When the air temp is below 32 it is tolerable, however water freezes on all your gear. The guides on my rod are usually the first thing to freeze, and then ice forms on the fly line, I've even found my fly frozen in a small block of ice. When gear starts to get iced up, it's almost impossible to make an effective presentation to the fish. So I can bundle up and deal with temps below freezing, but it's difficult to fish effectively so I tend to stay home and tie flies. No reason to stand outside and freeze my but off if my effort to catch fish is going to be hampered by ice on my gear, right? Yesterday was the only day this weekend that the air temps were forecasted to be above freezing. So I hit the river mid-afternoon, about 3:30ish. The air was about 36 degrees, a perfect winter temperature. The water was stained; it had about 12 inches of visibility and was in the mid 30s. There was ice on the bank. I saw two other anglers on the river yesterday, that said, I had the river to myself for the most part. I fished all types of water, fast water, mid pool, eddies, the gut of the pool, and tail outs. I fished hard with no success. I did spend a nice winter afternoon on the river peacefully communing with nature. I saw deer, birds and squirrels running around all over the place. It was nice to get out. Unfortunately, I got smacked with the skunk. Here's a nice winter pic as a consolation prize.
