I've fished a tournament for several years in the past that my club named "The Frostbite Classic". We try to pick one of the coldest days of the year, and head out to fish a tournament. Most of the time, it's not that bad - might be very cold, but not too bad. The worst weather was one early January - mid 90's timeframe, that we fished Kerr Reservoir. My buddy almost launched his whole rig into the ice covered water due to an icy ramp. His boat trailer stopped at the water line as it cracked both his taillights and bent his licence plate backwards on the ice edge going in. He cleared the way for the rest of us, and we went fishing. I was wearing a snowmobile suit and a helmet to run, and didn't really want to take the helmet off when I stopped either. I couldn't get more than a cast or two without having to stop to break ice out of my guides all day. Then it started snowing - well. By the end of the day, the whole front and rear decks of my boat, and the sole of the boat, were covered in snow. I thought my fingers were going to break off at any minute.
The really weird part of this whole story? Just for fun, goofing off first thing in the morning, I threw a Smithwick Rogue around some stumps in 5 feet of water in the middle of a creek - and caught fish there all day. :huh: I never would have thought that possible with the air and water temps - but they were there all day long.
All the best,
Glenn
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