We fly fishers are often readily guilty of trying to justify endless acquisition and use of new and different equipment for our fishing - though as far as your gear for winter fishing - your lighter rod and line will work just fine. 

Think about it - for the overwhelming majority of the time your going to be nymphing on a fairly short line, most often with an indicator and shot on board.  The guys we fish with most of the time favor the same gear we do, a 4, 5, or 6 weight rig.  You can handle that sized set up comfortably for hours, can toss a small bugger with it, and still manage a little wind.  We find that our 3 weight rod guides tend to ice more quickly and sometimes feel a bit underpowered with a tandem nymph rig, split shot, and indicator in the air.  Longer rods (9′ or better) easily allow nice line control.  Cleaning and dressing your line before every outing helps - should be doing that anyway any time of year. 

Most of the waters we’re fishing this time of year in south / southwest Montana allow us to use a floating line with a mid length leader - folks debate the utility of flourocarbon here given its propensity to sink and for visibility in what is most often amazingly clear water. 

We’ve seen an interesting product in years past but not used it until this year - Stanley’s Ice Off Paste.  It works best for us if we apply to guides the night before an outing, and will keep guides clear for 30 minutes or so in really cold conditions.  Ice will eventually form, and we find it is less effective after clearing ice and reapplying.  Steelheaders have been using it for years, and friends who has used it (including a couple of guides from Jack Dennis’ shop in Jackson Hole) swear by and use it from November on around here.

Tomorrow we’ll look at one more round of gear odds and ends before moving to look at flies…..

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