Fishing Report- Bad Fishing Today, but it's about to change

Some pictures from
Daniel Webster since I have no pictures
of fish today!

I went trout fishing this morning. Because of the cold nights, I went after the weather warmed up a bit. I left the house about 8 am. I tried three different lakes from Seekonk, MA to Plymouth. I can't believe it, but I never even got a hit. Even more surprisingly, I never saw a trout rise to the surface. Normally I have theories on why I'm catching a lot of fish and why I'm not. Maybe my theories are wrong, but to become a better fisherman, it makes sense to try to think like a fish.  

 Today, I can not tell you why I wasn't catching. All three ponds I fished were stocked this week. I blamed my first two strikeouts on the cold night. By the time I got to Plymouth it was 11 am. That should have been plenty of time for the water to warm up a few degrees. Of course it is possible I never put my lure in front of any trout. Maybe the fish were on the other side of the pond. This is possible, but since I never saw a fish rise, just as easily, they might have been in front of me but not active.

At 12:30 I gave up. Instead of fishing I went for a walk at Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. I walked every trail. I saw a few good birds including at least two kestrels, maybe more. I also saw some bluebirds, phoebe, and a hairy woodpecker. All in all it was a nice afternoon. I stayed at DW for a couple hours. By the time I got back to my car it was well past three. I considered going fishing again. Then I realized it was a Friday and the weather was nice, people would certainly be at the trout ponds. So I went home and went for a run instead.

Even though fishing today was unexplainably bad, there is no reason to worry. We are coming upon the best time of the entire year. No matter how cold a winter or how late the spring the time period between April 20- May 25 is a great time to be outside. In the next few days we are going to have a warm up with temps between 60-70 degrees. Once this happens, there will be no turning back on spring.

I went striper fishing earlier in the week and I caught five very small schoolies. Since the weather has been consistent, I'm sure that more schoolies are slowly making there way north. However, by this time next week stripers will be all over southern New England from Connecticut to southern MA beaches. This will in large part be due to a warm southwest wind.  By the end of April there is no doubt that some small keepers will be in the mix.

As for the trout, that fishing will also get better. The warmer temperatures will get them active. It is true that trout are a cold water fish. They do like water temps to be in the 50-60 range. Water temps in the lower forties will make them lethargic. More importantly, the warming water will get the bug life going. Once bugs are on the surface, fly fishing will improve dramatically.

Carp, of course will be in pre-spawn mode. This little warm spell should absolutely put them on the feed. For the millions of people that fish for largemouth bass the same is true. Fish will be moving into pre-spawn patterns this week and out of early spring ice out patterns.

This really is the best time of year. Everything that swims (and flies, if you're a birder) is active. I can assure you that I do not take this blessing lightly. I am out every single day during this period. My friend Laurie comes over Thursdays. I can't go to the ocean, however, I'll still try to sneak in a couple hours of fly fishing before she gets out of work.