As the temperature plummets towards absolute zero, I've been going over my gear in preparation for steelhead season. One item that I've never really been satisfied with are my gloves when fishing in cold rain. I started out with wool "glittens" (half-fingered gloves with a fold-over mitten), but too often, my fly line would snag the folded back mitten. I then tried wool half fingered gloves which weren't too bad but weren't wind or waterproof obviously. I've since tried "boiled wool" gloves and they are better in the wind. They may be the best solution yet. Take a big pair of wool gloves and shrink them down in the washer and dryer until they drop two sizes and fit your hands. I then tried 2010 SImms Windstopper gloves (fleece with water-resistant softshell backing). They were quite unobtrusive, but aren't too warm and are pretty useless in the rain (the water-resistance is overcome by anything more than a light mist). I'm looking at trying a pair of "Glacier Gloves" which are fleece-backed 2mm neoprene gloves. They apparently have thin patches on the fingers to give sensation, but I may wind up chopping off the thumb, index and middle finger as I need the tactile sensation for stripping in a fly and casting my levelwind.
A lot of steelheading happens in the rain or sleet. I'd like to find a glove similar to the new Windstoppers, but with a backing that was rain-proof instead of moderately mist-resistant. Failing that, I'll probably carry multiple pairs of wool gloves and swap out when one gets soaked.
What do you wear? gimme the pros and cons.