The Best Gloves for Ice Fishing & Cold Weather

Dealing with ice, cold temps, and water is an ever-present challenge in ice fishing. The conditions can be brutal on the extremities, especially the hands which are so important to be an effective ice fisherman. You need to be able to wrangle bait, work with tackle, and deal with fish caught – which can be hard to pull off with numb fingers or fighting with bulky gloves.

All this points to the critical importance of a good pair of ice-fishing gloves, which keep your hands warm and dry while also allowing you to actually use them. The gloves for ice fishing help maintain your finger dexterity on the ice, enabling you to work with small lures, light fishing line, and live bait.

Top 5 Ice Fishing Gloves at a Glance

Last updated 2024-04-25 at 16:57 / Affiliate Links & Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

10 Best Ice Fishing Gloves

1. Glacier Glove Pro Angler

Our top recommended ice fishing glove, the Glacier Glove Pro Angler has a tough and protective blind-stitching design and a water-resistant construction of 2MM fleece-lined Techline neoprene that ensure it holds up well in nasty weather and for years of use.

The pre-curved fingers make for a more comfortable fit and include slits for your thumb and index finger. The glove’s middle finger has special texturing for a surer grip, which is also enhanced by the sharkskin-textured palm.

Although not fully waterproof, the Glacier Glove Pro Angler delivers a great combination of warmth and flexibility, translating to easy-wearing comfort. For the money, these are the most versatile cold weather fishing gloves you can buy.

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2. Kast King Mountain Mist Cold Weather Gloves

Kastking Mountain Mist Cold Weather Gloves are good gloves for ice fishing when the temps aren’t super low. These puppies have some insulation to fight off the chilly elements you’ll often be dealing with out on the ice, while also demonstrating impressive functionality when it comes to handling lures, bait, and everything else you need to use.

Boasting a toasty fleece-lined back, the Mountain Mist Ggoves include a flexible neoprene and microfiber palm with a polymer sharkskin pattern that majorly boosts grip—no small advantage when ice fishing, needless to say.

The neoprene cuff is adjustable so you’re assured of the perfect fit. When you need maximum tactility—including to operate the touchscreen of a smartphone or fish finder—slip open the fingertips and secure them with the “handy” hook-and-loop catch.

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3. Palmyth Flexible Fishing Gloves

While not appropriate for very cold weather, the Palmyth Flexible Fishing Gloves are some of the best Light Duty gloves for ice fishing in our roundup. The breathable, windproof, and water-resistant softshell design gets an insulating boost thanks to a fleece backing, while the palm, which incorporates synthetic leather, offers a fine grip.

You can flip back the thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger and secure those folded-over tips with a metal button. The adjustable hook and loop wrist strap and neoprene cuffs create a snug and warm fit.

The Palmyth Fishing Gloves aren’t recommended for temperatures much below 36 degrees Fahrenheit, and while water-repellent, effective in keeping your hands dry in a light drizzle or flurries, they aren’t waterproof. You’ll likely end up with clammy and numb hands if you get caught in some major precipitation. But, again, in the light-duty department, these gloves are great.

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4. Stormr Typhoon Fleece Gloves – Waterproof Ice Fishing Gloves

If waterproof is what you’re after, the Stormr Typhoon Fleece Gloves are your answer, thanks to their construction of 3MM microfleece-lined neoprene and glued, blind-stitched seams.

Besides this watertight design, these ice-fishing gloves stand up to heavy-duty workloads. That’s especially true of the black-colored versions, the index finger and thumb of which come reinforced with Kevlar, that majorly impact-resistant synthetic material used in (among many other products) combat helmets and bulletproof vests. You’ll certainly appreciate those extra-tough fingertips if you’re wrangling, for example, braided line, or using a baitcaster for cold-weather fishing.

The Stormr Typhoon Fleece Gloves are also notable for their palm: an abrasion-resistant, fish-scale-textured surface with a tacky, thermal-bonded coating for maximum grip.

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5. Fish Monkey Yeti Ice Gloves – Warmest Ice Fishing Gloves

When it comes to the most frigid fishing conditions, reach for the Fish Monkey Yeti Ice Gloves, the warmest and most all-around weatherproof on our list. Their cold-resistance comes from a cutting-edge design incorporating 350g Thinsulate/Advanced Cotton insulation in the backing and 150g of the same combination material in the palm, plus a thermo-conductive fleece lining that holds and redistributes heat.

Waterproof and windproof, the Yeti Ice Gloves offer a snug and weather-tight fit thanks to their extended, gauntlet-style design and both adjustable wrists and cuffs.

Despite being bulked up for subzero temperatures, the Yeti Ice Gloves manage impressive wearability given the pre-curved fingers and the goat-leather palm.

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6. Glacier Glove Ice Bay

Another good choice for winter fishing gloves, Glacier Glove’s Ice Bay has been a fixture of the market for more than two decades and remains the company’s most popular waterproof neoprene glove—favored not only for ice fishing but also cold-weather paddling, hunting, and other outdoor recreation.

Specifically, the insulated, 100% waterproof, blind-stitched and glued design incorporates 2MM fleece-lined Techline neoprene. The seamless palm and the sharkskin texture mean the Ice Bay Glove can withstand plenty of abuse out there in the cold and the wet while also lending you solid and secure grip.

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7. Palmyth Neoprene 2 Finger Ice Gloves

Made from movement-friendly stretch neoprene with a breathable, windproof backing, the Palmyth Neoprene 2 Finger Gloves are another good option for casting in milder winter weather. The thumb and pointer finger caps flip back to expose those fingertips for when you need fine-scale precision, while the tough, grippy palm comes reinforced with artificial leather.

While, again, not appropriate for extreme cold, the Palmyth Neoprene 2 Finger Gloves do keep chilly winds and drizzle out with their snug-fitting elastic cuffs and adjustable hook and loop wrist strap.

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8. Simms Headwaters Half Finger

The Simms Headwaters Half Finger Fishing Gloves strike a good balance between dexterity and warmth for nippy and dank days on the ice. They’re made from stretchy, wind-resistant, and no-pill fleece, and include zoned insulation to keep your hands that much toastier. Want to get toastier yet? These gloves include the unique feature of a wrist pocket designed to accommodate heat packs.

The high-stretch fabric and the exposed fingertips of the Simms Headwaters Half Finger Fishing Glove setup maximizes ease of movement and tactility. As long as you’re not contending with extreme cold, you’ll appreciate having those fingers free-wheeling for dealing with everything from lures and hooks to snarled lines and “touchy” touchscreens.

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9. Striker Ice Stealth Gloves

The Striker Ice Stealth Gloves feature another of those bridging-the-gap type of designs that maximize versatility and functionality. They’re both waterproof and breathable, keeping your hands dry and comfortable during your hours on the ice, while the extended cuff provides added protection against the cold. A water-resistant coating keeps even the outer fabric drier.

These gloves also excel in the movement department with their seamless stretch fabric, and their Tech Touch tips mean you can operate a phone, tablet, or fish-finder touchscreen without having to remove the glove or expose your fingers. The silicone-print palm, meanwhile, translates to a sure and steady grip.

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10. Glacier Glove Alaska River Flip Mitt

This hybrid hand covering, made from windproof fleece and neoprene, weds a fingerless glove with a mitten, allowing you to respond to changing weather and situations. Flip the mitt back when you need to execute nimble tasks with your exposed fingertips, then flip it back over to warm them up. The thumb cover has a slit so you can poke that digit out when you need to.

The 2MM neoprene palm comes sharkskin-textured for extra grip, beneficial whether you’re holding your fishing pole, hoisting up a walleye or perch, or making sure your smartphone doesn’t fall into the snow (or the water).

Ice Fishing Gloves Buyer Guide

Types of Ice Fishing Gloves

Half Finger Gloves – In these gloves, slits in several of the digits—usually thumb and pointer finger, and sometimes the middle finger as well—allow you to expose your fingertips when you need more precision or dexterity, and to keep them warm and covered otherwise. This is a convenient design, for sure, although the finger slits do provide an avenue for water getting inside the glove.

Flip Over Mittens – These are the convertible version of mittens and fingerless gloves. The Glacier Glove Alaska River Flip Mitt we profiled being an example. This style of glove provides the best-of-both-worlds, letting you use your fingers with precision when working with tackle, and keeping them warm when you’re not.

Waterproof Neoprene Gloves – The synthetic rubber called neoprene—widely used in wetsuits, fishing waders, and boots—lends waterproofing (and often insulation) to ice-fishing gloves. Full-finger neoprene fishing gloves provide robust protection against the elements and thus are a good choice for more extreme ice-fishing conditions, or at least wearing for more exposed, demanding activities such as drilling holes in the ice or hauling gear in the ice sled.

Benefits of Ice Fishing Gloves

Ice-fishing gloves obviously provide critical protection for your hands, but that also translates to more effective angling. Here are some of the basic benefits of these key components of your ice-fishing outerwear, many of which are interrelated:

Important Features

Which Fishing Gloves Work Best with a Touchscreen?

Touchscreens are an increasingly ubiquitous part of our world, and not only with those smartphones and tablets you may have with you on the ice: More and more fish finders are also incorporating them. To operate these gadgets without going through the hassle and discomfort of removing a glove each time, consider half-finger gloves or fold-over mitts—or ice-fishing gloves with fancy touchscreen-compatible tips, such as the “Tech Touch”-enhanced Striker Ice Stealth Glove we reviewed above.

How to Best Keep Hands Warm Ice Fishing?

We’ve already mentioned that bringing more than one pair of ice-fishing gloves is a basic operating principle for more than a few experienced winter anglers: Over time, your gloves are sure to get wet, and it’s a relief to have a nice dry pair to slip on. You can also boost the warmth of your hands with hand warmers and heat packs, not to mention portable heaters.

Conclusion

We hope the above guide has been useful in wrapping your head around the ins and outs of ice-fishing gloves, from their major benefits to common styles and designs. Keep in mind that personal preference and the specific realities of your favorite ice-fishing grounds significantly influence what kind of glove you go with and that some trial-and-error—as with any piece of outdoor clothing or gear—is involved.

Let’s close things out by reiterating our best-of-the-best picks from our top 10 recommended gloves:

Last updated 2024-04-25 at 16:57 / Affiliate Links & Images from Amazon Product Advertising API