# How cold is too cold?



## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Will the two cold fronts in a row shut the fish down this weekend?


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## kbkrause (Feb 12, 2002)

Steve said:


> Will the two cold fronts in a row shut the fish down this weekend?


It'll shut me down for the weekend...


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## trainwreck (Feb 17, 2005)

With a predicted high of 4 tomorrow I will leave it to others to find out.


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

I'll let ya know Sunday evening. The main thing that scares me about the cold is my shanty. Last time I fished in subzero temps and broke the metal on my door's zipper. I'm scared that I may actually break the zipper because it's not a heavy duty zipper. That and, the canvas could rip if I'm not careful. But I guess I gotta risk it.


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## walleyeman2006 (Sep 12, 2006)

thats a toss up the barometer is rising but the temps are droping ....have to look at the moon phase to get tie breaker lol .....if you ve got a shanty and heat go fishin and see,,,,,threw my back out so im outa commision for this weekend


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## Cooley (Oct 20, 2003)

I'll be out there,maybe. Its the wind that I can't stand!
I don't care if it's -20 below.I'm there! If the wind is 20 mph
or more it become a hassel. (unless you are in a pernament shanty)


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## jlcrss (May 17, 2006)

I just came back from fishing since 2pm. The wind was blowing so much I had a snow drift around my shanty. All in all I did ok, I caught some nice perch and a couple of nice specks. I had a good time except for changing my tire when I got back to the car that was flat.


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## grtlakes (Oct 6, 2005)

Not sure what tomorrow will bring but 2 of us got our limits today with the temps falling. And these were the best fish I have picked up this year all ranging in the 8 inch range. They where hugging the bottom tight, real tight, most where caught 6 inches off bottom.


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## initforfun (Dec 21, 2005)

icefishermanmark said:


> I'll let ya know Sunday evening. The main thing that scares me about the cold is my shanty. Last time I fished in subzero temps and broke the metal on my door's zipper. I'm scared that I may actually break the zipper because it's not a heavy duty zipper. That and, the canvas could rip if I'm not careful. But I guess I gotta risk it.


 Have you tried setting up your Shanty the night before and coating zipper w vasoline?? I let mine "soak in" overnight then wipe off the extra before I fold up the shanty for an outing. You'd be surprised how well that works in keeping the zipper from freezing.


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## redneckman (Dec 7, 2005)

I'll be out on the ice again. Last year we went out on super bowl weekend and the temp was 0 degrees without the wind chill. We have a better shanty and heater this year so I think will be alright. I'll post if the fish bite or not.

Redneckman


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

initforfun said:


> Have you tried setting up your Shanty the night before and coating zipper w vasoline?? I let mine "soak in" overnight then wipe off the extra before I fold up the shanty for an outing. You'd be surprised how well that works in keeping the zipper from freezing.


I put it on my auger blades to keep them from icing up or rusting, but I never thought of that. I'll have to try it. Thanks!


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Well I just might have to go on Sunday regardless of the temp. Will use BlackCat and lantern for heat.


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## danf2001 (Dec 9, 2006)

Gentlemen,

I too used to think that it was never too cold to go ice fishing..... However, in November after recieveing frostbite on my "throttle thumb" and my fingers I have since reconsidered. 

Went out when it was -8f and rode a few miles into my favorite northern lake. About half way out could not feel my right hand, figured what the hell I'm almost there and pressed on. Well when I got to the lake and tried to drill a hole my hand could not grip my auger. 

Rode over to some other guys who were out there and warmed up next to their fire and noticed my thumb from the joint up was hard and white, my finger tips were also hard and the same color. 

To make a long scary story short, I fished caught a northern and beat feet back to my truck. When my hand thawed out it stung like you would not believe and the next day my thumb was black but did not blister.

Went to the doctor and was told i had a 50/50 shot in keeping it. I could not imagine trying to tie knots without my thumb! Well here it is Febuary and I still do not have feeling in my thumb or finger tips on my right hand.

It would have been diffrent if i was not wearing gloves, but I had a very nice pair of water proof insulated ones on. I think what did me in was that i had too many layers on and it cut the blood flow down to my extremities and that contributed to me getting frostbite.

But, like I said 4 months after the fact I am still feeling it. Just be careful, a few pound of fillets are not worth it.


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## stinger63 (Nov 25, 2003)

Wind chills are expected to be in the dangerous category through out the weekend.Wind chills exceeding -15* and up to -20*.Yes those are negative #`s.

Steve even if you can stand the eliments one thing to look for is high barometric presure say 30.20 mb or higher.Generaly the higher the presure the least active the fish will be closer to right on the bottom.Not to say 1 or 2 fish cant be enticed to bite but fishing is best when you have barometric presure between 29.90- and 30.10.A falling barometer will most of the time turn the fish onto a feeding frenzy.

Cold Artic high presure systems usualy and most often turn the bite off.
We have a barometer of 29.80 and slowly rising tonight and suspect that it will continue on the upswing through the weekend.
if you remember that cold weekend we fished on white lake a couple of years ago those werent ideal conditions but they werent the worst either.With the predicted wind this weekend I expect conditions to be less tolerable.
Good luck to all those who are brave enough to venture out but please becarefull.Extreme cold can cause a person to misjudge things like how cold the human body extemities realy are hence frost bite can happen.Beware out in open areas if the winds are as fierce as predicted which hopefully they wont be that ice can be very prone to breaking apart.Hopefully this wind will subside someday soon and allow some thick ice to form on the lake.
Aaron


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## chamookman (Sep 1, 2003)

Just checked the Weather Underground - SW winds 15 - 25 mph :yikes: ! Man, I HATE the wind:rant: ! Think I'm gonna scoot the Dog over on the couch and watch fishin' shows on TV today. C-man


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## scottyhoover (Dec 24, 2002)

i hereby declare it officially too cold.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

I called the dog to the door to let him out, he stuck his head out, looked up at me, and tried to head back to his bed. He stayed out just long enough to hit his spot behind the garage.


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## redneckman (Dec 7, 2005)

Very little wind right now. Temp is 6.5 and im getting ready to leave. I have all kinds of hand warmers and we are going to set up a big heater in the shanty. Lets see how bad it is. 

Redneckman


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## Ausable Junkie (Oct 2, 2002)

A permanent shanty makes these days fishable. The hole gets a nice thick coat of ice quickly in these conditions. Thats why i like the metal scoops that have a lil' "spud" at one end. Makes it nice to clear the hole out without having to heal-kick ur tip up out every time u get a flag. 

Only thing i can't fix is how cold my hands get when i drop the gloves off
to land a fish. I get-r-done as quick as possible and head to the shanty
to warm my hands up.


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## jlcrss (May 17, 2006)

Listen to us we sound like a bunch of girls. Back in the old days it was colder than this and we fished in Blizzards.:lol: Just kidding.....But seriously the wind is what gets me. I don't mind cold as long as I stay stocked with propane. I am good.

Edit: Sorry girls I wrote this and wasn't being considerate about my statement. We sound like a bunch of crybabys...there ..how does that sound. I am sure there are a few women on here tougher than me.


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## Splitshot (Nov 30, 2000)

Obviously when to go is a personal decision. I can remember bow hunting in a tree stand in the UP when the temperature was -20. I made it about 3 hours. I didnt get a shot at a buck, but I saw a few. Not sure I could have pulled my bow back either. The only way I made it was with a small heater on a one lb. Propane tank held on my tree with a bungee cord.

My personal limits for fishing have changed over the years. I will fish on a sunny day in the river if there is no wind and the temperature is above 20 degrees. The fish still bite, but a lot of time is spent getting the ice out of your guides making it a big hassle to fish with lower temperatures. If there is some wind and Im fishing a big river from a boat, the temp goes up 5 degrees. Easy to put a heater in the boat. Floating small rivers in a float boat, wind or not, 20 degrees because I can use a heater to dry hands and provide heat to hands when it is necessary to tie knots.

Lake fishing in shanty. Zero to 10 degrees with moderate winds. High winds, small lakes with some protection. This weekend was too cold for me.

The biggest determent to fishing no matter what the temperature is the wind in my opinion. High winds make fishing much more difficult in almost all situations. Even on my 16 foot fishing boat with a 50 lb front anchor and 20 lb rear anchor it is difficult to keep the boat still enough to make decent presentations. In moderate and big lakes, waves dont help much either.

Best time to fish for trout is 3rd or 4th day of a warm front with moderate temperatures in May and June with a slight breeze. Those days are not far off. If you trout fish, pick a river with lots of trout like the Pine River in Osceola, Lake and Wexford counties, the Pere Marquette river or rivers that cannot be named. Your best chances to catch trout are in these months. Not much chance of frostbite.


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## icefishermanmark (Mar 2, 2005)

fished from 10:15-1:15 today and ended up with 19 gills. Some were pretty good sized pushing 8 inches, and one over 9 inches. I'm loving this cold!!


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

I agree Ray.
I have some fish in the freezer and I've been out before the cold snap - so I at least got to scratch the itch recently .

I can recall being with a friend on Angel Lake 10-15 years ago on a Christmas Day hiding behind a "permanent" plywood shanty from the blustery conditions and bitter wind chills. One of us would tend rods for Crappie while we took turns flip-flopping our gloved hands like hotcakes on the top of a Coleman Double Mantle Lantern , pausing just long enough to put some heat into the gloves , but not to singe the material of the gloves. Back & forth we went snatching nice 11" class fish pausing long enough to notice the "creaking" of our finger joints slowly turning to stone , we were as interested in seeing a spring bobber bend down as getting our next turn at the lantern for putting warmth & movement back into our bones...........
I think they reported something like -22F wind chills that day.
We didn't take many fish that day - but they were all quality fish , and that fond memory will probably never wane in my mind anytime soon.
It's not to say that I'm never going to do things like that again - but now at least I think twice before I do it.
:lol:
The wind can be a a pain - but it also can give you some great benefits.

:fish2:


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## catfishtom210 (Jan 8, 2003)

The last post reminded me of a time on Mitchell's Bay. I drove up there alone during the week to fish (3+ hours). No taxis and there were white-out conditions. I tried to set up my Clam and bent a pole from the wind pulling the skin so hard. I packed back up and headed in. I stopped to talk with a guy who was fishing alone outside. He pointed downwind to a guy just pulling his shanty back after it blew away when he got out to "see a man about a horse"! You could barely make the guy out in the white-out.

The thing is this guy was catching some nice perch. I drilled some holes and set my shanty base upright like a suitcase. I sat on the ice with my heater between my legs and started catching nice perch. I think I toughed it out for an hour or so and don't remember how many I caught......maybe 15-20. When I gave up there was a 30" drift that had formed on the windward side of the shanty base. Same conditions made the country road drive to the highway a real adventure. This was when I had an old Nissan Maxima with a homemade rack on top to hold the shanty! Ahhh....memories!


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