Cold Weather Gear

Now that it is getting close to spring and tournament time, I am asking all of you winter/cold weather anglers out there as to what type of cold weather gear you use to keep warm. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Don't put cotton garments next to your body. Get some Polypropalene "spelling" cold weather pants and shirt. Then you can layer with what you want. I got mine from a military surplus store. You can find other stuff though. I used to put on everything and a snow suit and be cold and not move. Then a buddy of mine went to Manitoba to hunt and they had a sign leaving the front door of the lodge that read" Cotton Kills" . If you didn't have cold weather gear as a base layer then you didn't go hunt. Good Luck :)

Under Armor cold gear and wool socks. I'm not a big fan of gloves unless your running down the lake so I just use lots of HotHands and a little pouch that goes around my waist to put them in. Sometimes when the weatherman calls for the temps. to be a little warmer than they actually get, I'll put my raingear on. Great for knocking the chill off.

I agree - in cold weather synthetics are the only way to go, except wool, and even then I prefer a blend (smartwools). Natural materials will hold in moisture and over the course of the day they will start to lose some of the insulating properties. Also I have learned that when layering, leave a little room in between layers - It will insulate a little better than clothes tightly layered on top of each other. This is really helpful for feet too. Good socks really help, but don't go so thick that there is no room to move your toes around - they may feel warm at first, but they will get colder quicker without that little bit of room for some minimal air movement. You want to make sure your layers are removeable easily too - early spring tournaments usually start up cold in the morning, then (hopefully) pretty comfortable in the afternoon. Make sure you have 100% faith in your outer layer/waterproof layer. It is impossible to stay comfortable if you are wet. I usually take a couple of extra tobagans for that reason.

I don't want to say spend a ton of money, but there is a reason why some of the high end/high tech. outdoor wear costs a little more - and I have found it is worth the extra money (high quality and research driven/developed). I would check out some discount outdoor sites (campmor, sierra trading post, or even REI) to see what they have on sale or what bargains you can find.

Longjohns, jeans, hooded sweatshirt, insulated Carhart coat and bibs. I also use a pair of fingerless wool gloves while fishing. In rain or snow Ill put my rain gear over top and I'm good to go.

My most important thing to have in my boat during cold water fishing trips is a LIFE JACKET and the second most important thing is a ladder of some type to help me get back in the boat. Third is a safety line that trails out 100 ft behind my boat so that If I fall out and the wind starts to blow the boat away I can catch the safety line and get back to my boat.

COLD WATER KILLS if you fall out of the boat.

And try swimming with boots on.

Now is you are able to stay inside the boat and not fall into the water I would recommend polypropylene/wool type long johns. The synthetic fibers won't absorb moisture and in fact will repel it. Wool can get wet but the air inside the wool fibers will still help to insulate you and keep you warm

Intermediate layers maybe use some fleece shirts.

I like to use Thinsulate and Gortex material for insulation and water proofing.

If it's raining I won't go out in the cold weather on the lake. I don't have any really good waterproof outerwear. The Parka and Bibs that I have are called hydroproof but I am not sure if they will really keep me dry.

I sweat like crazy when I get all bundled up so no matter how much I put on I am going to need those synthetic underwear.

As for socks. I like to use two pairs of socks. One very thin pair of synthetic material and then one thicker pair of wool socks. The polypropylene thin socks wick the moisture away from my feet and toes. The wool socks help to insulate my feet.

I wear a pair of wolverine 800 gram Thinsulate boots.

For socks I have several pairs that I like to take out with me. One is a mitten type glove with the finger tips cut out and a mitten to cover the exposed fingers. the mitten type material has Velcro on it so that when I fold it back onto the back of the gloves some Velcro on the back of the gloves holds the mitten in place. And I have a pair of thin camo cotton gloves as a back up pair. It won't hurt to have a hard warmer chemical pack or two.

Water at this time of the year is cold as H and averages about 40 deg F right now where I live in Southern IN.

Be careful out there when fishing this early in the year or during the winter months.

Cabelas Guide wear

Thanks to all for the replies and ideas. I looked at my BPS cicular last evening and seen where the Under Armour coldgear was on sale, so along with the turtleneck and leggings I also purchased (with salesmans help) some Redhead Ridge Tracker Boots along with Wool socks w/liner. Salesman assured me that my feet would not get cold because that is what he used. There went my fishing budget for 6 months. Monday is a great day to go, plenty of parking spaces.