Q of the Week #4 - Foul Weather Fishing

[Seldomseen]

In the spirit of the weather, what is the worst storm you ever experienced on a fishing trip?

Man, I can think of quite a few trips. However, the worst had to be a early-to-mid ’90’s Thanksgiving weekend backpack in Chevelon Canyon I did with a friend who now lives up in Medford, Oregon.

We arrived and packed down the hill T-day morning. It was cold and breezy with an occasional snow shower. We fished for a few hours and then cooked up a turkey breast on the fire.

Friday morning was clear, and disturbingly cold. A thin layer of ice had gone on overnight. We tossed some rocks and tried to fish in vain. It never did warm up that day, but the fire and youth were comfortable.

We were still optimistic about the fishing. After all, by the weather forecast we should see warming weather on Saturday and the winds had already died. We even pitched the bags out on the ground fireside for the night.

Nature had other plans for us.

Saturday morning I awoke in the early morning hours to snow tickling my nose. It was snowing hard, so I awoke Terry and we crawled into the tent. Heavy snow continued past daylight and the tent was buckling under the weight of the snow load. Outside conditions were near whiteout as we sifted through the snow for all of our camping gear. Some items lost under the blanket of white we had to return for in the spring.

By mid-morning we decided to try and get out. The snowfall rate had abated, but it was still coming down hard – visibility was in the range of a few hundred feet and there was an easy 18-24” already laid down.

Our journey had just begun by the time we reached the canyon rim and fired up the CJ7. It would be all the rest of that day and more than half of Sunday before we could negotiate our way back to an improved surface road. It never stopped snowing, and by the time we reached a roadblock on 260 (coming in the opposite direction!) the temperature had been holding in the single digits for hours. It was about this time I realized my fool’s reward: a frozen chunk of toe about the size of a kernel of corn.

Won’t soon forget that holiday weekend!

[mjl]

That's one good storm (and story)!

I've got nothing... I think it sprinkled a little one time when I was fishing. I've also been on the water at 8 degrees. Real exciting, eh?

[long ago]

Can't top that story....just a little rain in the whites while fishing:D Used to do some snow camping but.....LONG AGO:o

[shofberger]

I have had a couple of fun ones up at Big Lake.
One, in a 16ft alumacraft that i swear we were going to capasize trying to get back to south dock, no kidding four-five foot swells and the 8 horse started sputtering and konked out. luckily with rehooking the gas line and a couple pulls it started back up. Wasn't worried about drowning, just freezing my ass off and trying to makit to shore from the middle of the lake.

This last October, Aaron Dunham and I were up there in tubes, started off in tubes in mild cold hazy overcast and within an hour we were sitting in the middle of the first major snow storm of the season. I'll try to post some of the pictures when I get a chance.

[Baiter]

I have been on Strawberry lake in Utah a few times when it got pretty ugly. I was in a 21ft Deep V boat made for Puget Sound and we had waves crashing over the front, filling us up fast. I was bailing with the P can as fast as I could trying to supplement the bilge pump. My mom was with us, her last trip to Stawberry!!!

Many trips where I was soaked to the bone by hail and thunder showers in the Uintas, So Utah, CO. All good memories of hugging a tree or rock overhang.

The first time I floated the Green River in a Float tube, It was March, snowed most of the day. I had the real heavy wool Swiss army pants on. I had the old Red Ball Flyweights chest waders that I had not worn for a few years, they had cracked and had a bunch of pin hole leaks. The wool pants weighed about 20lbs when I got to the ramp at little Hole. But I was smiling due to all the pigs I had caught that day.

I think the scouts that were lost out by Globe this weekend will have a good story to tell as well as anybody else who set their tent up on Friday.

Dan

[CHIEF]

Past weekend at San Juan, WINDY, COLD, and SNOWY.....

CHIEF

[mexashaggy]

LLM on Friday. Blowing and snowing like crazy. I was insulated pretty good on my body, but even the double layers of wool socks couldn't keep my feet warm. But I still went, twice actually, hehehe. And didn't get a bite either time. :(

[Baiter]

Got this joke sent to me over the weekend


Rained-out Fishing Fanatic's Story:
Saturday morning I got up early, put on my long johns, dressed quietly, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, slipped quietly into
the garage to hook the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into
a torrential downpour. There was snow mixed with the rain, and the wind was blowing 50 mph.

I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad throughout the day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. There I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible." She sleepily replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband
is out fishing in that crap "

[Kevin Krai]

Last weekend was pretty bad on the Juan....Really enjoy fishing in the snow for a couple of reasons. The first being very few people, the second is I the fish seem to feed during these times. Steelhead fishing is always really cold and snowing back east. That first big winter, late fall storm is what starts the migration. As soon as the water clears there are Steelhead everywhere. Fished in a white out on Becker as well as Horseshoe last year, did well at Becker not so good at Horseshoe. Bring on the snow...

[biscut head]

Time I went up to Chevelon with Seldom on a Easter weekend. The story is very similar to what Seldom told off the start of this thread. But we had his new TJ with those cheap ass tires dealers give you off the lot. We tried to get out via 169 to the 300 but was pushing sow over his front end and slid off the side. Finaly had to go back to the 504 where we picked up some tall ones at the ol' faithful circle K. Took us three hours to go from the Power line gate just above the canyon to the 169. Lots of shoveling, I think I lost 20lbs that day .

[TRTopping]

I like to fish when the weather is less than perfect. I find the fishing is usually better and the crowds are smaller. I love a nice drizzly morning on the Salt - too bad we did not have very many this winter. That said, I've had some interesting bad-weather trips. The trips that leap to mind:

Off-shore of Cape Canaveral Florida one summer day we did not quite outrun the thunderstorms heading back into Canaveral inlet. Large standing waves, driving (very cold) rain and some hail thrown in to boot made for a memorable trip back to the dock - not all of us kissed the ground when we made it back in. Hail stones really sting when you are going 40 in an open boat.

Lee's Ferry February 2 years ago with Wht_Mnt and my former boss and his wife. We fished a two day trip. The first day was pretty good - overcast, cool but not freezing. Day two was a downpour for most of the day with temps in the mid-30s. We had an open rental boat and all of us were soaked, frozen and half blind from ridding in the boat while it was raining - everyone still had a good time. If you've never been to the ferry in the rain, it is really something to see the water cascading down the cliffs.

X-Diamond a year ago March, again with Wht_Mnt (detecting a pattern here aren't we). Started fishing in the AM at about 45 degrees. Scott showed up after lunch. The temp was already dropping and the guides were starting to freeze up. By the time we where done, it was 27, the wind had really come up and it snowed about 9 inches in half that many hours (think whiteout). The fishing was terrific, but it is really odd fishing in driving snow.

With the advances in clothing over the last few years, there is really no weather that is too tough to fish - other than howling winds. Wht_Mnt fished the 'Juan in December and it was 5 both days when we started. With the hi-tech clothes, we were both toasty warm.

Not sure if bugs count as weather, but had a trip to the Everglades with my former boss and a coworker that could not cast. About every 20 minutes the coworker would chuck his lure into the mangroves and we'd have to go in and get it with the boat. The bugs weren't too bad until you got to the trees. At that point they would all jump on you and bite you everywhere - knuckles, fingertips, eyelids, everywhere. The boat would turn black from the mosquitos and we'd have to start it up and run a ways to blow them out of the boat and off of us. But, the fishing was terrrific.

[Westy]

X-Diamond fishing is very sporadic I have found, but always always consistently productive when storm fronts are moving through the area. I've been in 3-4 heavy rain and thunderstorms out there and done well.

[scottmilk9]

While stationed in Oklahoma for 5 long years, i did a study for 2 years on the barometer vs our daily catch(and release)for bass. If the barometer was under 30 fishing was awesome, over 30 hard pressed. I'm curious if this is similiar to trout fishing also. Next time I go out I'll check with the ol weather channel. As for fishing, I really like it when there is a light sprinkle.

[fshfanatic]

I was at Strawberry Reservoirm Ut. 2ft white caps, thunder / lightning in my float tube.

Caught 14 trout in the hr it took me to get my ass to shore.

[GREENFLY]

I remember it like yesterday, the third week in Oct.2000 First let me say that in order to get to this particular fishing spot you need a 4x4.Normally a breathtaking trip in as you weave in, out and along the creek through the canyon walls and finally to a well shaded campsite. 9 vehicles made it that weekend including Seldom and Biskithead.Sat. after a good day of fishing we all decided to have a little workout and comenced to some 12 OZ. curls. That evening it began to rain,no big deal,at least we didn't think so. About 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning I woke up on my air mattress a little confused. It was bobbing like a boat. My tent had taken in water and I was floating. The rain continued as I climbed into my jeep to try to stay as dry and warm as I could until morning. The first sign of light I heard a knock at my window. It was Seldom asking me if I had seen the creek yet. As I climbed out I realized that Red Creek had become "Red River". We all decided it was time to go and go now. As we manipulated our way through the water, unable to see what was the trail, it became clear that leaving now would be a much bigger challenge then we once thought. What typiclaly takes 3-4 hours, took us 10 hours. It was grueling. So grueling in fact that a few vehciles did not make it. I actually saw Biscuit prove that Jeep Cherokee's are not amphibious. Although they do float.....at first. All I can say is the adrenaline that I experienced on that day can only be compared to Skydiving. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[NittanyLion]

Ooops, I was trying to post some pictures from a trip to one of the tributaries of Lake Erie. How do I paste in pictures that are on my hard drive?

In any case, I always tried to use the bad weather to my advantage when I lived in PA. I tried to get out on the coldest days - that was the best way to have a chance at some of the really popular holes that were normally packed with people.

The pictures I'm trying to post show a bunch of steelies stacked up under the ice. A week before, the weather was beautiful & there were a million people fishing this hole. The next time we went, the stream was almost completely frozen over and we only saw one other guy the entire day. My friend lost a chunk of flesh on the tip of his finger b/c of the cold. With all of the ice building up in the guides, I broke the tip of my rod (I'm lucky that's the only rod tip that I lost that day).

We would break through the ice to get to the free moving water and by the time we decided to head back to shore, everything had closed up again.

[NittanyLion]

I'll try this one more time...


http://www.azflyandtie.com/photopost/data/500/ErieWinter.jpg

http://www.azflyandtie.com/photopost/data/500/ErieSteelie.jpg

[Kevin Krai]

That brings back some memories, great pictures. I went to college in Erie(Gannon) and had to be there for basketball all winter break. Practice for 3 hours and on to Walnut, Elk or 20 mile for dinner...