Until the last week or so, Winter didn't seem fully ready to check out. In looking over my records and photos, I can see how far we've come.
I made it a point to be on some ponds early. There was still snow in the woods. I may have even jumped the gun a bit in terms of "ice out". I'm not sure many boats could have navigated in the water I waded. I had to be super aware of wind changes to avoid being mowed down, but I have to say that ice floes made for a handy road holder.
The fish made the cold wading worthwhile. Bob Seeger wasn't singing about this splake, but it was "a little too tall, could have used a few pounds"
Even though it was a racer, it got the Spring rolling.
Pond fishing dominated my month on the water. Plenty of splake at several spots I fished. I found that fishing was best when it was raining or at least cloudy, and the wind was blowing onshore. Calm, bluebird sky days were rarely worthwhile and I would have been better off doing yard work.
At other spots, some decent browns cooperated. I would have been better served by a wet suit than waders at this wind-blown, rocky drop off.
Many of the other browns also hit at spots were I was jammed between deep water and shoreline debris. My pics were taken in difficult spots and their quality wasn't the best. As for lures, the majority of the browns (as well at the splake) were taken on spoons, with the Krocodile in the yellow perch color being especially good. Bobber and jig was largely ignored.
Flowing waters were also slow to emerge from winter and were often borderline blown out. They were wintry looking even at mid-month.
I was still able to come up with a few holdovers before the tank trucks delivered the new recruits
At the end of month, I dabbled into some emerging warm water flyrodding.
I will be frequenting smaller water at higher ground as it gets warmer
