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SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: Montana Cold Weather Kayak clothing  (Read 3071 times)

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bndhunter

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Great Falls Montana
  • Date Registered: Sep 2016
  • Posts: 20
I am very new to this sport and still looking for tips and safe practices. For those of you that kayak fish here in Montana what is the latest/earliest month wise that you get out and fish? Then what do you wear for outer wear during those late early months when the air temps and water temps are 40 degrees or so? Dry suit, wet suit, waders with a dry top?
2011 Hobie Oasis
2015 Jackson Big Rig


pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
I kayak fish from as soon as the ice breaks up to when it starts forming again.

One of the risks of kayak fishing is that you may end up in the water.  And in Montana and elsewhere in the region, the water is cold enough to be dangerous for much of the year, even if the air temperature is comfortably warm.  Google “cold water dangers” and read some of the valuable articles which that search will disclose.

When the water is cold, you should wear a full drysuit, with enough insulating clothing underneath it to keep you warm if you end up in the water, even if the air temperature is warm.  A full drysuit and a PFD are probably the two most important items of safety gear you need for kayak fishing.  Drysuits aren’t cheap, but the good news is that a full drysuit will let you kayak and fish in comfort even in cold, windy, and rainy weather.  And after a day of kayak fishing in steady rain, the clothing you were wearing under your drysuit will be dry, and you can wear it for the drive home.

Get a drysuit which is big enough to wear over a number of layers of insulating clothing.  Do not go for a trim stylish look – a drysuit should be baggy, except when you have a maximum amount of clothing under it.  Get a drysuit with dry socks attached - your feet spend a lot of time in the water when you are kayak fishing.  Get a dry suit with a pee zipper – you will be very very very very sorry if you don’t.  A drysuit with breathable fabric will be more comfortable than one with non-breathable fabric – it’s worth paying the extra money for breathable fabric.  A drysuit with latex gaskets will reliably keep you completely dry even after long periods in the water – I snorkel and speargun for pike in a drysuit.  Neoprene gaskets may be a bit more comfortable, and a drysuit with neoprene gaskets will keep you dry in rainy weather, but it will not reliably keep you dry if you end up in the water for very long.  The footgear you wear over the drysuit's dry socks should be a couple sizes larger than the size of your street shoes, so you have room for a couple layers of warm fuzzy socks under the dry socks, and so the footgear won't make your feet cold by constricting them.

You should definitely practice tipping your sit-on-top kayak over, righting it, and climbing back onto it.  When you can reliably get back on your kayak in about 20 seconds, when the water temperatures warm up you can consider using waders and a dry top, or just a pair of dry pants to keep your feet and butt dry.  But if you end up in the water while wearing these for very long, you will get water inside them, which will make you cold and wet, and may add enough weight to make it more difficult to climb back onto your kayak.  In warm weather and water conditions, I usually wear a pair of dry pants with dry socks, but I recognize that I am making a compromise from a safety perspective. 

In my opinion, wet suits suck.  They aren't nearly as comfortable as a dry suit, you can't adjust their insulation to correspond to the weather, you end up peeing into the wet suit when you're out on the water, and if you end up in the water you'll be cold and clammy for the rest of the day.  Don't get a wet suit.  Spend the money on a dry suit.

Here’s some pictures from days when you wouldn’t want to go kayaking without a dry suit: Kayak fishing on a snowy day in May:





Trolling between ice floes in April.





Fishing in comfort on a rainy day:


« Last Edit: September 27, 2016, 01:25:37 PM by pmmpete »


DWB123

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Seattle, WA
  • Date Registered: Aug 2013
  • Posts: 841
Anyone else suspect it's actually Pete asking these questions so he can "answer" them?


Jagorrell84

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: Beaverton, OR
  • Date Registered: Sep 2016
  • Posts: 19
Anyone else suspect it's actually Pete asking these questions so he can "answer" them?

Haha. The man is full of knowledge. One day I hope to grow up and be like him!  :banjo:


bndhunter

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Great Falls Montana
  • Date Registered: Sep 2016
  • Posts: 20
Anyone else suspect it's actually Pete asking these questions so he can "answer" them?

Haha. The man is full of knowledge. One day I hope to grow up and be like him!  :banjo:

Being new to this sport I hope to tap into that knowledge as I gain experience.
2011 Hobie Oasis
2015 Jackson Big Rig


LuckyNed

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: N. Flathead
  • Date Registered: May 2016
  • Posts: 18
I completely agree with everything Pete said, although I practice almost none of it.
I use an open canoe, so self rescue is problematic. I almost always go solo.I do have a bail bucket (on a leash), and a tow strap on the bow. I also carry a "bail bag" at all times (waterproof, with firestarter and dry clothing). I do not boat big water, rarely being more than more than 200 yards off the beach. In MT, especially off season, I am frequently the only one on the lake or river. I also have a life jacket for my dog.
What I think is crcritical is psychological mindset. As a professional river guide, I attended a Swift Water Rescue class on the Lochsa river in April. The first day on the water, the instructor purposefully flipped the boat. We were wearing wet suitsnand it was frigidl as we performed self rescue. At the start of every day we repeated this exercise. By the end of the week the 'shock factor' of cold water immersion was mitigated. While commercial fishing in AK, we would start the season by jumping into the North Pacific and struggling into our survival suits.The point being intocan "train" your mind to acclimate to sudden cold water immersion. Go out in frigid  conditions, with full rescue support, and jump in the lake to practice self. rescue. It is a basic rule, "If the mind won't lead, the body can't follow." It is not enjoyable, but it goes a long way towards survival.
THere is a large disparity in the individual capacity for cold water immersion. Training , experience and mindset can make an immense.diffeence.


pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
But if you have good equipment, you can kayak comfortably in lousy weather, and you don’t need to be tough.  Here are a couple pictures from a day of kayaking on the Lochsa in March 2016 when it snowed all day.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures while on the water.





And here are a couple pictures from an early-spring 116-mile 4-day unsupported kayak trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, launching on Marsh Creek, during which we kayaked through snow for a day and a half.










LuckyNed

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: N. Flathead
  • Date Registered: May 2016
  • Posts: 18
Pete,
I am unsure of how my post comes across. Being "tough" was not my intent. The point I was emphasizing was that the very best gear does not replace experience. I have seen this demonstrated my entire life. People spend large amounts attempting to achieve competence, and neglect basic skills and abilities.
,
   


pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
No, I liked your post.  But I'm a weenie, and jumping into cold water without a dry suit doesn't sound real fun.  I like to be comfortable when I do things in the outdoors.  And having good clothing and equipment is how I keep comfortable.


LuckyNed

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: N. Flathead
  • Date Registered: May 2016
  • Posts: 18
Obviously if yyou are boating the Lochsa (a dangerous river) in April, you have exceeded the comfort and wienie rating of the vast majority of the human population..But you demonstrate my meaning. When you flip, you immediately recover. You don't waste time thinking "how did this happen, what do I do next, or I could die here". You have already trained your mind and body in emergency procedures, so you can effectively react correctly.and quickly.Theoretically, you would do the same wearing a t shirt and shorts, although the shock factor would be magnified.
Most people would waste critical time reacting to the shock factor (a new experience), rather than make the quantum leap to self recovery..