FEB FISHING?

Well it seems most of you guys are smart and have transitioned to the hard water.  For people not so smart like my two buddies and I, we are planning (note I said planning) a trip to the SR on Feb 19th.  Any indications of how much snow is along the banks and this may sound like a dumb question but any thoughts on actually buying snow shoes?  As always it seems we are opening our horizons on fishing up there.... We would typically keep to Oct, Nov, Dec, March and April but now we apparently want to really get a taste of what its like to have frozen fingers and feet.  Anyhow any and all info appreciated...  Also we were talking to a guy that frequents up there....  He indicated even Mid to upper river is getting slush and starting to potentially lock up.  Anyone care to put this rumor to rest.....  I mean I'm sure everthing below 2A is probably a waste of time with all of the slush.  I hope that his commentary is inaccurate as I would prefer not to concentrate in Altmar with everyone else.  I've never fished up there and would prefer it to stay that way as the parking lot alone makes me want to turn around and go home.
 
Thanks as always.

Town pool is completely unfishable. Slush from 2a down is a sure bet. Even pineville had shelf ice a couple days ago when I drove over it. A couple day warm up of lows in the high teens and highs in the 30's would make for no slush in my findings through the years. Upper river is not locked up... Hitting 33 today... But another -20 could be possible tomorrow evening. Machine send me pm as it gets closer to your trip and I'll let you know what I see. My back yard had close to thigh deep snow yesterday afternoon. Probably same by the river. You could luck out and be able to walk on top of it though by the time you come up

Was well into the outback one March walking on the top and as the day progressed started busting through every third or fourth step- **** deep and HARD to get out of every time. LONGGGG walk back to the car. lol  That snowshoe thing woulda helped-

Thanks everyone, I was eyeballing some cheap-ish snow shoes on ebay.  No point in buying them new if you live in the south-central portion of Pa.  With that being said, I've had some pain in the !!! walks back to the truck in early March so I might recommend the idea to my two buddies that we atleast consider it.  Keep in mind those walks weren't even that tough because the snow amounts were not thigh deep.  My one bud did counter with there will already be trails but.... I'm not sure I feel like having a heart attack.  Appreciate the offer dime, I will probably take you up on it.  The kind lady that we are renting from said that if the weather were to get nasty we could always reschedule/cancel as we will be down across from the deer creek.  We like to frequent Eddie's Cove so we always stay outside of Pulaski.  Like last year I get nervous traveling up there beyond December and since my one bud will be driving up from Dover, DE, he has already expressed his concerns driving up so we shall see....  I definitely want to see some higher overnight lows up there and hope the flows stay up.  I'm not a fan of shelf ice... being a big guy I freak whenever I'm walking on that stuff.  Obviously you can tell the only frozen water I'm usually on is when I'm playing hockey :).  You hardwater guys are nuts, I'd be freaking out the whole time especially if in a shanty with a heater.

Jack you ain't kidding. Although last winter was more ferocious, this current one is lacking any substantial thaw outs. We had 1 thaw out right at Christmas. Few days later lock right back up and have had thick snow cover ever since. Last year at this time we had a 3 day rain and thaw. Almost went bare ground 2 times last year. Not happening this year.

I wear waders and use Sorels w/o the liners over my stocking foots for snowshoeing. If you have boot foots, put your cleats on after you shoe in.
I've gone in some of the less traveled  ways in  and had good times. I haven't gone lately because of low water. E- bay has some good deals on snow shoes. I use Atlas shoes I paid over 2 bills for 10 years ago. I see them now  on e bay for 30-40 bucks.  Feb. is pretty slow going, probably the deadest month of the season.

Sorels are the ****!!! I have two pair of caribous that I intend to have for the rest of my life. One pair is 17 years old. Fichy"s advice is spot on. Lots in Altmar had cars today. There are some trails. But expect deep snow. Especially with the bleak 2 week forecast. But snow is packing pretty good. Foot trails are building with 1 -2foot snow under them... Happy winter :)

LL Bean makes a pack boot that are similar to the Caribou. I'm sure its China made but comes with a lifetime guarantee. Sorels have been made in China since 2000, when Kaufman went bankrupt. I have a pair that's 10 years old that I work in daily. My wife's are fine, as are the Conquests I use for winter backpacking with crampons and snow shoes. If you have a problem, I bet it would be addressed and you'd get satisfaction. They are now produced and owned by  Columbia and they are very pro- customer relations. I'm not saying that the current product is as good as Made in Canada, just that they are still a relatively decent product, at least by my observations and the feedback I get from fellow construction workers,and   on the winter hiking  and mountaineering forums.

Yeah we will keep a close eye on that weather my one buddy from Dover, DE has quite the haul so if things looked dicey on lets say the Sunday we are heading home we would skip fishing that morning and just head back earlier if needed.  I'm not sure we will get even close to the amount of fishing in that we would typically do.  I mean during the other months it was get up and to the stream by around 630 and fish it til dusk.  It looks like we will be more inclined to either start toward the upper end in the am or simply get a later start and fish where the conditions permit.
 
 
 

Lucky13
Dime would know best on the trail conditions now. 
 
Just watch the long range, people going up for 4 days tomorrow could have some hellacious weather for the return Sunday.

If you buy shoes with hypalon decks, which is the most used material for modern  snowshoes, your studs  might rip them. It's not as tough as leather; and though you have a moveable foot bed your boot actually straps into that is metal and a leather heel patch (Atlas and Tubbs), stepping on the tails is common. They also make some all plastic shoes I've seen guys use on the river which can withstand use of studs, but maybe not full on cleats like the usual Korkers. 30x9  shoes work for me. I weigh 200 and generally carry a 35-40 lb. pack in winter (not on the river), so not much difference in our weight. I didn't mean to deter you from going, I've had a few good days, but also some thorough zeros. I've also just enjoyed the time on the river, but I do things outside that don't require a rod or gun.  I use roomy wading boots and oversize breathables, but if you read threads here on this subject, you'll find I'm in the vast minority, like the only one stupid enough to do so.   The past few winters I've dropped off of here, having little to add, except I generally keep fishing the river. In a couple of weeks,I'm going  for 4 days.  I hope you post a report.  In general, hope for some sun. Dark bottoms will absorb some rays and heat up a bit , moving fish into some shallower lies. I use to like Schoolhouse from the south because of the frog water that'd heat in the sun. Actually got a few decent fish with shallow indicator and nymph set up when it was pretty cold and deep snow with shelf ice.   Afternoons tend to be better, especially with sun.  Best of luck.  Oh yeah, I used Sorel as a generic term, seems most of us who wear pac boots as daily wear,  do. Wear 'em or don't as you see fit.

Machine charlie gave excellent advice with the shallower lies after the sun has been up. The rocks heat up and bug activity takes place. Steelhead can become very active at times from this for both reasons (bugs/warmth)...

Might be around in bout 2 weeks- the wife and a couple of grandkids will be X country skiing up  in Osceola.
 Will  be  for 3 or 4 days and might get a couple of hours upriver.
 I have been VERY concerned about Steel fishing and wether or not I should catch them and tire them with the disease thing- any advice ???
Not  on c and r methods but on wether  they should even be caught if it may have negative affect on next years potential.
Perhaps making too much of it but really appreciate the entire fishery and don't want to negative affect it--if that's even  possibility.
Thanks--

Trevor, it would seem that the DEC would have initiated some closings if they felt the fishery is in trouble. Hook-ups will be slim anyway. For myself, I just try to use some sense and don't keep the fish out of water or  use light tippet. You know all that. IMHO,  Go and enjoy yourself. If more people cared about the river as much as you, it'd be in pretty good shape. That goes for all the regulars here. There's a lot of intangibles to appreciating a river that don't involve hooking boatloads of big fish and making money off it.

All good advise and observations.
 
I'm going to have to try the sorel with the liner out over my stocking foot neoprenes and carry the wading boots with the cleats.  The snowshoes are all fitted to the sorels, just change at the river, and leave the sorels right in the Iversons.  May have to travel to try it, everything around here is locked up except the genny,and that has a lot of ice and snow issues that make it dicey.

As you know lucky the river is getting very locked up for the lower half with 12 straight days of snow... Arctic blast coming in now... Trev, your neighbor is right. And that 2+ foot is a compacted total of about 8-10' from the past month and a half. Irs really piling up now