Ice fishing with the flyrod

I'm seldom a happy fisherman this time of year....not unless I go
south.
I hate fishing when it's below freezing. My guides ice up and the
line won't shoot and it seems I spend the whole day popping ice
out of my guides. I've tried spraying Pam on the guides. It doesn't
help
much.

But I ran into a guy (at a thursday evening fly tying get-to-gether)
who said "this is the best time of year to catch big fish. I strip
out 30' of line and roll cast all day long......keeps the guides free.
And the fishing is good."

I'm going to have to try that. If it works, it will be like the story
of the Mullah Nasroodin, who, when he saw his young disciple jumping
up and down after a meal, asked: "Why are you doing that?"

The young devotee said "it settles my stomach, so I can eat more."
The Mullah immediately beat the young devotee senseless.

"Why didn't you tell me that years ago?" he asked.
"Think of all the food I've wasted!"

"while-one" wrote

.. I strip
out 30' of line and roll cast all day long......keeps the guides free.




I have an old 10 ft 5 wt Scott rod that would be great for this I bet ....
but, I'll have to admit that my fishing experience has never included true
icy guides .. I'm too much of a wimp ....

Larry L wrote:
"while-one" wrote

.. I strip

out 30' of line and roll cast all day long......keeps the guides free.





I have an old 10 ft 5 wt Scott rod that would be great for this I bet ....
but, I'll have to admit that my fishing experience has never included true
icy guides .. I'm too much of a wimp ....



The best way to de-ice the rod guides is to put them in the water.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

rw wrote:
Larry L wrote:

"while-one" wrote

.. I strip

out 30' of line and roll cast all day long......keeps the guides free.





I have an old 10 ft 5 wt Scott rod that would be great for this I bet
.... but, I'll have to admit that my fishing experience has never
included true icy guides .. I'm too much of a wimp ....


The best way to de-ice the rod guides is to put them in the water.


Or, IOW, the unfrozen ice. :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"rw" wrote



The best way to de-ice the rod guides is to put them in the water.



Do reels ( or the layers of line wrapped on them ) ice up and make removing
line, say a running fish, a jerky, line destroying, experience?

Larry L

( Who is two feet from a heater duct and fighting back a shiver at the
thought of such frigid Winter fishing :-)

Larry L wrote:
"rw" wrote


The best way to de-ice the rod guides is to put them in the water.




Do reels ( or the layers of line wrapped on them ) ice up and make removing
line, say a running fish, a jerky, line destroying, experience?

I've never had a problem with the reel, but it's possible. The major
annoyance is that casting is very difficult with iced-up guides.


Larry L

( Who is two feet from a heater duct and fighting back a shiver at the
thought of such frigid Winter fishing :-)

Not a steelhead fisherman, eh? :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"rw" wrote in message
m...
Larry L wrote:
"while-one" wrote

.. I strip

out 30' of line and roll cast all day long......keeps the guides free.





I have an old 10 ft 5 wt Scott rod that would be great for this I bet
.... but, I'll have to admit that my fishing experience has never
included true icy guides .. I'm too much of a wimp ....

The best way to de-ice the rod guides is to put them in the water.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Seems to me I put 'em in as much as I cast 'em out...

I guess pam helps a little at first....

john

rw wrote:


The best way to de-ice the rod guides is to put them in the water.


until you pull the rod back out of the water. i tried that trick on the
watauga about 10 years ago when all of western nc waters were iced over.
it was so bad, wally and i had to travel to the tailrace waters in
tennessee to find fishable water. anyway, i dunked the rod only to have
it freeze up even worse on removal. it was an interesting experience,
but i think i'll stick to warm weather fishing.

jeff

jeff miller wrote:
rw wrote:



The best way to de-ice the rod guides is to put them in the water.


until you pull the rod back out of the water. i tried that trick on the
watauga about 10 years ago when all of western nc waters were iced over.
it was so bad, wally and i had to travel to the tailrace waters in
tennessee to find fishable water. anyway, i dunked the rod only to have
it freeze up even worse on removal. it was an interesting experience,
but i think i'll stick to warm weather fishing.

jeff


I said it was the best way. I didn't say it was a good way. :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Feb 1, 9:15 am, while-one wrote:
I'm seldom a happy fisherman this time of year....not unless I go
south.
I hate fishing when it's below freezing. My guides ice up and the
line won't shoot and it seems I spend the whole day popping ice
out of my guides. I've tried spraying Pam on the guides. It doesn't
help
much.

But I ran into a guy (at a thursday evening fly tying get-to-gether)
who said "this is the best time of year to catch big fish. I strip
out 30' of line and roll cast all day long......keeps the guides free.
And the fishing is good."

I'm going to have to try that. If it works, it will be like the story
of the Mullah Nasroodin, who, when he saw his young disciple jumping
up and down after a meal, asked: "Why are you doing that?"

The young devotee said "it settles my stomach, so I can eat more."
The Mullah immediately beat the young devotee senseless.

"Why didn't you tell me that years ago?" he asked.
"Think of all the food I've wasted!"

The thing that turned me off about ice fishing with a fly rod was
carving out that long trench in the ice. Just too much work.

cheers

oz