Hope everyone had a Merry Fishmas! It is cold — the beaches are solid cement. Waterfowlers are breaking through ice to set decoys. My guides are collecting water and freezing to the point I gave up until it gets a tad warmer. Chapstick only works so well keeping water off the guides. When it is 13 degrees out, it doesn’t matter what you use.

Speaking of freezing temperatures, if you are catch-and-release fishing, do not take the fish out of the water at all. Anglers should keep fish submerged to remove a hook in freezing conditions. Something we do not see often in our area ... the temperatures, not the fish.

This harsh cold can instantly freeze the eyes and gills of a fish. If the temperatures are very cold like the past week, that freezing can be almost instant. Once that happens, the fish may swim away fine, but it will not survive. The time (even several seconds) it takes to photograph a fish out of water will kill it.

If you are catching limits of fish, make sure you are harvesting that catch before you expose it to the freezing air.

Freezing temperatures and the fact fish are wet, doesn’t occur to many people that the fish could freeze quickly. When your frozen windshield ices over from wind after cleaning it, I imagine it kind of looks like that to a fish. I can’t imagine a frozen lung, but I do know what my inner frozen nose feels like.

The white perch bite has been the usual bite for the cooler fillers, using jigs, bloodworms or minnows. Some short striped bass are mixed in the perch schools. In about a month, winter flounder limits begin — still a rare catch for around here.

We hit the surf in search of dogfish and skate, sometimes for the food and others just for the fun. There are still migratory striped bass moving about and, of course, the resident fish.

This is a good time of year to get ready for summer. Airing down is easy if you have deflators like the Staun auto deflators. These can be set to a certain pressure. With a little Loctite on the threads, they stay set in one spot. Just screw them onto the stems and the air is released until it hits the set pressure. This is much easier than sitting there with a gauge and pushing the valve core stem. It is much better for your knees. I have graduated to using a stool to air up. If I’m going to sit there for a minute, I’m going to be comfortable.

You can go old school and make your own air down tool — a paper binder with a small bolt set in the center. Clip it onto the stem and it depresses the valve. You just have to keep an eye on it. When you get used to the process, counting to X is usually how you get close. The same goes for airing up. I know it takes roughly 43 seconds to hit my mark when I am at 18 psi, airing up.

The only disadvantage to auto deflators, these can bend your valve core stems easily, as can constant airing up. The cheaper the stems, the more these can bend. I have a bag of a hundred I keep handy with a stem tool I change out at least one a week. I am about to look into the heavier duty valve cores for the stems. I know they exist, I have just been lazy because I have a hundred of them and it takes about three seconds to change one out.

The fastest way to air down is removing the valve core with the core tool, then putting the core back in. It is a skill when the air is rushing out not to launch that core into the sand never to be found again. Hence the need to carry extras.

Always air down at the beach. It is really for the sake of the beach, not as much for your vehicle’s wear and tear. Except Jeeps, they are prone to overheating the transmission and burning up. Airing down a Jeep is a must.

On Jan. 7, come out to the Outdoorsman Marketplace at the Millville Volunteer fire company, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Check out DS Custom Tackle at the show. They will have the newest Fishbites purple clam flavor and some outrageous tackle deals. Anglers will be able to get reels spooled at the show by True Braid. There will be a lot of neat new products being debuted at this event.

Deer hunting seasons opening in January:
January handgun deer: Jan. 7, Jan. 9 through 14 (closed Sunday, Jan. 8), hunting permitted only south of the C&D Canal
January general firearm deer (also known as the January shotgun season): Jan. 14 through 22, including Sundays
January muzzleloader deer:
Jan. 23 through 29, including Sunday.