I have always been one of those people that won’t easily let go of the fishing season. Whether it’s holdover striped bass, January jerkbait largemouths or plying the open portions of half-skimmed ponds for trout, I’ve made every comfort mistake in the book, from forgetting to consider the wind chill, to assuming I’d be “good” with just sweatpants and a hoodie, to grossly underestimating the severity of the leak in my waders, among others, I’ve probably caught more winter fish while shivering than I have feeling comfortable. But as I’ve gotten older, and accumulated more experience (and gear) I’ve found that the hard road has lead me to iron clad solutions to battling the elements of the offseason.

I should preface all this by saying that I do not get cold easily, my dad used to credit his ‘Nordic blood’ when talking about that same fact for himself, with a healthy dose of Swede in me, it does seem that my Nordic component comes to my rescue when it’s brutally cold. So my definition of “too cold to fish” might be a little colder than yours, but take it from me, these solutions work wonders and, at least one of them, may come across as a bit extreme.

The Lower Half

I have a plethora of different pairs of long underwear ranging from the cheapo pairs you can buy at Target to L.L. Bean’s top of the line set. I fish in breathable waders all through the winter, the comfort and mobility are more important to me because many of the spots I fish require a lot of walking. This might seem obvious, but the main thing you need to take into account when layering under your waders is the temperature of the water, not the air. Standing still in the water is the most effective way to get really cold, really fast. Your goal, when dressing for winter fishing success, is to insulate your body from the cold water. If the water is still relatively warm—late-November and early-December—I might just wear my L.L. Bean long undies and a pair of gym shorts under my waders, as it gets colder I will layer two pairs of long-johns and/or add a pair of fleece wading pants (one of the best purchases I ever made). On my feet I typically put a pair of thick gym socks on first to deal with sweat and then pull a pair of thick wool socks over those, and pull both pairs of socks up to overlap my long-johns. This tiered system of warmth under my waders has served me well even when fishing the Great Lakes tributaries while lake effect snow fell for days on end.

Up Top

My base layer for everything on the top half of my body is another L.L. Bean product known as a River Driver Shirt, this two layered shirt features a moisture wicking inner layer and a cotton/merino wool blend on the outside—they are warm and last forever. I finally had to retire the first one I ever wore after 18 years of rigorous use. I usually wear a thick t-shirt over that with a fleece-lined hoodie as the last line of defense before the jacket that makes the most sense for the conditions at hand. If it’s especially cold or windy, or if I think I will break a sweat walking to the spot, I wear a sun shirt as my first layer, this will help keep my River Driver from getting too damp. I am also borderline neurotic about tucking every top layer into the corresponding lower layer; it makes a huge difference.

One of the best pieces of equipment on the planet for keeping warm while fishing on the most frigid days is a scarf. You don’t have to buy some designer wrap with wild colors and you don’t have to start growing your hair out in preparation for your top-knot hairdo, you don’t even have to start faking an accent, just trust me, a scarf makes a huge difference. The reason I wear a scarf is that is stops wind and cold from finding its way down the neck of your coat. If you don’t like scarves, a fleece ‘neckie’ will work, but they don’t work as well as a scarf. My last piece of warmth equipment is a winter hat, I recommend getting one with fleece lining, I only wear the fleece ones when it’s really cold out, because they make me sweat otherwise, but boy to they make a difference when you really need them.

Extreme Measures

I discovered this little trick during a fishing session that really didn’t require these measures, but it gave me a final weapon to call upon if I can’t hack it with normal layers. It was early October and I was fishing with my friend Mario. I won’t go into the full details of the trip but we ended up sleeping in our cars for an hour while wearing wetsuits and woke up shivering. I could not picture myself getting into the water while shivering, so I wore my wetsuit under my waders and dry top and it was the warmest wader solution I have ever come across. By the time the sun rose on that 40 degree morning, I was sweating so hard I thought I might dry out and turn into dust. On my way back to the truck to shed my outer layers, I remembered The Weather Channel’s Stephanie Abrams saying that she wears a wetsuit under her foul weather gear when covering snowstorms and now I know why.

You may be thinking that I missed a very important component of cold weather fishing: gloves, but I can’t stand wearing gloves when I fish. I keep a pair of gloves stuffed inside my coat and if my hands get really cold, I’ll put the ‘body heat aided’ gloves on for a few minutes of relief, but that’s it. If anyone out there has a great pair of warm fishing gloves to recommend, shoot me an email, I’d love to try them!

As long as there’s open water, there is no reason to stop fishing, many anglers hang up the gear because fishing in the cold is too uncomfortable, but if you layer up properly, pick your days and insulate yourself from the elements, you can fish comfortably all winter long.