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[Ian Forbes]

Corrected above.   

I remember being stationed in Prince Rupert about 1966, and I spent all my weekends either fishing or hunting. I had many 3 and 4 day weekends from working over time, and I spent those traveling inland to the Hazelton to Houston area. In those days the Skeena valley highway was still under construction and there were hour long delays going through on the gravel road.

 It was late October and I was returning from an unsuccessful moose hunt in the Morice valley, but was stuck in a line-up on my way to Prince Rupert. Although I had been hunting, the guys in the car behind me had been fishing the Kispiox. While we were chatting they showed me what they had in the trunk of their car. They had a limit of 4 steelhead that ranged from 19 to 31 pounds.

That certainly perked up my interest! And, as I was leaving Prince Rupert for Vancouver the following week, I decided to spend 4 or 5 days fishing the Kispiox on my way home. Ha! Ha! Ha! The fickle finger of fate intervened. A few days later a cold front moved in and the temperature dropped to minus 30 in the Kispiox Valley. By the time I got there the river was frozen solid from shore to shore. And, while camping out in the back of my Jeep Wagoneer I almost froze despite my eiderdown sleeping bag. I had to run my Coleman cook stove full blast for 2 hours under the motor of the Jeep just to get it started. Somewhere I have photos of that adventure.

[TNAngler]

Lol... My brain, it hurts!   If the temperature outside is below freezing then windchill can and will make things freeze faster, as things freezing is simply the loss of warmth, which wind does well at removing.

Ok, after 6 hours in -15 degrees, the difference with wind and without wind on a guide that has no warmth but the friction the line causes when being pulled in is minimal.  The guides are already pretty darn close to -15 degrees.  Any water that got on them froze almost instantly because it was just a drop at a time.  If you want to quibble over a second and three quarters of a second, then fine.

Wind takes away warmth, yes.  However, if it is 1 degree outside with wind, the wind chill is well below freezing but nothing will freeze.

[Ian Forbes]

Ah, quit being a spoilsport, TNAngler, we are having too much fun telling hero stories. 

[TNAngler]

Ah, quit being a spoilsport, TNAngler, we are having too much fun telling hero stories. 

Right, my bad.  So this one time, it was like -100 and we caught this 300 pound steelhead.  I was fishing for cutthroat so I only had a little spinning reel with 10 pound test line.  I had to go swimming after him and the water was super cold but I'm a real man and was able to handle it.  I finally had to grab the fish and jumped on it's back.  Only because I drink Diet Dr. Pepper was I able to wrestle it ashore.  I took a picture of it with my buddy both holding an end like you would a sturgeon but for some reason the camera messed up so there is no proof.  It just shows me holding a little 2 pounder and the camera's information says it was only -5, but we all know better. 

[Sandman]

Right, my bad.  So this one time, it was like -100 and we caught this 300 pound steelhead.  I was fishing for cutthroat so I only had a little spinning reel with 10 pound test line.  I had to go swimming after him and the water was super cold but I'm a real man and was able to handle it.  I finally had to grab the fish and jumped on it's back.  Only because I drink Diet Dr. Pepper was I able to wrestle it ashore.  I took a picture of it with my buddy both holding an end like you would a sturgeon but for some reason the camera messed up so there is no proof.  It just shows me holding a little 2 pounder and the camera's information says it was only -5, but we all know better. 

Your camera records temperature?   ...cool!

[Ian Forbes]

Your camera records temperature?   ...cool!

Ah Sandman, These new cameras record just about everything EXCEPT the picture you want to take. You can get dates printed right over the picture, GSP recordings, your mother-in-law's birthday, video, and your girl friend puking in the toilet... all posted instantly on Facebook.

[sbc hris]

I've fished through some miserable weather, and I let the gear decide when it's too cold to fish. When your fly becomes encapsulated in an ice cube, or your guides freeze solid on every cast, it's probably too cold to fish. Or when the river freezes solid, that might also make it too cold to fish. 

[labmik]

One of my best days had 4" of snow on the boat ramp and we were dodging icebergs all day.  According to my journal, we landed 15 steelhead that day. 

[HOOK]

One of my best days had 4" of snow on the boat ramp and we were dodging icebergs all day.  According to my journal, we landed 15 steelhead that day. 

This is because you were probably the only crazies out there !!!

[arimaBOATER]

You ask a sincere question so it deserves a factual answer.
There's 52 weeks in a year & say a good ratio is one fishes 1 time per week that means there are 52 days one should fish per year.

Of course one may use up those majority of fishing days in the summer & fall.
So maybe ya got 10 days left to fish in the late Fall & early winter.
So use those fishing days on temps over 0 C or 32 F.
This way ya will not freeze your "peanuts off."

Warning: IF ya fish 53 days a year possibly you have an addiction or have become a fishing fanatic.
Stick to 52 days a year or less ...not one hr more.

[TNAngler]

One of my best days had 4" of snow on the boat ramp and we were dodging icebergs all day.  According to my journal, we landed 15 steelhead that day. 

Looks very similar to my dad's boat that we used to go out in all the time.  Back trolling would cause those icebergs to bang into the back of the boat and bump all the way under the boat sometimes.  Definitely had to watch to make sure your line didn't catch on one.  But yeah, those are the best days fishing since pressure is way down.  I remember a couple times where the ramp and bar was so frozen over we couldn't even get down onto the bar and we ended up having to drag the boat probably half a mile over a frozen bar.  The frozen parts were easy enough but the parts that hadn't quite frozen yet and were mushy SUCKED.

When I was very young and none of my older brothers could even drive, my mom would drive up with us sometimes so we would have truck at the pull out point instead of my dad having to hitchhike back up (which he did frequently too).  There were many times when the weather was like this that we would have a fish on before she even got off the bar.

[Every Day]

Warning: IF ya fish 53 days a year possibly you have an addiction or have become a fishing fanatic.
Stick to 52 days a year or less ...not one hr more.

I'm in serious need of help then lol

[TNAngler]

I'm in serious need of help then lol

Don't worry.  I don't get near enough so between the two of us I'm sure we are fine.

Maybe that is what I should do.  Create a fishing days exchange where those who have extra fishing days can sell them to those that are too close to an addiction and need extras.  I'll be rich.

[labmik]

Looks very similar to my dad's boat that we used to go out in all the time.  Back trolling would cause those icebergs to bang into the back of the boat and bump all the way under the boat sometimes.  Definitely had to watch to make sure your line didn't catch on one.  But yeah, those are the best days fishing since pressure is way down.  I remember a couple times where the ramp and bar was so frozen over we couldn't even get down onto the bar and we ended up having to drag the boat probably half a mile over a frozen bar.  The frozen parts were easy enough but the parts that hadn't quite frozen yet and were mushy SUCKED.

When I was very young and none of my older brothers could even drive, my mom would drive up with us sometimes so we would have truck at the pull out point instead of my dad having to hitchhike back up (which he did frequently too).  There were many times when the weather was like this that we would have a fish on before she even got off the bar.

While fishing that day, I hooked a steelhead and was fighting it as a ten or fifteen foot ice sheet floated by.  I couldn't get the fish away from the ice sheet and it caught the line.  Thinking I was about to break off, I kept my rod tip high, and watched more and more of my line come out of the water.  Suddenly, much to my surprise, the line didn't break, the fish popped out of the water, slid across the ice, and back into the water to finish the battle. 

[HOOK]

While fishing that day, I hooked a steelhead and was fighting it as a ten or fifteen foot ice sheet floated by.  I couldn't get the fish away from the ice sheet and it caught the line.  Thinking I was about to break off, I kept my rod tip high, and watched more and more of my line come out of the water.  Suddenly, much to my surprise, the line didn't break, the fish popped out of the water, slid across the ice, and back into the water to finish the battle.

HA HA HA HA HA HA !!

I wish I had been there to see that