My wife and I have a place in far up North that we spend a lot of our weekends at and we headed up there last weekend for some relaxation.
We are on a Nationally known trout river and I like to fish a section of it during the winter for Steelhead. They stay-over from the spring migration run up river and are a great trophy when you can get one. Browns are pretty regular in the river as well, so theres usually always a catch to be had.
In the winter I shore fish, so I wear boots and OR gaiters for walking through the snow. Show shoes dont work well because of all of the bushy growth and broken ice on the shoreline. Fishing was slow so I decide to fish upstream of the landing for a while, then back track and fish downstream from the landing (this kept my car in the center of my activity). It had really warmed op that day (somewhere in the low 20s) and I was able to get in about a dozen casts before I had to clean the ice out of the eyes of my pole which makes fishing a lot faster. I was throwing Brass head Wooly Buggers and some Prince Nymphs but hadnt gotten a bite. I switched to spinners at the end and got hung up on a sunken log near shore. In my efforts to free the spinner I slipped down a sheet of ice that hangs on the shore and fell into the river on my side. Between the initial fall and slipping back in several times trying to get up the icy shore I had soaked everything but my left arm. It had taken me an hour to get to this spot on the river (fishing slowly) but I figured I could make it back going as fast as possible in as little as 15 minutes or so. During that slog I found out just how much warmer wet wool actually is than anything else:
I am big wool fan and always wondered how it would fair in the winter when soaked. I have been winter backpacking and hunting often and wear merino everywhere except my shell layers. I thankfully have never been soaked while backpacking because we are usually a days hike away from a road at that point.
On this fishing outing I was wearing a 100% merino long sleeve thermal shirt, a 100% merino wool mid layer, and a Woolrich Alaskian Jacket (80/20 wool/nylon) for my outer layer on top. On bottom I was wearing some polyester long john thermals and a pair of double-thick Arborwear cotton pants. On my hike back my legs started to freeze up while my upper body started to warm considerably. It appeared that as soon as my body warmed up the water in the wool my upper body was completely warm and quite comfortable (though much heavier). My gloves were fingerless 100% ragg wool and within a minute I could feel a drastic difference between the soaking wool (warm) and the exposed skin (freezing). My legs only got colder on the way back. My knees were especially cold and started to lock up a bit by the time I got back.
Though this experience could have been dangerous had any variable worked out differently, however I am quite thankful for the learning experience it gave me. I am going to look into a pair of wool pants (I have heavy Codet and military surplus wool pants, but they are both too warm for the constant movement involved in fishing). I think Im going to work out a completely wool suit to wear on these fishing trips from now on.
The idea of building a fire after you fall in is close to ridiculous unless you NO OTHER options. Looking around the snowy shore (every branch was frozen and finding dry earth to build it on would have involved digging through a foot of icy snow) it would have taken me over an hour to get a fire going at best and most likely a fire without serious man-made kindling was impossible in these conditions. There's a reason the Forest Service's sign reads: "Fire danger today: Have a Nice Day"...
A picture of the river earlier in the day:
My usual catch (from a few months earlier):
We are on a Nationally known trout river and I like to fish a section of it during the winter for Steelhead. They stay-over from the spring migration run up river and are a great trophy when you can get one. Browns are pretty regular in the river as well, so theres usually always a catch to be had.
In the winter I shore fish, so I wear boots and OR gaiters for walking through the snow. Show shoes dont work well because of all of the bushy growth and broken ice on the shoreline. Fishing was slow so I decide to fish upstream of the landing for a while, then back track and fish downstream from the landing (this kept my car in the center of my activity). It had really warmed op that day (somewhere in the low 20s) and I was able to get in about a dozen casts before I had to clean the ice out of the eyes of my pole which makes fishing a lot faster. I was throwing Brass head Wooly Buggers and some Prince Nymphs but hadnt gotten a bite. I switched to spinners at the end and got hung up on a sunken log near shore. In my efforts to free the spinner I slipped down a sheet of ice that hangs on the shore and fell into the river on my side. Between the initial fall and slipping back in several times trying to get up the icy shore I had soaked everything but my left arm. It had taken me an hour to get to this spot on the river (fishing slowly) but I figured I could make it back going as fast as possible in as little as 15 minutes or so. During that slog I found out just how much warmer wet wool actually is than anything else:
I am big wool fan and always wondered how it would fair in the winter when soaked. I have been winter backpacking and hunting often and wear merino everywhere except my shell layers. I thankfully have never been soaked while backpacking because we are usually a days hike away from a road at that point.
On this fishing outing I was wearing a 100% merino long sleeve thermal shirt, a 100% merino wool mid layer, and a Woolrich Alaskian Jacket (80/20 wool/nylon) for my outer layer on top. On bottom I was wearing some polyester long john thermals and a pair of double-thick Arborwear cotton pants. On my hike back my legs started to freeze up while my upper body started to warm considerably. It appeared that as soon as my body warmed up the water in the wool my upper body was completely warm and quite comfortable (though much heavier). My gloves were fingerless 100% ragg wool and within a minute I could feel a drastic difference between the soaking wool (warm) and the exposed skin (freezing). My legs only got colder on the way back. My knees were especially cold and started to lock up a bit by the time I got back.
Though this experience could have been dangerous had any variable worked out differently, however I am quite thankful for the learning experience it gave me. I am going to look into a pair of wool pants (I have heavy Codet and military surplus wool pants, but they are both too warm for the constant movement involved in fishing). I think Im going to work out a completely wool suit to wear on these fishing trips from now on.
The idea of building a fire after you fall in is close to ridiculous unless you NO OTHER options. Looking around the snowy shore (every branch was frozen and finding dry earth to build it on would have involved digging through a foot of icy snow) it would have taken me over an hour to get a fire going at best and most likely a fire without serious man-made kindling was impossible in these conditions. There's a reason the Forest Service's sign reads: "Fire danger today: Have a Nice Day"...
A picture of the river earlier in the day:
My usual catch (from a few months earlier):
and changed into the nylon shorts, Tevas, and long sleeve fleece top. I looked funny but started feeling better almost immediately. Jeff suggested I down some sugar snacks also for immediate calories so I did. 
