# Frozen guides



## caddisguy (Sep 10, 2007)

Any suggestions for keeping my guides from freezing up? I’ll be nymphing in the cold and think I have a fish on just to find out my line is frozen in the last two or three guides.


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## cowboyfan (Sep 19, 2007)

I have not tried it yet but plan to, pam cooking spray. Thats what is suggested in a magazine article I just read. Let me know if it works.


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Clean your fly line and give it a good coating of mucilin before you fish


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## RnF (Sep 25, 2007)

There isn't anything that will completely keep your guides ice free. It's just one of those things you have to deal with in the winter. I haven't found anything that really works well anyway.

I do use Airflo Ridgeline Fly Line in the winter. It has grooves on the surface of the line that creates less friction. Yes, you will get ice on your guides, but it tends to stick much less and it slides through the ice build up.

The draw back with this line is that it retains water in the grooves which freeze and makes your line very stiff and heavy. It also gets you fingers wet which can get rather cold so it's a double edged sword.

The one thing that I have found to be affective on getting ice off the guides is to hold your tip in the water until the water melts the ice away. Be warned though, hold the rod downstream when doing this. Your rod is more brittle in the winter and easy can be broken if you jab it in too strong of a current.

Enjoy the good fishing, winter fishing can be amazing.


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## mickeyfinn (Oct 3, 2007)

That's an age-old question that, as mentioned, doesn't have a really good answer. I've been keeping my eyes open for one of the Blank manufacturers to come out with a model that has a filament built-in that runs the length of the rod and batteries in the base but I've yet to see one. Of course, that would probably mess up the action and it'd weigh a ton (not to mention cost a fortune) but, sometimes that ice can be pretty frustrating. I've damaged more than a few tip tops banging them on a stump trying to get them clear.


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## Nueces (Jul 22, 2008)

caddisguy said:


> Any suggestions for keeping my guides from freezing up?


Fish in the summer? :mrgreen:


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## Pez Gallo (Dec 27, 2007)

use a spinning rod with light monofiliment
.


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## Pavlik (Sep 11, 2007)

Spray your entire rod (except for handle) with the cooking spray (avoid spraying the area where the rod halves join together, or else you will never get your rod apart again). Then, dress your line with silicone line dressing. Re-apply cooking spray as needed during the trip. This helps prevent buildup, however, you will still have to crack ice off here and there. Spray white lithium grease into your reel. This will keep it from freezing up.


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

That's why I never use guides. In the winter they freeze up, as has been mentioned, and in the summer the stink from all the sweat and complain about the heat! :lol: 

 Oops! Talking about different kind of guides. :mrgreen:


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Sounds about right, High :wink:


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## icthys (Sep 10, 2007)

Cooking spray?!?! You guys are crazy, doesn't help and then you have to wash your rod.

The only thing that works is keeping the same amount of line pulled off your reel. The ice build up comes when you strip your line in. The line will pull the water up with it and through the guides. Stop pulling the water up and through your guides and no more ice build up. If you know what you're doing it's no big deal to not be stripping line in and out every cast, and it sure beats getting ice build up every few minutes.


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

I'm working on a new invention called the Tipshamwow. It's a little extention that hooks to the tip of your rod and has a piece of shammy that sucks up the water before it gets to the guides. Prototypes have been surprising. Some have feared that it would mess with the rhythm of the cast, but for high stick nymphing and lob and twitch indicator nymphing, it seems to perform great. I'm thinking I should be able to nab about $ 49.95 each for them once the patent clears.


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## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

I agree that nothing works very well and you just have to deal with the iceing. Dipping your rod works to temporarily rid it of ice but in very low temps it is just a pain to dip the rod every few casts. I think that ice on the guides and the line is hard on fly lines. I have a separate spool of cheap line that I use just for winter fishing so I can save my good line for warmer weather. I like Cortland 333 line for winter fishing. It is relatively inexpensive and seems to hold up better than more expensive lines. My 2 cents on winter fishing. Now I need to get out.


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

The biggest problem I have found with fly lines is that they become stiff as nylon in the winter. I have found none better than the Scientific Anglers XPS

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...ishing/Products/FloatingFly/MasteryFresh/XPS/


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## MN transplant (Jan 4, 2009)

I knew a guy who built his own rods, and he built in a battery pack into the handle and ran wire through his rod to the eye's, if you got the time you could build something like that. Sounds really easy as long as I'm not the one doing it :wink:


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## barney (Nov 5, 2008)

I'll second the comment on the XPS for winter.


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## nate1031 (Jul 2, 2008)

HighNDry said:


> I'm working on a new invention called the Tipshamwow. It's a little extention that hooks to the tip of your rod and has a piece of shammy that sucks up the water before it gets to the guides. Prototypes have been surprising. Some have feared that it would mess with the rhythm of the cast, but for high stick nymphing and lob and twitch indicator nymphing, it seems to perform great. I'm thinking I should be able to nab about $ 49.95 each for them once the patent clears.


Dude, are you serious? I couldn't tell but I think I'd definitely give it a try if it had minimal effects on casting etc. Dunno if I'd spend $50 though.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Must be newbies. If it is cold enough to freeze ice in your guides, you need to go home, put the rod away, and start tying flies for next spring so you'll be ready when the BWO are coming off. Winter is for tying flies - not fishing them. :wink: :lol: 8)


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## Herb (Mar 11, 2008)

I have fly fished through the winter for years and I'm still looking for a cure-all. For the most part the only thing that reduces the ice is not bringing the wet line through the guides when Air temps dip below freezing. All my rewer fly rods I have purchased or had built I make sire they come with oversized guides an it has helped. 

Herb


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

Recoil guides make it easier to bust the ice out when it freezes but I they whine when casting like the SA sharkskin line


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