BASS FISHING FINALLY HEATING UP
Despite last night's the freeze warning, it only got down to 33 at my house last night. This spring's cold, wet weather has certainly been different from last year's. I checked some of my fishing logs and was shocked to recall that the water temps were in the mid 70s at Cranberry Lake by this time last year. I fished yesterday and the water was still only 57 degrees. Nonetheless, the BASS are biting. I caught a bunch on a spinnerbait in the shallows — including this nice 5-pounder.
While I caught a few fish offshore, most fish were tight to the bank — along with millions of baby blugills. It sure is great to see that. This fish, which I'm guessing is a a big male, was tight to a laydown in less than a foot of water.
Despite the cold temps, some BASS are making beds. I'm guessing most of the BASS will spawn around the full moon here in a couple weeks.
The BASS fishing at Cranberry Lake will be very good now through at least mid-July, as the fish will remain in the frag and shoreline cover after the spawn eating tadpoles, frogs and all those bluegills.
Water is still very high on the Saint Joseph River. This is one of my favorite times of the year to fish the Joe for smallmouth, but it will be another couple of weeks before water levels come down enough to make fishing manageable.
I'm going to begin offering MUSKIE fly fishing trips on Webster, Tippy and the Barbee Chain in NC Indiana upon request of my clients. I grew up in Kosciusko County and know these waters well. I've fly fished for these fish enough myself to be comfortable in knowing what works and what doesn't. These are heavilly pressured waters with incredible MUSKIE densities (as high as 7 adult fish per acre). An alternative presentation like fly fishing works well for this reason. May is a great month to go if anyone is interested. Just give me a call at 219-728-8996.
Remember, the best time to go fishing is anytime you can go!
