I fished quite a bit last winter. I go out with many layers and a ski hat. One thing with which I struggled, though, was this: how to keep my hands warm.

I tried various gloves and also invested in a pair of fishing gloves where you can make them either fingerless or covered.

Nothing really worked. I found that my fingers or hands got wet every time. So, I inevitably would pull off my gloves. Moreover, I found that in sub-freezing weather, I couldn’t tie my flies without taking off my gloves. My fingers felt frozen and undexterous.

So, in recent cold weather times, I’ve adopted what Kelly Galloup recommends: don’t wear gloves and bring an old dish towel. His view is that wet hands get cold, and so, dry them off.

You know what? It has worked thus far. I keep an old dish towel tucked into my waders. And, I bring some hand warmers, like those used for skiing, with me. I tuck them into the pocket of my waders and periodically warm my hands a tick or two.

Winter fishing is challenging, but there are no crowds. Worth doing.