De-Icing What Ale's You ~ Tuesday Tippets, Damsel Style

Sunday, Monday... How about Tuesday?  Well, that is where we are at. 

So, without further adoo... Here's your "Tippets"!!

There was this little shindig called the "Annual Freeze Your A** Off Day" at the Provo River last Saturday.  It was my second year to take my  a**   hiney out in the below freezing temps to fish with my fellow Utah neighbors.  It is a great outing organized by UtahOnTheFly.com  The day went like this:  Breakfast at the Hub at 8 am, fish on the Middle Provo until about 2 pm, and head back for some bbq grub at the Four Seasons Fly Shop  in Heber for some chili, stew, ribs... do I need to go on?  Oh yeah, and your favorite drinks.  Haha.  Add a little update on what's happening over at the Utah Streams Access Coalition.  And to cap it off, a raffle at the end of the day with a ton of prizes.  Hey, I got something that will be very useful... More on that later.  

A little bit of  "shelf ice" greeted us that morning...

Heidi was determined that there was a fish out in the great beyond...

Ice clung onto our lines like we were fishing in Nova Scotia!

It was not a day to swing soft hackles...

And then I got barbed...

Oh wait, wrong picture!

Sorry... no picture.  Not time when a bling midge gets stuck in your thumb.

"Dr. Haslam" to the rescue!!  Between catching fish on his runny nose streamers, he performed emergency surgery on the girl who forgot to push down the barb on her new fly.  = (   Thank you...

(I loved the part where he tells me to numb my finger first in the icy river)

Then, it was time to head back to the fly shop, mingle and chow down...

and win a prize in the raffle!

YUP.

So, here's some "tippets" for your winter fly lines

 or (anything else) in the winter...  I put out the question on Facebook, 

"What products do you find best for de-icing?"  

1. Vaseline.  I will apply a thin coat to my guides.  It significantly reduces ice up.  I have also heard that chapstick does the same thing.  Umm...how do you take off the chapstick? 
2. A plane ticket.  Oh, I'm totally in favor of that!  Bonefishing in Andros or Christmas Island?
3. One word...Tenkara.  Did you see what happened with the soft hackle???
4. Uncurable...Stay in if it's below thirty.  I didn't say that I was sick....
5. Whiskey.  Generously applied.  No, not internally...
6. WD40.  Oh wait, is this what I can use to take the chapstick off?  = )
7. The couch in front of the fireplace...or mid May.  No, this wasn't a comment from Howard.

Last, but not least... this suggestion. 

So, there you have a few ways to survive the winter ice-ups.  I'm a pretty hardcore fisherman, I must admit.  But, honestly, if you are fishing in a river with floating ice chunks and shelf ice... Be careful out there!!  And head to the deep pools of stacked fish and slower current.

Yup,  #7 might be a good suggestion for some.