# 16 degrees... no problem!



## TheTroutWhisperer

Fished the Ravens Fork in Cherokee Saturday morning. 16 degrees when I stepped out of the truck at 8am. The fish didn't seem to mind as I was on fish right away. Only changed bugs twice all day. Started out with a golden jigstone and changed to a crawfish pattern in the afternoon. Finished up around 345pm and the temp was still only 34 when I got back to the truck. Guess I caught between 40-50 all in the 15-19" range and full of fight. This outing was no doubt in my top 5 or 6 trips. I did regret forgetting my tube of Vaseline so I could apply to my guides, this keeps them from freezing up so much. I had to stop and knock the ice out of them every 5 minutes or so.


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## northgeorgiasportsman

As much as I love fishing in May, I've had some epic days in the dead of winter. 

Instead of knocking the ice out of your guides, dip your rod under water for a few seconds and all the ice will melt away.  Saves a little time and frustration.


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## TheTroutWhisperer

I prefer the cold weather months mostly because you don't have to put up with so many people on the water. Over the years I have learned how to dress for the cold so its not much of an issue for me. 
I did dip my rod a few times but at that temp you would be surprised how fast it freezes.


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## northgeorgiasportsman

I fished the Nantahala once when it was 14 degrees when I got out of the truck.  Wet felt soles freeze to rocks if you stand still more than a few seconds.  

I'm not a hardcore trout bum like I used to be.  But I agree, if you dress properly, it's totally doable.


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## Georgia Hard Hunter

I can dress for the cold and many times do on the deer stand but I dont wade good enough to fish in that kind of cold, 14 degrees and soaking wet dont go together well. So if you come across any trout with GHH tags on them in that kind of cold you are welcome to them


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## THig

TheTroutWhisperer said:


> Fished the Ravens Fork in Cherokee Saturday morning. 16 degrees when I stepped out of the truck at 8am. The fish didn't seem to mind as I was on fish right away. Only changed bugs twice all day. Started out with a golden jigstone and changed to a crawfish pattern in the afternoon. Finished up around 345pm and the temp was still only 34 when I got back to the truck. Guess I caught between 40-50 all in the 15-19" range and full of fight. This outing was no doubt in my top 5 or 6 trips. I did regret forgetting my tube of Vaseline so I could apply to my guides, this keeps them from freezing up so much. I had to stop and knock the ice out of them every 5 minutes or so.


Sounds like a great day on the water! I'd love to have made such a trip. I am researching and planning a trip up for some [first time] trout fishing. I've spent many years fly fishing for bass/blue gill, but never been on the stream for trout. Looking forward to it! Thanks for sharing!!

THig


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## IvyThicket

northgeorgiasportsman said:


> I fished the Nantahala once when it was 14 degrees when I got out of the truck.  Wet felt soles freeze to rocks if you stand still more than a few seconds.
> 
> I'm not a hardcore trout bum like I used to be.  But I agree, if you dress properly, it's totally doable.



I grew up in the mountains of NC. We fished up in Madison County when the high for the day was 14. We stepped out of the truck in subzero. The slow water along the banks we frozen nearly a foot thick and you had to drift flies in the narrow runs where the water was too fast to freeze, and hope the trout didn't break your tippet by jetting up under the ice. Browns are dormant in that climate but for some reason the colder the better for Rainbows. I guess it's just the Rockies in their blood. Those were great times.


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## TheTroutWhisperer

That's awesome stuff IvyThicket. That kind of cold is not ideal and we don't wish for it but if you make reservations in advance you take what is handed. I'm good with anything but a river blow out. Had a good day on the Toccoa DH section on Tuesday, rained most of the day and kept the crowd down, had a ball.


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## IvyThicket

TheTroutWhisperer said:


> That's awesome stuff IvyThicket. That kind of cold is not ideal and we don't wish for it but if you make reservations in advance you take what is handed. I'm good with anything but a river blow out. Had a good day on the Toccoa DH section on Tuesday, rained most of the day and kept the crowd down, had a ball.



I definitely don't wish for that cold but once you set time aside for it, there was no stopping a good fishing trip. Ha! This was at about 3000' in January, so you can imagine. There is no waiting for it to warm up. 

I love a good rainstorm in the winter. Especially if it's bringing some of that warm moisture out of the Gulf. It seem to liven the fish up a bit.


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## TheTroutWhisperer

Had such a good time fishing the Ravens Fork a few weeks ago I went back this past weekend. The drive up early Sat. morning was interesting in the snow and ice. As last time the fish didn't seem to mind the cold. I will say I didn't have the stones to fish Sunday morning as I had originally planned.. 5 degrees with a -7 windchill.. hated to waste Sunday like that..


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## Killer Kyle

I have done some of my best fishing in the dead of winter. February has always been good to me had a day at Dukes Creek a couple years back. Stepped out and it was 13 degrees. Met another NGTO forum and fished together. In some places along the creek we had to bust the ice to get in. Ice formed and froze on the line every cast, and when walking across the parking lot, my boots stuck to the ground every single step, and left felt stuck to the ground. It was nuts. I managed one 13" brown that day and that was it.


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## TheTroutWhisperer

13 beats me KK! That is hard core. I can dress for the cold but my guides and reel freezing up however is no fun. I enjoy the cold weather months because I don't have to deal with the crowds and corn chunkers. I fished today at the Toccoa DH and yep there was a zip lock bag throwed down on the ground with corn in it... fished there 6 times this fall and never have seen the DNR once.. by the way fishing was a bit slow for me, only 6 to hand and off an on snow all day.


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## northgeorgiasportsman

TheTroutWhisperer said:


> 13 beats me KK! That is hard core. I can dress for the cold but my guides and reel freezing up however is no fun. I enjoy the cold weather months because I don't have to deal with the crowds and corn chunkers. I fished today at the Toccoa DH and yep there was a zip lock bag throwed down on the ground with corn in it... fished there 6 times this fall and never have seen the DNR once.. by the way fishing was a bit slow for me, only 6 to hand and off an on snow all day.



I been getting the itch pretty bad lately.  I've got some boys from Blairsville wanting to see what flyfishing is all about.  I'm thinking of taking them over to the Toccoa DH and letting them get their feet wet.


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## TheTroutWhisperer

I believe that would be a good idea. You can wade anywhere with the low water but have to be careful and move slow as you can so not to spook the fish. I believe I would have done better if I would have went on Saturday. FYI, insulated pants, wool socks with toe warmers... that water is COLD


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## IvyThicket

TheTroutWhisperer said:


> That's awesome stuff IvyThicket. That kind of cold is not ideal and we don't wish for it but if you make reservations in advance you take what is handed. I'm good with anything but a river blow out. Had a good day on the Toccoa DH section on Tuesday, rained most of the day and kept the crowd down, had a ball.



I completely forgot that we had made a GoPro video of one of our last 'ice fishing' trips in Madison County, NC. It was a week long arctic blast that froze the river up pretty good. It makes for fun fishing. The video is a little hokey and you can skip to the 1 minute mark for the actual fishing. That first minute, we were using river rock to try and crack the ice, and get it moving so that we could come back and fish the hole later on. At the 3:30 mark, I'm fighting a decent sized Rainbow, although not huge, but also the ice drift that are catching my tippet. You can see the ice on the water's surface. I thought it was going to break my rod.

Anyway, here it is:

https://youtu.be/nkvLcrZsViE


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## TheTroutWhisperer

IvyThicket. Thanks for the video! It was awesome! That was hardcore. You guys were catching some dandys also.


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## blood on the ground

Great post..


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## blood on the ground

IvyThicket said:


> I completely forgot that we had made a GoPro video of one of our last 'ice fishing' trips in Madison County, NC. It was a week long arctic blast that froze the river up pretty good. It makes for fun fishing. The video is a little hokey and you can skip to the 1 minute mark for the actual fishing. That first minute, we were using river rock to try and crack the ice, and get it moving so that we could come back and fish the hole later on. At the 3:30 mark, I'm fighting a decent sized Rainbow, although not huge, but also the ice drift that are catching my tippet. You can see the ice on the water's surface. I thought it was going to break my rod.
> 
> Anyway, here it is:
> 
> https://youtu.be/nkvLcrZsViE



Ivy thicket did you keep any?


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## IvyThicket

blood on the ground said:


> Ivy thicket did you keep any?



No, we turned all of those back. Winter time is favorite time to keep however, usually a little stiffer not as mushy. This was a DH stream, which up here doesn't open until June.


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