Reliable clothing for every layer when winter fishing
From moving to sitting still
The ice fishing season runs from the hard frosts of midwinter to April's crusted snow. The fish and the ways of jigging vary, but the rhythm is often the same: first you move, then you sit still. A perch angler roams the open lake, drills hole after hole and moves on again, easily walking several kilometres in a day. Someone jigging for burbot or zander may sit on a fishing box over the same hole for hours. You might arrive on the ice straight from a warm car, by snowmobile through the wind chill or pulling a sled through the snow with a sweaty back. At the hole your body produces little heat, and that's when what you wear under your suit decides how long you stay warm on the ice.
We've put together a ready-made kit on this page: one go-to garment for each layer under your ice fishing suit or flotation suit. With these clothes you'll get it right, whether you're fishing for a short while on a nearby lake or spending the whole day out on the open ice.
If you fish in summer too, changing weather and moving around call for different solutions, so we've put together a separate kit for summer anglers: go-to clothing for summer fishing.
One go-to garment for each layer
You don't need to compare dozens of options or guess whether the garments work together. Here is a ready-made set in which each layer is designed to work with the next. The Zero Layer moves sweat away from your skin, the Base Layer evens out warmth, the Mid Layer adds insulation for the coldest weather and the Shell Layer protects you from the weather.
Four layers, one set that works
A day of ice fishing often alternates between drilling and long spells of sitting still, and the layers are built around that. On a sunny April day, Airbase alone under your suit may be enough; in January's freezing cold on the open ice, every one of the four layers does its job. Together, they make up the Svala AIR System™ layering system: four layers, each garment with its own place.
Zero Layer – Next-to-skin performance
When you're ice fishing, you often break a sweat before the first bite. Walking through snow with a sled behind you and drilling holes with a hand auger raise your heart rate, even in hard frost. When you're fishing for perch on the move, the same thing happens dozens of times a day: drill, a moment at the hole, move to the next one.
A wet undershirt cools you as soon as you sit down at the hole. That's why an Airbase mesh shirt and mesh bottoms go next to your skin. Airbase is 100% polypropylene, which doesn't absorb moisture but moves it away from your skin to the next layer.
The loops of Airbase's 120 g/m² 3D mesh knit trap air in a thin layer on your skin: it cools you when you're drilling and insulates when you're sitting still. Airbase is thin and stretchy, so it follows your body without restricting movement. The silver-ion treatment keeps the set fresh, so you can go on several fishing trips in the same garment, simply airing it in between.
Men's Original Airbase 120 mesh set
Women's Original Airbase 120 mesh set
“The trouble starts when your clothes don't breathe. In winter you sweat first and then you freeze. That's something you really have to avoid, especially up here in the north.”
Base Layer – Temperature regulation
Once the auger is put aside and you're sitting still on your fishing box, your body produces little heat, and you need a layer that evens out warmth and keeps it in. Over Airbase goes a merino layer. Merino regulates temperature in both directions, so it doesn't feel stifling when you're pulling the sled and keeps you from getting cold when you sit on the ice for hours. Merino also keeps you warm when it's damp with sweat, which is crucial when your day alternates between drilling and sitting still.
Together, Airbase and Merino Extreme are the winter angler's go-to pair: the mesh layer moves moisture away from your skin and Merino Extreme insulates over it. Merino Extreme's double-layer construction combines the insulation of merino wool with the moisture transport of a technical material, so it keeps you warm but still breathes when you're pulling the sled and sweating.
Men's Merino Extreme 200 base layer set
Women's Merino Extreme 200 base layer set
Mid Layer – Thermal insulation
When the wind bites or you sit for a long time in the frost, a temperature-regulating layer isn't enough on its own. Over Merino Extreme goes an insulating layer that adds extra warmth when your body no longer produces it and it's freezing outside. Wool terry is well suited to this.
Nordic Terry Wool has a smooth outer face and looped yarn on the inside. The loops are the secret of the insulating layer: they hold in warmth while moving moisture away from your skin, so the material keeps you warm but stays breathable. The wool terry goes over Airbase and Merino Extreme, and together these three layers keep you warm even in hard frost. On an ice fishing trip in mild weather you can leave this layer at home; in hard frost you wear it over the other layers.
Men's Nordic Terry Wool 400 zip-neck mid-layer set
Women's Nordic Terry Wool 400 mid-layer jacket
Shell Layer – Weather protection
On the ice, the outermost layer is usually an ice fishing suit or a flotation suit, and many people also fish in a snowmobile suit or an insulated suit. Whichever you choose as your outer layer, Svala's layers fit underneath and take care of insulation. The suit's job is to keep wind, snow and late-winter slush out and the air trapped between the layers in. Protection alone isn't enough, though: the shell also has to breathe, so that sweat doesn't soak the layers from the inside.
Svala's own Shell Layer, the Ventile 200, is a shell for the times when you don't need the suit. The membrane-free jacket is made from tightly woven long-staple cotton: it protects against the wind, repels light rain and breathes. The same shell comes with you everywhere else too.
Men's Ventile 200 jacket
Women's Ventile 200 jacket
You do not need everything at once – start here
The system works best when you adjust your layers to the rhythm of your ice fishing day: fewer when you're walking and more when you're sitting still. You don't need to buy everything at once, and there's no need to replace a good ice fishing suit. If you're starting from scratch, start with the layer next to your skin, as it has the biggest effect on whether you stay dry on the ice. Airbase next to your skin with Merino Extreme over it forms the winter angler's foundation.
If you already have one layer sorted, just get what's missing:
- Already have a merino wool base layer? Complete it with Airbase: wear the mesh layer next to your skin under the merino, so you stay dry when carrying your gear and don't get cold when sitting still.
- Next-to-skin and warming layers sorted? For long days on the ice and hard frost, add a Nordic Terry Wool 400 Mid Layer garment, which keeps you warm especially when you sit still for hours.
- Already have a winter jacket or ice fishing suit? There's no need to replace it. Make sure the other layers fit loosely underneath.
This way, you can build a system that works at your own pace. Although we put these layers together for winter fishing, they won't just sit in your wardrobe: the same layers work for other winter outdoor activities too and change seasons with you.
Do you fish in summer too?
When you fish in summer, changing weather and moving around place different demands on your clothing than winter ice fishing trips. We've put together a separate kit for summer anglers, with every layer chosen for changeable weather and moving around.
Four layers, one effective system
Layer: Zero Layer – next-to-skin performance
