Things To Do During The Freeze

[Dens228]

Well, lube and grease my reels, change some of the line out, and then re-sort my tackle about 50 times.........lol

[GTN-NY]

39 minutes ago, Spankey said:

I have stuff to do around the house all the time. But I get some winter trout fishing in and this Sunday I’ll be shooting sporting clays with my shooting buds. I shoot clay targets of one discipline or another one day a week after work.    

5 stand league starts this week till April for me also

[gim]

Exercise, play ice hockey, pheasant hunt (December), play in a racquetball league, and watch football. 

 

Definitely not ice fishing.

[Mr. Aquarium]

I try to get out in winter, even  just a smidge of water. Try out new lures. 
i  fish for many different species. So I tie steelhead jigs and bass jigs. Make new rigs for saltwater. Fix rods. Clean reels. 
lots of drinking. Hiking, skiing.  I have a ton of ponds in my area. So some days I just get out and look for access even if it’s frozen 

[J Francho]

I have plenty to keep me busy.

 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

[MN Fisher]

Myself?

Scale modeling - I got something like 20 models waiting to be built

Writing - no, not the 'Great American Novel' - I'm doing some fan-fiction

Taking care of the wife - this is an all-year, full-time job in itself.

[Jigfishn10]

Workout (year round)

Read a lot

Make some lures for the season

Clean reels

This year I'm taking a boating safety course

Make chicken chili, pizza, pasta or whatever strikes me

Most of all, just try and relax from the hectic work schedule

[Fallser]

I think I can find enough to keep me occupied.  I'm a fly fisherman 95% of the time.  I'll be tying flies and organizing my fly boxes for the spring. I'm trying to come up with a Ned fly.  I've got one fly rod I've been building, the guides are all wrapped just need the clear coat on them. I need to replace the cork foregrip on my 6 wgt.  I've got a spinning rod I'm building for one of my fishing buddies and an old 9' 10 wgt fiberglass fly rod I plan to convert to a spinning rod.  I'll be making some in-line and Mepps style spinners for the guys I fish with.  Looks like our Ontario and the two week long trips to the Poconos we had to cancel in 2020 will be back on this year.  I should replace the fluorocarbon and braid on my spinning reels and the braid on the light lever drag reel I use for trolling.  Check the hooks on all my lures, replace as needed.  Make sure I have enough jigs and soft plastics.  That should keep me occupied till it warms up again.

[the reel ess]

It doesn't freeze here, so we go fishing. But I admit there are much longer fishless periods for me in the winter. I can't just go after work because it's dark and the best part of the day in inter is midday-afternoon. I need a nice day on the weekend or a day off. So I watch YouTube videos, order tackle I think I'll need in the spring, watch a lot of Netflix. Prime and Motor Trend on demand.

 

If I lived where it does freeze I'd try to go ice fishing. I wouldn't mind doing it now.

[roadwarrior]

46 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

If I lived where it does freeze I'd try to go ice fishing. I wouldn't mind doing it now.

 

Put on your warmest outerwear, get a bottle of whiskey, go out in the garage and have a seat.

You will probably catch the same number of fish with or without a rod.

 

[The Bassman]

5 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Myself?

Scale modeling - I got something like 20 models waiting to be built

.

Memories of childhood.  Brands like Revell, Monogram, AMT, Testors. Don't even know if they're still the dominant brands. Haven't looked in a long time.

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

Memories of childhood.  Brands like Revell, Monogram, AMT, Testors. Don't even know if they're still the dominant brands. Haven't looked in a long time.

Revell and Monogram merged. AMT was bought by Round-2 - which has put out a number of new-mold models. Fine Molds out of Japan is the third 'major player'.

[Glenn]

Perhaps of interest...

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/cabin-fever-fishing.html

 

[Munkin]

Making lures, I know I do it year round but I have nothing else to do now.

 

Allen

[ICFishing]

When the big waters get hard I either ice fish them, or switch over to fly fishing for trout in mountain streams. When I am not doing that I will organize gear, clean gear, tinker with lures, and this past year I got back into making jigs and spinnerbaits. 

[joshuaray83]

Lots of awesome ideas. I never thought to walk around the lakes I frequent to look for lure. Great idea! I'm going to pick up some stuff to make a few more jigs and make my first buzzbaits too. That should entertain me for a while. We do have limited trout fishing around here, but it's mostly lakes/ponds. No streams. I am likely to move out to eastern Iowa in the next year or so, so I'll have more opportunity on that front after that. I'm thinking that hiking, lure hunting, and lure building are my best bets at the moment.

[fishballer06]

Fantasy Fishing!!!

 

 

 

[NYWayfarer]

I go online and look for deals on fishing gear.

 

I binge watch a lot of shows I missed in the spring, summer and fall.

 

When it gets closer to April I start hiking to spots I want to try when the ice is gone.

 

January and February are my least favorite months of the year. I did make a trip down to Florida 2 years ago and caught Bass and Bluegills. It was great. Might do it again someday.

[MassYak85]

Ice fish when I can, I try to be at the gym more than during open water season, organize tackle, clean reels, small hikes. I usually keep busy until mid february and then I start getting a serious itch for open water again. You can only comb through your tackle so many times. 

[joshuaray83]

27 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

I usually keep busy until mid february and then I start getting a serious itch for open water again. You can only comb through your tackle so many times. 

That's where I'm at already, sadly. Hopefully this most recent lure parts order will help for a while.

[Stasher1]

Search for a new job in a warmer climate? ?

 

 

No ice in the Atlanta area right now. As a matter of fact, as soon as I get a couple automotive projects done (hopefully next weekend), I'll be back in the kayak chasing the winter large mouths.

[DanielG]

Move to Maine. I live on a lake in southern Maine and it has yet to freeze over. We used to have a solid Nov. - May winter. Now it's more like mid Jan to  early April. We've lost three months of deep winter. Longer springs and falls. I dunno what's going on but it's getting worse. Last year no snow machines or ice shacks on the lake because the ice came to late and went out to early. it used to get 4 ft thick.

[DitchPanda]

On 1/7/2021 at 3:09 PM, roadwarrior said:

 

Put on your warmest outerwear, get a bottle of whiskey, go out in the garage and have a seat.

You will probably catch the same number of fish with or without a rod.

 

This is not true. I went out with a buddy for 3 hours yesterday we caught probably 25 fish..brought home 8 yellow perch and 2 crappie for a fish fry. I do support the whiskey idea as long as you aren't driving.

[Will Wetline]

 

I spend the hard water months in my tackle room.