[cool]Hey, DR. Layering is a learned art, predicated upon a whole bunch of related factors. Water temp is only one factor...but an important one. Like fishfather, I rely heavily on a collection of different types of sweat clothes. Some are light and some are heavy and fleecy. The important thing is that they wick away the moisture and remain fluffy and insulating. If they get wet and/or compressed, it does not matter how many layers you wear.
Believe me, I have tried just about every combination of materials and layers you can imagine over the years. These days, I do not get out on the skim ice waters of pre-iceup lakes, nor do I have any lakes that I can fish at iceout. I have done so in the past...and still shivver when I think of how cold I got sometimes.
In the more temperate waters of the sunbelt, we seldom experience temps below about 50 in the winter. We can tolerate that when it is air temperature, with little more than a layer or two. In the water, however, 50 degrees can seem a lot colder when it encases your nether regions in a medium that sucks heat out of you very quickly. You can get very cold in water that our neighbors to the north think is toasty in the cooler months.
Let's start with basic craft design. If you sit down inside a round tube, or one of the minipontoons with low seating, much of your lower unit will be submerged in heat absorbing water. You will get cold faster, and need more layers of thicker insulation to stay out. If you have one of the newer designs, that let you sit almost out of the water, you will not suffer as much from cold on the bottom as from exposure to more of your body to cool air temps.
Wader material comes into play too. Neoprenes give superior insulation in cold water, and make you sweat in warm water. Use 3.5 mm neoprenes for most southern tubing...and the 5mm for cold country tubing. But, even with neoprenes, you will need other layers.
I fish with lightweight fabric waders, with neoprene feet, all year long. I add layers as needed, while the water is cooling in the fall...and take them off as the water warms in the spring. I buy them in sizes large enough to allow me to use up to three heavy layers, without ripping out the seams when I bend over to put my fins on. That means a size 2XL for my frame. But, it has to be an American made 2XL. Some of the offshore 2XL models are hardly the equivalent of a good XL. Try before you buy.
Over the years I have accumulated a couple of drawers full of different types of insulated underwear and sweat clothing. I have gotten to know the properties of each pretty well, and I can usually predict about where the water temp will be before I leave. But, I always carry an extra layer or two, for "adjustments" if my guestimation was wrong.
In the early fall, as the water drops from about 70 to 65, I will usually have one layer of thermal undies, and a second layer of fluffy sweats. On top, I may go out with a hooded sweatshirt or windbreaker if there is a cool early morning breeze. Keeping the head covered is a big part of comfort in the cold.
If I notice a chill within the first hour of being on the water, I go back in and add another layer. I would rather waste a little time in adjusting layers than to risk hypothermia...or plain discomfort. If the chill is not too bad, and the forecast is for continued cooling, I make a mental note to add a layer on the next trip.
On the coldest midwinter days in the south, I might wear three layers, with the top layer being a pair of polarfleece pants. They are big, baggy and comfortable, and I have never felt the cold coming through them. When I used to do the idiot thing...at iceup and iceout...I actually wore a pair of ski coveralls under the waders. That extra bulk split out the crotch on a pair of waders once, on a cold February day while dodging ice chunks. You can only imagine the exquisite agony of a sudden deluge of icewater in your most sensitive regions. If I had not been near shore, I would probably still be a part of the structure in that lake.
The Cabelas and Bass Pro catalogs are full of fantastic new designs and fabrics to cater to hunters and fishermen. I have seen several items I would dearly love to try. But, they are very proud of those things too...as evidenced by the amount of scorch marks they want to transfer to your plastic cards, just for the privilege of trying them. Somehow, I always rationalize that I already have a buncha stuff that is proven and comfortable. Why do I need to spend obscene amounts of money to have the same thing? Well...I can think of some good reasons, but the finance department has a different "logic chip" in her computer.
I don't know if all those words helped much, but they reminded me that I need to dig some boxes out of the garage and see if that cold weather stuff still fits. Kinda strange how it seems to shrink a bit every year.
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