Fishing season is back

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I realize many people reading this think fishing season never ends, but I haven’t fished the hard water since I was a kid.

I don’t know why.

The cold doesn’t bother me a lot. Being outside is still fun even in the winter, and fish taste even better when caught in cold water.

I guess the only reason fishing ends for me in late fall is because Susie can’t stand low temperatures. So, early spring is the official start of fishing season as far as we are concerned.

This year, early March found us heading south to Reelfoot Lake in western Tennessee. While it was still cold here in Indiana when we booked our visit while at the Indy Boat, Sport, and Travel Show, I figured going three weeks later to Tennessee, halfway to Florida, the weather would be much better. Wrong!

We had always wanted to go to Blue Bank Resort on Reelfoot in February or March. These months see anglers boating many crappie in the 12- to 15-inch range.

Usually, we waited until early summer to try these waters.

The temperature was higher, but crappie, while plentiful, were smaller. Fortunately, the bluegill were huge during that time period. Bass and catfish also cooperated during the summer months.

But when we arrived in early March, the temperatures were ranging from the mid 20s in the morning to the low to mid 40s in the afternoon.

Having watched the Weather Channel before leaving home, we knew to bring a lot of warm clothes and good rain gear. Our choice of clothing did not help slow down the 15 mph wind ripping across the lake.

When we arrived at the resort and checked into our room, we looked out our window and watched the waves crash onto the shoreline and across the docks.

The next morning, the wind still wasn’t cooperating, the boats were tied up and everyone was indoors looking out.

Fortunately, there are a lot of neat attractions in the area, so we spent the day visiting several of those, shopping and watching the hundreds of cormorants, flocks of ducks, dozens of white pelicans and even two eagles flying around the area.

The following day the sun was starting to show, the temperature was in the high 20s and the wind was easing a little.

Some fishermen were braving the waves to head to the far side of the lake and shelter from the rough water.

We decided to wait.

After lunch, Billy, our guide, put his boat in a spot where we just had a short ride to sheltered water. The temperature was in the low 40s.

Four hours later, we had boated some of the fine crappie for which we had planned. Almost all were over 12 inches. I also caught a yellow bass, which was just under a foot long. That is a very large yellow bass.

The dock hands filleted our fish and brought them to our room all packaged for our trip home.

Our next major fishing outing will also be in Tennessee, but down in the southeast corner on Norris Lake. We don’t have a date set yet but will be going out with Jay’s Striper Guide Service. We have caught a couple small stripers before while fishing for other species but have never targeted this fish especially.

A Canada trip is definitely on for this summer sometime. We will be visiting my brother in northwest Ontario and spending three days of guided fishing on a lake about 200 miles north of Minnesota. That also means three days with shore lunch. There’s nothing better than walleye and fried potatoes frying over an open fire.

I have an outdoors writers conference this fall in North Dakota. If we go to that, I will probably set up a couple days on Devil’s Lake near Bismark. That lake also is known for great walleye. Another conference in South Carolina would give us an opportunity for some type of fishing there.

Every year or two, we head to New York for an outing. We missed last year, so I need to start checking my calendar. The lower Niagara River is an outstanding spot for salmon, sturgeon, smallmouth bass, walleye and other species.

Just a short way farther down the river is Lake Ontario. Last time we fished there, our daughter caught a 30-pound salmon, and our 8-year-old grandson landed three salmon, all more than 12 pounds.

Chautauqua Lake in western New York and also the eastern end of Lake Erie are great spots.

Of course, between these trips, we will also find some closer spots for just a day or weekend.

Lake Michigan used to be a favorite of ours, and we haven’t been there for several years. With the help of the computer, anyone can find some type of fishing in almost any area they want to visit.

The author may be reached at [email protected].