Spring rewarding time to fish
Spring can be one of the more rewarding times to fish.
Warming water and longer daylight combine to move many fish species shallow; a migration commonly driven by the need to feed and reproduce. But weather patterns play a big role, particularly during periods of extremes such as we’ve experienced lately.
Take for instance two crappie fishing trips I made to a local reservoir. The first was made during the last of a three-day string of 80-degree temperatures. The second was made a few days later, following a massive cold front that provided cold rain, some snowflakes, and lows in the upper 20s.
Trip one: The water temperature was in the mid-50s and rising quickly under sunny skies. I decided to spend some time slowly cruising several areas of the lake while monitoring the sonar unit for variances in water temperature and the presence of fish.
After scoping out several areas it appeared the warmest water was in the upper basin of the lake. Not only was the surface temperature the highest, but fish that I suspected were crappies were present from the bottom to withing eight to 10 feet of the surface. While I cruised over several submerged trees in the area, the sonar did not indicate great numbers of crappies relating to the cover.
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