Keeping your legs warm

[MossRoad]

Do you wear glasses, MossRoad? I used to ski in the days before glasses, no problem with goggles and mask. Now that I need them they constantly fog with any type of face mask. If you have this figured out, let me know. I am either blind and warm, or cold with 20/20.

Yes, I wear glasses. If it is windy, they stay clear. I usually just take them off and put them in my pocket. My eyesight is not yet so bad that I have to wear them all the time. When I used to snow blow, I would wear ski goggles over my glasses. I used to wipe them with some anti fogging agent. Forget what its called now.

When I am fishing, if the winds are calm, I take off my mitten on my left hand and keep a bare finger on the line. I can detect bites on the left pole while watching the rod tip of my right pole. I do pretty well. Also, if I get the slightest hint of cold, I just drill a new hole. That gets the blood pumping.

 

[Diesel-ME]

......

I step out of the van and walk onto the ice. God help me if I fall down!
.....

hehe - I love your entire description Mossroad!!
Pretty much 1/3 or so of Moss's gear would keep you nice and toasty

I'm in the insulated bib overall camp myself. I initially worried that duck type material might allow too much moisture in as compared to nylon and other high-tech stuff, but for plowing snow on an open platform I tend to wait until the snow is over anyway, so Carhartts or Duluth Trading overalls work great. When it's really cold I wear a Carhartt Arctic jacket over the bibs and when it's not so cold a lighter-weight jacket.

For moisture-wicking (from the body) I like the synthetic high-tech stuff.... have not used silk in so long that I forget if I liked it now...

I find that flannel lined duck pants and the insulated bib overalls plus a warm jacket suffice. I tend to not layer like I used to. But that's only if I'm just sitting and plowing where I just need brute-force warmth. I layer more for varied cold weather activities, like felling trees, jumping on and off the tractor, sitting, moving, etc.

Too lazy to fish until summer

~paul

 

[MossRoad]

Too lazy to fish until summer

~paul

I'm not ambitiuos by any means.... I ice fish because I don't have a boat!

 

[Egon]

Moss, by the time you get dressed isn't it time to start undressing and go to bed???

As you age the call of nature may get to be quite a hassle.

For someone sitting on a tractor I'd suggest looking into snowmobile gear with heated gloves and/or boots as power is available. I'd also recommend the helmet for warmth.

 

[Tig]

I ice fish too. If it's real cold I wear an old pair of polyester baseball pants as a first layer. They wick moisture away from the skin and aren't too bulky. Outside layer should block wind.
Dry the inside of your boots at the end of each day, even if they are "not wet". Take the liners out and/or stuff them with newspaper. As soon as the holes are drilled and I sit down to fish I take my boots off and put on a fresh pair of dry socks. Then I'm good for the day.
The walleye are calling as I look out over the lake but things are too busy with work and trying to get a roof on the garage. Maybe in a couple weeks....
For tractor work nowadays I use insulated bib overalls and dry boots. It hasn't been that cold this year.

 

[MossRoad]

As you age the call of nature may get to be quite a hassle.

I am the anti-camel and am partially deaf to the call.

 

[MossRoad]

Took my 10 year old daughter fishing yesterday. 35 degrees and nice. Wife and I went to a Bed and Breakfast overnight. Woke up to 3 degrees and 50MPH gusts, white out conditions. All the other folks at the B&B were saying how bad it looked out there.... I leaned over to my wife and told her I would like to be out in it fishing. She smiled. She knows how much I enjoy it.

For those keeping score, the 10 year old girl out-fished me 12 to 6.

 

[DreaminGreen]

For those keeping score, the 10 year old girl out-fished me 12 to 6. [/QUOTE]

I bet the little lady had a great big grin on her face.

 

[Egon]

Moss, brave words from a young fellow.

 

[MossRoad]

Last year she got me by twice as much, so I'm gaining on her! I tell you, it has nothing to do with me baiting the hooks, taking her fish off the hook or drilling her a new hole every ten minutes (or thowing my fish back when she isn't looking, either ).

When I was very little, I remember my sisters taking me fishing on my grandpa's pier. They had me use an ice fishing pole. Two of them would sit there and help me hold the pole and be still. Then the bobber would go under and I'd pull out a nice 'gill. 35 years go by and at my dad's funeral they tell me my other two sisters were under the pier with a basket of fish.