Living in south florida for over twenty five years I forgot what cold was like. Spent one day on Fork a few years ago with below freezing temps in the morning and experienced the rod tips freezing up for an hour until the sun warmed things up. Had never experienced what it was like yesterday with so much equipment failure. Camera battery that showed full charge at start of day went dead or would only come on for a second and then shut off, phone battery did the same thing. Rod and reels were taking a beating, especially with the braid. Knot in braid either came undone or broke off on one cast when everything was iced up from rod tip to drops of water that froze on spool. The worst was the reel handle knobs that wouldn't turn freely.
The one thing I got right was staying warm. I never came close to getting cold as I had chemical hand warmers for feet, knees, inside gloves, and dressed to swim kept all the heat contained. Stopped off and got some of the new toe warmers which have sticky back to stay where you want them. Used those on my knees as that is where I normally am most vulnerable the way I sit in kayak. I'll be out there again for cold weather but not below freezing all day.
Get you some of these! I'd never used them before, having used the little beany bags ones made by the same company. I don't believe they get as warm as the others but allow you to put them with minimal material between them and your skin and they stay in place.