should I go or should I not?

[colotrout]

Here is the forecast for one of my favorite winter spots here in CO (elevation just shy of 11,000 ft):


Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of snow after 11am. Increasing clouds, with a high near 20. Wind chill values as low as -4. West wind between 7 and 10 mph. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.


Should I go or should I not?

Would you go?

 

[mikel]

If you want to go and safety concerns are ok...then go. You can warm up later...-m

 

[ghost_reaper]

I run in that weather all the time. Go for it and have fun.

 

[s fontinalis]

i say go like a boy scout - Prepared. And enjoy it, cause you'll only say you should have gone after the fact, esp if the weather is better than predicted. Hind sight is 20-20

 

[williamhj]

Do you know of the water is open? I tried to hit my favorite spot a couple weeks ago, the day was beautiful, sunny and comfortably above freezing, but the steam was frozen. If it's a tailwater, great. If it's frozen, the weather report won't matter much...

 

[vitesse304]

Sounds like the Blue? Maybe the Pan?

What the heck are you waiting for? Get up there! Winter is my favorite time to fish. The cold keeps a lot of people off the water, but the cold doesn't stop the fish from eating!

If you're going to the Blue or the Pan, bring along mysis, poison tung's, rs2's in black and grey (regular, loop wing, and flashback), rojo midges, zebra midges, top secret midges, and thread midges in red and black. I usually stick around a size 18 or 20. I've never fished anything smaller, but a lot of people do.

Some of my best days on the Blue are when the snow is puking. Plus, if the weather is bad, there's no line to get into the toilet bowl on the Pan.

Get up there and write up a trip report!

 

[Ard]

I would err on the part of reason making this decision. at 11,000 feet of elevation all bets are off as far as how bad can it get. If you were going to be fishing open water that runs along a road with regular traffic I'd say what the heck but.............. If you are planning to lock in the hubs in order to reach the destination and then expecting weather on top of that I would be taking my snow shoes if I went at all.

Adventure is usually a good thing but when adventure turns into hardship such as being drifted in on some back road, then it loses its glitter pretty quick. I don't have any places to fish at 11,000 feet of elevation but I know extreme weather. I've had a few runs at weather in the Alaskan Interior that were less than a good time. They make for a good story because I lived and I did not end up needing to be rescued. I can tell you this much about getting into a jam where you won't be found; the prospect of building a fire and staying overnight somewhere that you didn't plan on holds little appeal at the time it happens.

I would play it safe and then when there is no threat.

Ard

 

[mojo]

At 20º you will be miserable. Frozen guides every cast and freezing the line to the guides before your line gets out. Joni and I've done it numerous times and it's just not fun.
But you might enjoy it. For a while.

 

[milt spawn]

Sounds like good skiing/boarding to me! milt.

 

[Sasha]

I'd go... Winds 7-10 and a high of 20 isn't bad. Just dress properly.

 

[cpiercem]

I agree with Ard and Mojo. If it is remote, then it is not a good idea. Wind chill can be really wicked if you get wet, and frozen line guides are the pit.
At 11,000 ft, the weather report is just anybody's guess.

 

[rockriver]

If it's away from a well traveled road, I'd take my winter pack including dry clothes, winter bag, back packing tent, and snowshoes just in case. If it's near a road, I'd take it anyway in the winter. Stuff can happen too fast in a lot of areas.

 

[flytyer123]

do it i always regret it when i let the weather stop me from fishing

 

[colotrout]

Well, I went, and boy was it a BLAST!!

Only fished for about 1.5 hrs before the weather got bad but caught plenty and rather large fish. See the pictures by following the link below and let me know what you think...


Pictures by colotrout - Photobucket

 

[mcnerney]

Congrats, looks like you had an awesome trip despite the wx forecast!

 

[Sasha]

Sweet!!!


I just love winter fishing unk:



Bet you are glad that you didn't stay home.