Winter fishing

[Don]

With winter upon us I was curious if any of you like to use a different rod from summer to winter? I know A few to who like to go smaller and a couple who like to go to a larger rod. What preferences do you all have.

I mentioned in a previous post that I broke my rod tip trying to get the ice out of it. A couple of you made some suggestions. Since I can't remeber what those were, and I can't go look at the old posts, can you share them with me again?

Also, what would happen if you built a rod and put on larger guides for the purpose of keeping the ice out of them. How would that affect the rod? Maybe somone who has experience building a rod could help me with this.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Don

[Mike]

As soon as winter rolls around I'll pull out my 4 weight for a river like the Provo. The rest of the year I'll use a 5 weight on the same water. With the fish being more lathargic in the winter, it's fun to give yourself the illusion that the fish are fighting harder than they really are. I once tried a 3 weight on the Provo in the dead of summer. It made every 13 inch fish feel like they were 17 or 18 inches! I do think that a 3 weight is just too harsh on the majority of the fish in the Provo however. I try to reel (strip actually) all of my fish in as fast as possible and my 3 weight on the Provo just won't allow for that.

[Curtis Fry]

That's a good question. I've gone back and forth on what to use during the winter. At first I was hestitant to take my smaller (usually more expensive) rods to the streams in the Winter for fear of the "brittle factor" with graphite. I've seen a lot of broken rods in the winter. Not sure if that's a definite coorelation. Anyhoo...I normally, like Mike, seem to use smaller rods nowadays in the Winter when the fish fight more like wet rags. Seems to give a little more excitement on a cold winter day. Especially on a river like the Green. 4 wt's are perfect midging tools. Makes me ready to go up there and get some now, just thinking about it.

[Jason B]

I use my 5wt year round. Today while i was on the provo the fish were wild. I had many large browns jump a few times and fight very hard. They sure did not want to be brought in.
Tight lines
Jason B