ice in the guides

[ehaslam]

I was just fishing today and I was fighting this nice rainbow and my guides froze solid. It would let line in, but it wouldn't let it out.

Does anyone have any tricks to keep this from happening?

[Señorfish]

Orvis has some de-ice guide stuff, They say it works

[steelie]

There are a few products made you can apply to the guides that claim to help, not sure of names, a flyshop should know. I don't know how well they work. Seems like we had this topic last year, try searching the forums. If your guides froze solid, sounds like you weren't de-icing regularly enough. Knock the ice free every few minutes, you'll cast better, line will last longer, etc.........Its a pain in the butt, especially if you have short arms like me............

[walksinwater]

Your fly line and give it a good line dressing. This will help your line to repel the water that freezes your guides.

The paste and pam spray, in my opinion have limited success.

An oversized tiptop also helps.

[Jason B]

Fishing a couple times a week during the winter months i am always fight the ice in the guides. I have tried several products that say the help prevent ice in the guides but every one out there has had limited success. Sometimes you just have to break the ice out. I no longer try the de-icer, it just seems that i spend more time trying to apply the crap than i am breaking ice out my guide by hand. If you do have a fish on and you line is frozen in the guides dip it under the water. At least that way the line can move in and out.

[ScottT]

I'll let you know how the Loon Stanley's Ice-Off Paste performs.

I'm heading up the Weber around noon, will probably need a plow on the truck by the looks of all the white crap coming down right now.

Scott

[robinsoj]

Ah yes, it's here. The ice on the guides thread. I think I started the thread last year. Snowboarding at Powder Mountain on a powder day then hitting the south fork of the Ogden is near. Which means snowboarding, flyfishing, and golf on the same weekend isn't too far away. Sorry if I get a little misty. :)

I tried a few new things last year to help with ice on the rod and line. Nothing worked well enough to bother with. I tried the Loon ice off paste and wasn't impressed. I tried a fly line dressing for this and probably still have some. It's a good idea to clean your line and put some dressing on it anyway. It will help for the first 10 minutes or so hehe.

Oversized guides probably help, but I'm not going to buy a second rod or change my GL3 just for this. Oversized guides would just delay the problem slightly anyway.

Let's get the heated fly rod thread going again hehe. It sure would be nice to have a heated handle and rod guides in the winter.

I bought some winter golf gloves a couple of months ago. They seem like they would work well for winter flyfishing. They are thicker than regular golf gloves and cover a larger area. It seems like I could tie a small fly on with the gloves. I'll give it a try now. Cold hands and fingers are probably the biggest winter flyfishing problem. I use the open finger fleece gloves. They work well other than on the colder days.

Anyway, a high of 48 degrees Sunday and I am wearing a t-shirt today. This isn't an issue this weekend!

[John Bell]

Dont know any application other than dipping the rod in the water to clear the guides.

But! be careful when ever pushing ice out of the guides with your fingers, especially at the tip top you can break it off this guide very eaislily.

[Ouzel]

of winters ago I tried Loon's Stanley paste and found it effective only for awhile then had to go to the old method of dipping the rod for a few moments to loosen the ice.

I called Loon's and found their product is only good down to about 12 degrees. So that can mean when you are waving the rod around the wind chill will lower the actaul effective temp. even more.

Over the years I've tried everything and the only system I've found always works and is the most accessable is 'dip your rod'.

[GotFish?]

Nothing works when it is dang cold. Treat your line before you go out, coat your guides with some pam-spray, take some extra in a small container to apply should you get a break from the action, and be ready to submerge your rod as often as it takes. If all this seems like a hassle, look around you and appreciate the fact that you usually will have the water to yourself!

[John Bell]

Nothing works in winter for iced up fishing equipment including human extremities

Listen closely to me……Stay Home! Ever had frost bite? This condition sometimes requires amputation of the extremities.

I repeat…. stay home winter is bad.

Does require patience far beyond the usual.