WINTER FISHING, How do you dress?

[xring]

The older I get,,the narrower my margin of comfort. I was just wondering how you dress for winter fishing.

I have been in cold water with heavy clothes on, they get much heavier when wet and with todays boats, it would be next to impossible to climb back in one if you wound up in the water..

Thoughts on this?

[L.A. stumpjumper]

I wear a self inflating life vest once the water gets cold, because in cold water you won't have the strength to get back in by yourself. Dress warm and wear that vest.

[slabsntaters]

You are going to think I am crazy but there is a way to dress that will allow you to dress down substantially, it starts with a good high quality gore-Tex rain gear from bass pro shop, uninsulated for sure, in the winter months if you can stop the wind you have beat the cold, with this rain gear wind is stopped in it's tracks, I promise with this rain gear you can dress down to sweats pants and sweat shirt with thermal under wear, you will stay warm down to the low teens in temperature with minimal clothing, gore Tex is 100% waterproof and highly breathable, it helps keep the moisture away from you body, I crappie fish and bass fish in the dead of winter, running across the lake at high rates of speed, this is the only way to dress down and stay very warm. Try it and you will be pleasently surprised, the 100mph gore Tex rain gear is expensive but well worth the investment, they are durable and last alot of years with proper care and maintanance.

[luvpt]

Listen to L.A. Stumpjumper first of all and be sure you are wearing an automatic inflatable life jacket. It is easy to think that you will not have an accident and fall out of the boat but it can happen for sure......and take it from someone who knows from experience that swimming with knee-high muck boots ain't no fun and would be a disaster for sure in the wintertime. For the cold you can't beat something like UnderArmor garments. They are light and very warm. And Slabsntaters is right about the rain gear. I can put my Frogg Toggs on and it is like turning on the heater!

[rtark]

I wear a self inflating life vest once the water gets cold, because in cold water you won't have the strength to get back in by yourself. Dress warm and wear that vest.

I have one on my gift list for myself. As for warmth I have tried some items from Under armour such as a undershirt, toboggan and gloves. I can tell that the shirt works fairly well, the gloves not so much but the toboggan is great. You can hear good and cant tell you have it on. I would like to try the complete underwear suit but they are a little pricey.

[river slabs are better]

cabelas had a good one on sale for 99. a good price. i dont fish without mine!

[Tracy Swanson]

back 20 years or i was knocked out of a 21 ft hi sided boat in the dead of winter at w.o.t. when i stood up on a ice covered floor and a stump or a log just under surface i had no life jacket on out the boat i went i had a lot of stuff on + my gore tex their was 3 of us in the boat it was like a life time before they got back to me it was all most to late with all the stuff i had on + my boots it was all i could to stay a float by the time they got to me i grabbed the side of the boat but they was no way i was coming over the side so they pulled me to the back of the boat and that is the ez way to get back in a boats of all kinds all you do is us the lower unit or the foot like a set of stairs to get back in the boat water temp was some thing like 37 to 40 degs and the air temp in the 20tes lesson learnt all ways ware your life jacket when the boat is under power and keep your butt in the seat

[Billy E]

Like Slab said you cant beat a good suit. Bass pro has 2 good ones (Bone-Dry and 100MPH). I wear armor 1 or 2 under it. I wear long sleeve t and my summer fishing zip pants only when it gets below 30. I think the key is layers.

[creekslick]

I wear the 100 MPH suit from BassPro.

[beagle man]

clean underwear, underarmour long johns, and top, redhead over shirt, underarmour hoodie, ,,,and in the boat a complete set of clean clothes. Miss Sharon rolls them up tight, then runs them through the food saver and shrink wraps everything, clean and dry for the winter, as stated above be safe, try to fish with a buddy in the cold water days