It has really been a weird couple of years, weather-wise. We've had El Nino,
La Nina, hurricanes, and tornadoes, heat when it's supposed to be cold, cold
when it's supposed to be warm, rain when it's supposed to be dry, near
droughts in the east, and torrential down pours in the west... I'm just darn
glad that I'm not a meteorologist! Considering how important weather is to
anglers, and the effect it has on the fish, I'm surprised anyone has caught
any fish at all this year.
We had one of the mildest winters on record last year. The river here at the
house was only frozen over for three short weeks. In some respects it was
great. I fished nearly the entire winter in open water. Unfortunately, the
flip side, is that it's the cold weather and ice that kills off the algae and
vegetation that clogs the stream. Which meant that this spring and summer,
the fishing should have been a little more difficult because of the weeds.
Instead, we had heavy rains and floods for 2 months this spring which ripped
the vegetation out. My entire front yard was under water for nearly 2 months!
Then we had the exact opposite, almost 2 months of no rain at all. They had
opened the flood gates at the dam down stream during high water for so long
that they were jammed and had to be forced back into place. By the time they
had done that the river was so low that most boat traffic couldn't navigate
this far upstream. (This was a plus, at least in my mind!)
A month ago it started getting cold...the first thing that was actually
"normal". It frosted a couple of days, hit the low 20's, the fish went
through their usual fall feeding frenzy, and all was right with the world...at
least here. The southwest was having some of the worst flooding in history.
Some of the most devastating hurricanes in history hit the Caribbean and
Central America. Now, after the fall feeding frenzy the fish headed for their
winter spots and suddenly, fall was over. Not followed by winter, but
followed by weather that is almost like summer. 60 to 70 degrees for the last
2 weeks, warm gentle summer rains. Suddenly, the fish are back in their
summer haunts...they must think they're a year older already. And what do we
have in other places? Monsoons in the great Northwest, and near droughts
again out east.
I guess no one knows, including the fish, what's next. One day I'm fishing
for crappies and bass, the next I'm back to walleyes. The pike are just
swimming in circles and the blue gills just sit under their logs, totally
confused. I'm not sure even what flies to use anymore, we have hatches that
are totally out of season, even gnats and mosquitoes are out in force (it's
December for Gods sake!) I guess it comes down to fish if you can, when you
can, where you can, and if you can. The weather will be weather, whether you
want it or not. Some say it's because we've messed with Mother
Nature...others say it's just an unusual, but natural phenomenon that happens
once in a while. I guess it gets down to one thing: At least it's nice we're
having weather, the alternative wouldn't be good! ~ Randy Fratzke
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