I agree with MajorPain, if you’re not sure get a cheap wet suit to start, and try it out.

To summarize, some of the highlights between the two:
1) Wet come in several thicknesses and provide your insulation from cold – thin for warm water, thick for cold, dry don’t provide any insulation (except from wind)
2) Wet will hold moisture if they get wet, dry keep you dry
3) Wet (full suits) can be a pain to get in and out of – especially if they are wet (they are designed to be tight and form fitting), dry are pretty easy to get on and off
4) Wet (thick suits) can be slightly restrictive, dry give you almost 100% freedom of movement
5) Wet have one level of temperature protect (the thickness of the suit), with dry you provide your thermal protect based on what you wear underneath (usually only one or two layers of moisture wicking thermals are necessary)
6) Wet are pretty durable and easy to fix/patch - you can have a hole and it still "works", Dry are sensitive to rips (although good ones are very durable), if you have a rip you have lost your protection if you go in the water...

I do a lot of kayak fishing by myself in very cold winter water and if I were to go in the drink 10 miles out, I might be in a heap of trouble. So for safety and comfort, I got a dry suit. I’ve gone out on my ski in the winter in the rain in my dry suit and stayed dry and confortable. I didn’t have to worry about driving 40 mph and freezing in the wind, but you need some face protection from the rain drops hitting you at 40 mph, LOL!!!

My dry suit is a special fishing model I don’t see on their website anymore. It has extra layers of fabric in the right places for hook protection as well as a flap over the front zipper area to protect a fish you might lay in your lap. It may sound like I’m promoting dry suits, but I'm not, I'm just trying to think of all the variables. I have done SCUBA also, so I’ve worn both.

You might check out local water sports shops that specialize in kayak type sports, see what the locals use/do. That would probably be your best bet for recommendation for your conditions.

Thanks thats a big help, for me I plan to fish in some pretty aweful winter weather and water temps as well, so I'm going to search for a dry suit, but will probably also add a wet suit to my list of things to buy as well.

I have both because it was cheap! Both work just as well. As long as it repellant water and keep you dry and warm, either will work.

I actually just picked up a wetsuit off ebay this week. Gonna try it out tomorrow. Paid $45 shipped for a full body, full length ripcurl. Ill let you know if it helped or not

Jason

I use a jacket called a touring jacket / coat. It is essentially a wetsuit jacket, but much larger and more comfortable, and goes over the top of your life jacket allowing you to take it off if you get wet. I have just got this recently, and it is the most valuable piece of clothing I have for Jetski Fishing. If you check out some of my earlier episodes (a couple of weeks ago before it started warming up) you will see I am wearing it. The link below is to episode 10, and shows the jacket pretty clearly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgkayHCrdBQ&list=UUvQIcipCi8cRR3Thd1dzy5A&feature=plcp