Spring time is the time I’m most concerned with the water temp. If you can find water that is even a couple of degrees warmer than the surrounding water (usually a North West cove), concentrate on that water. The bass and panfish will usually turn on there first. Use the thermometer on your depth finder if fishing from a boat. If wading or tubing, get a fishin’ thermometer from a fly shop and tie a string on it. The second most important time I check the water temp is in the Fall when it starts cooling off. I look for the first places for it to cool down. Got any Spring time tips for me?
Robert
Robert,
Great to see you posting again!
SLO-O-OW & lightly weighted. I like bunny strips, either unweighted or very lightly weighted, as they will almost suspend & need very little “tip” action to create movement. I do not want a rapid descent in the spring.
Mike
Mike,
You got it, old buddy. But, you know, in my opinion, you always did.
Robert
Give old Sol a chance to warm the water for the day too. 
Generally, sleeping in is not detrimental in the early spring…maybe. :roll:
Shallow is usually good too.
…lee s.
I tend to use larger flies, size 6 to 10 at this time. Everything they are seeing is really coming from what was around last fall. Not many new hatches in the ponds as the ice goes off.
I usually use unweighted flies and fish very,k very slowly.
Rick
Just took the water temperature yesterday. After a couple of nice warm days, it had climbed from 48 degrees all the way up to 54 degree. That’s a huge jump for a big, deep lake.
For me, this temperature requires a fast sinking line and a small/medium Clouser usually in a brown/orange or chartreuse/white. Fished very slowly. While 54 degrees would have Northern fish wild with excitement (ice out and all that), our Southern fish haven’t been exposed to deep cold temperatures in the low 30’s and are a little slower to wake up. They’ll need a couple more degrees before they begin to move much and explore (IMHO).
Just returning to fly fishing after a 40 year layoff.
Our rivers and streams here in Idaho are really starting to rise; and going to get worse.
How do you fish these high, roiling, muddy waters now; and with what?
I don’t want to wait util they clear; and I don’t want to go back to bait and lures.
Ken
Typically, the higher up stream you go, the less water you’ll have, however, my best advice for ya is to forget about the rivers and concentrate on stillwater for now. If you don’t have a float tube or pontoon, get one. Or a canoe or anything that can get you out there. One nice thing about your neck of the woods is that typically the fishies will be in shallower water. So you can also do well from shore, if you can manage a back cast.
Trying to fish the rivers, especially with the rapid increase in temps you’ve been having is going to cause a huge amount of runoff resulting in extremely high cfps and water too muddy to fish.
BTW, after a 40 yr. rest, you should be ready to rock! Welcome back!! 8)
Indeed. Welcome back. I was out about eight years when the boys were growing up and I was freelancing. Broke my rod and couldn’t justify the expense when spinning rods with reels were selling for about $20. Hormones screwed me up for awhile when I was in college. Still got out but not as often. Being away, though, adds to the excitement of rediscovery. JGW
Question:
When you are taking the water temperatures in a lake or resevoir, at what depth are you taking the temperature at ?
Also I have been away from flyfishing for a number of years(raising kids, not many local(<4hour drives) options for stream fishing. Mainly fished lakes resevoirs from a boat for a long time.
Any insight regarding the depth for temperature taking would be good.
Thanks