Asher's Shocking Lesson & Early-Spring Fishing

Despite my wife's warnings, Asher whipped off his shoes, socks and shirt and headed straight for the pond, plunging recklessly in, only to learn in a very real way that an unusually warm February day does not translate into warm pond water. He did a pretty fast U-turn and was able to strip some clothes and warm back up quickly enough, but the initial plunge was more than a little bit shocking.

Fishermen often fall into the same type of thinking as Asher used this time of year. We forget that just because a day feels like mid-spring the water may still be pretty frigid. Although daily weather conditions absolutely affect fish behavior, air temps change far faster than water temps, and just because it's warm and sunny doesn't mean the fish will be shallow and aggressive.

Warm temps actually have the most impact on fish behavior after a few warm days, and moderate nights can be just as important as warm afternoons. Pay attention to trends as you try to figure out how the season is progressing, and as you experiment, remember that while it feels like spring to you, the fish might still be in their winter mode.

Small Water Surpise

Nathaniel and I spend a fair amount of time fishing a few little ponds on some friends' property. We spend the most time on the upper pond, both due to convenience and because we catch fish there pretty consistently and know it really well. Our favorite pond, though, is the beaver pond, which is tucked in the woods and a little more remote than the others. The beaver pond is shallow, full of stumps, has grown up banks and is really pretty, and it seems the frogs are always singing around the edges. We sometimes do quite well there, but we had never caught a fish that weighed more than about 2 pounds from it's waters. That is until yesterday, when Nathaniel threw an XCalibur Square Lip crankbait in the right place. See for yourself.