Snow Muskies

[Red Childress]

It will not be long before we will be battling the elements...........

[cband]

"It's the most wonderful time of the year". Don't forget the reel Magic.

[jah1317]

I started breaking out the gear last night, wool gloves, knit hats, rain gear...... I cannot wait for it! Don't forget your life jackets guys, check them and if you have inflatables get some back up kits and wear them on the OUTSIDE! Hitting French this sunday new turf, should be interesteing. Anyone ever fish up near cambridge springs other than conneaut tee? I am hoping I can squeeze a boat throught there I am pretty sure it's deep slow water........

Good luck,

Jacob

[toothyfishman]

I've always said that the wintertime fish "counted" more.

The BS you gotta go through and all.....they are some of my favorite pictures as well.
I love the winter fishing, last year we had so much snow the snowmobiling kind of took over.
I'll be ready this year to hit it harder than last.

[muskie24/7]

Heres a pic. of my buddie Joel with a snow/ice muskie!

Brian

[lowbidder]

Looking at "yins guys" photos....I realize I need to update my cold weather wardrobe if I'm going to enjoy fishing this winter. I have a very good "base layer" set that I use for early season kayak fishing, but nothing special beyond that.

Red, I noticed you wearing Ice Armor in one photo. I had looked at that online and it looked nice... are you happy with it?

Anybody else have anything that they are extremely happy with?

[Red Childress]

Looks like Ice Armor in that photo but is actually Cabela's Uninsulated Guidewear. I layer underneath that shell with Under Armor, several shirts/sweat pants, etc........works just fine for the core area. The Cabela's Goretex deer skin palm gloves w/ 100-gram Thinsulate work great.......get the largest size and layer 1 or 2 more pairs of military issued (army/navy store) wool gloves under those and 1000-gram hunting boots and you are good to go. Just do not fall overboard!

[pgwbacher]

Would those Cabelas Deerskin gortex gloves be good for bow hunting also?

[Red Childress]

They might be a little too bulky but that would be a personal preference, I suppose.

They also come without the deerskin palm. The entire glove is wool based and you have the choice of thinsulate or not, if my memory is correct.


http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?type=product&cmCat=Related_IPL_920110&id=0005133920109a

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0005133920110a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Product_liberal&QueryText=thinsulate+deerskin+palm&sort=all&Go.y=0&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?type=product&cmCat=Related_IPL_920110&id=0069766920111a

[Red Childress]

The deerskin palm/goretex liner are on sale right now........I just ordered 2 more pair. The sizes run a little snug so if you are planning on using a liner with them, you might want to order 2 sizes larger. (I ordered 2XL and my hands are not that big at all.)

[Red Childress]

Here are a couple of Toothy's snow fish shots........looks a little cold out there. :)

[Anzomcik]

Man looking at all those pics is getting me excited. It seems spring and winter is the only time i can catch muskie. Heres a photo of my best fish to date, little blurry because the camera was starting to freeze. It was 12 degrees out, cameras freeze fast in that weather when not next to your body.
http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr240/anzomcik/1221082000-1.jpg

[jah1317]

I love the steel gray color the water gets that time of year! I saw it turn that color the other day on french (before it went muddy) wierd that it makes me excited........ went out to try out my new record 60 and it casts awesome. No luck, did catch a 40' section of coax cable in the middle of the creek. I ended up trying to break my line because I just could not get to it and ended up ripping it out and turning a 9" floro leader into a very skinny 12"er. Oh well atleast I kept the lure....

Jacob

[Anzomcik]

I see some of you guys fish from boats in the winter. Is there any precautions or prep work you need to do so your outboard does not freeze, or became damaged from the weather/cold?

[Red Childress]

The jets are self-draining so no worries there.

I was told that prop outboards can be quickly flushed by holding the kill switch while turning the key simultaneously for a couple of seconds. (The outboard must be lowered down as to collect all water prior to doing so.) The lower unit will not freeze in seconds so you will have plenty of time to get it back in the garage.

Some of the ice chunks floating around might not be on the surface but just below so be careful if using a prop in these conditions.

There are some other things that might help you when fishing in freezing temps:

If you have carpeted bunks, the boat will freeze to the carpet so you will have to allow some "soak" time in order to launch the next day.

NEVER unhook the boat prior to launching from frozen carpeted bunks because the boat WILL fly off the trailer if it is not frozen to them....been there done that. :)

Always carry a shovel and bag of salt with you at all times.

Reel Magic is a necessity.

ALWAYS wipe off trolling motor shaft (and spray Reel Magic on it prior to your trip) so it does not freeze when stowing. If it freezes in the stow position, you might have to use "bodily fluids" on it to thaw it out....been there done that too, unfortunately. I started carrying a 'baby bottle warmer' with me which makes warm fluid a little more sanitary than the aforementioned technique.
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Like last year, this list will become very comical so I left plenty of room for other's to join in the fun. :)

[H2O wolf]

Here's some snow muskies

[Anzomcik]

Those are some great fish. Keep the pictures coming, i am loving this thread.

[the yeti]

i have a powerdrive .... a benzomatic torch works wonders on those frozen mornings when it doesnt wanna deploy.

[bdiggy]

^Those are fantastic! Hey Red......watch out for the dock line there. There's also a tree in the area that "Jack" knows about.

[Red Childress]

Good memory.......I told you that spot held nice fish!