Ok so I went fishing yesterday. It was a little on the cold side. Nice because nobody was wading the Skok except me. Bad because I have whimpy fingers that freeze up faster then Dubya's brain.

Ok, so this is nothing new. My fingers have been freezing up ever since taking up steelhead fishing. So one fine blistery morning in the Sawtooth Mountains I get an idea...why not put a couple of AA batteries in the rod handle of my baitcaster, then hook up the leads so they contact the reel feet and warm up the reel. I realize the rod would need to be rebalanced, but would something like this be possible? I could handle a couple extra ounces of weight if it meant I could feel the rod, instead of gripping it with dead cold stumps I call hands.

I even thought about a small 'docking' station that would heat up a baitcaster while it wasn't in use. Like a small heated reel cover attached to an energy source.

Any ideas? I am the only one here who has trouble with the metal on the round baitcaster sucking the freakin heat right out of my fingers?
Am I really a sissy?

C'mon Vhawk - we already established in earlier posts that nurses are NOT sissies

The handle grips on many snomobiles are heated with some kind of element - might be something to check out. It's been awhile but I thought I saw some heated handle wraps to retrofit grips on those that didn't - may be able to adapt something like that to fit your purposes. Besides . . . didn't anyone tell you there's no such thing as a steelhead.

Vince, a new breakthrough came out in the year 1282. A product was invented that year called gloves.

In my opinion, you would burn through batteries like no other... You might be able to get away with it if you were to put something inline to provide some resistance... The only reason a flashlight lasts so long is because the bulb is basically acting as a resistor and only allowing a small amount of electricity to pass through it.. Certainly not saying it's impossible, since I just gave a good possible scenario, but I think directly hooking them up to the reel seat would be not only expensive but pointless as I dont think there is enough current coming from a couple of AA batteries to heat up a reel... You may be on to something in the general idea tho!

Gloves suck. Fingertips still get cold. Plus I prefer to feel bottoms with my bare hands. Geez Mingo I thought you would understand. :rolleyes:

If a steelhead smolt farts on my bait I want to be able to feel it.


TBird,

I'm not an engineer. Thats why I asked. I knew we had at least a few professionals that lurk here as well as alot of amaetur electricians. Thanks for your input.

Care to expound a bit on that statement?

Mingo...you and Vince got something going?

You don't like fingerless gloves either? I'd rather fish without them too (Stripping in a flyline all day with gloves is not much fun) but I'd rather not have frozen digits.

Maybe it's because you wear rubber gloves all day long...........your digits need a break when you fish

Feeling the bottom IS enhanced by a bare hand, that's for sure. If the hands are too cold you'll get shrieks and yelps

Perhaps a little Vagasil will do the job for ya, vhawk.

Sol, That was LOW. So Low I spit coffe on my monitor.

Sounds like you have poor circulation to your fingers. When your hands get cold, the blood vessels constrict and your fingers get colder.

Instead of heating your hands directly, I would suggest you warm up your forearms or maybe something under your armpits. Loosen the clothing around your arms and wrists, too. Get some of those chemical warmers and put them loosely on your forearms with ace bandages or something like that. Don't they have some chemical heat packs at the hospital? Those would probably work. Just a suggestion.

Later.

Sol if I rub some vagasil on you it'll warm up my hands? That's an awful generous offer, but I've been trying to quit my crack habit. Your a bad man.


DiverX,

I use plenty of handwarmers. I couldn't fish the winter months without them. I've had frostbite to my fingers when I was very young, and never had cold tolerance since. So it sounds like I am the only one here who has any trouble. Other then Sol being a little lonely.

there are battery heated socks in Cabela's, I'm sure you could take a pair of those apart and use the element and batteries to make something work.

Vince,

Maybe a combination of gloves and the chemical handwarmers. My winter fishing gloves are a pair of fleece gloves that I cut the tips off the thumbs, forefinger, and second finger. Keeping the rest of my hand from freezing keeps the exposed fingertips tolerably comfortable. It doesn't usually get bad enough for me to try the chemical handwarmers, so I haven't. But the combination might give you both the warmth and sensitivity you need. A nice thing about the fleece gloves is that when it's raining and they get soaked, I just periodically take them off, wring them out, and put 'em back on.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Try woolies over latex. Still get the insulating value of the wool (even when wet), but your hands stay nice and dry.

I've actually done the latex over the woolies and it works pretty good! Keeps the goo out of the wool and doesn't let the hook get fouled in the wool so easily. Always a problem with a hardcore bait fisherman who is always handling his hooks. Keeps the hands much warmer in the rain and wind but it looks a little funny.

Vagasil!!
Thanks Stam for giving away another Northwest secret.

Try these Vince, I bought a pair a while back. I really like them. Nice and warm but you still have the dexterity to tie up your leaders.
Seal Skinz Gloves

Good luck with your frozen digits....

Just let the hands freeze and the pain will go away. Vagisil works if applied properly and with the right tender touch. I don't wear gloves while fishing myself, but I prepare for winter steelheading by riding my motorcycle on cold mornings shirtless/gloveless. Nipples of steel!

SealSkinz make great gloves, but they're still gloves. I'd rather wear 1/2 inch thick latex condoms on my willie then have to wear gloves while fishing. It kills me to think how many bites I'm not feeling.


I've done every combination suggested and I am still not satisfied.

I think I will try disassembling the heating element from the heated socks and see how that works. The reel doesn't have to be toasty warm, I'd be happy to heat it up to 50-55 degrees F.

Thanks Escapee.

Vhawk,

I think DiverX is onto something. I'm a biologist and work in the Snake River all winter long. I've found that over-dressing to the point of almost sweating keeps your extremeties warm. As your body heats up, your blood vessels dialate and allow more warm blood into your fingers. Moving around a lot helps too, but I know that's hard to do when steelhead fishing.