Winter 2023-2024

[J Francho]

70 right now, might snow later this week. 

[MN Fisher]

6 hours ago, gimruis said:

Make sure you start updating your outings in the 2024 Season Thread.  Its going to be a longer thread this year with much earlier open water!

MUCH earlier - decided to take a little road trip and here's what I found

Phelps Bay - my #1 launch point

 

North Arm - my #2 launch point

 

Smaller lakes are open - Black, Emerald and Seton - and the line of 'harvesters' along the SE shore of Black is already in place with all the parking slots along Interlachen taken.

Cooks Bay is 80% open - whats left is chunks of honeycomb ice - I even saw a boat making it's way through the ice cover

Spring Park Bay is 70% covered - but I could see it move with wave action so it's all slush.

 

I think it's gonna be a week....maybe two...when the Water Patrol declares Tonka as ice-free.

[gim]

Nice update with almost real time photos @MN Fisher.  Its supposed to be 65 degrees again next Monday and Tuesday so that may be the end of it.

[casts_by_fly]

In another sign of a waning winter, I heard the first frogs/toads last night and saw the first earthworms crawling tonight. That means the soil temps are up enough for both to be out and about.

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

saw the first earthworms crawling tonight

Tells me I need to get my worm farm set up...

[Deephaven]

Can't get to my boat until probably April 15-30th.  House is torn up and of course this is the year the ice breaks early.  Ugh!

[MN Fisher]

Just now, Deephaven said:

Can't get to my boat until probably April 15-30th.

If I could fit you in Bass Trek, Sean, I'd take you out with me....

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

Tells me I need to get my worm farm set up...

I don’t even need one, I can dig in my yard for 10 minutes and get several dozen . Thats why everyone has 16-20 skunks that live in their yard around here 😂 

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t even need one, I can dig in my yard for 10 minutes and get several dozen .

I could do that - if the city didn't require us to have a 'neat and clean yard'...I'll harvest them from the garden plots before I plant/transplant anything this spring.

[TnRiver46]

I get them from inside the dog fence at the downhill end where the dirt is contantly burying the bottom of my fence, I have to scoop it frequently and throw it over or my 6 foot privacy fence would already be completely underground. Also the raised beds are loaded with worms. I’m in the city too but they can kick rocks if they wanna tell me not get worms and go fishin. If you’ve got any mulch flowerbeds they are also a great spot, put the dirt back where you found it and nobody will ever know. Another good option is flipping over big rocks or gutter drains 

[casts_by_fly]

8 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

In another sign of a waning winter, I heard the first frogs/toads last night and saw the first earthworms crawling tonight. That means the soil temps are up enough for both to be out and about.

 

In completely "unreleated" news we were sitting on the couch sunday night with the doors all open (it was 65 dergees) and I heard bird ruccous.  There are about 1000 robins that have started roosting in the back woods and eating in the lawns.  Surely they didn't anticipate the worms coming up...

 

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I get them from inside the dog fence at the downhill end where the dirt is contantly burying the bottom of my fence, I have to scoop it frequently and throw it over or my 6 foot privacy fence would already be completely underground. Also the raised beds are loaded with worms. I’m in the city too but they can kick rocks if they wanna tell me not get worms and go fishin. If you’ve got any mulch flowerbeds they are also a great spot, put the dirt back where you found it and nobody will ever know. Another good option is flipping over big rocks or gutter drains 

 

 

I just go out on a rainy night and pick them with a flashlight.  I don't tend to get good variety in the yard, its either full sized nightcrawlers or tiny redworms most of the time, but I can get enough for a good couple hours of trout fishing if I want or more than plenty if I'm taking a kid for bluegill.

[TnRiver46]

@casts_by_fly, that’s exactly what I was doing Monday was taking a kid for bluegill. 10-12 shovel scoops and I found  a ton of them, still have plenty of leftovers in a big Folgers tub. My buddy that has an 8 yr old daughter said they will live nearly two months if you keep the dirt wet and out of the sun 

[gim]

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

I just go out on a rainy night and pick them with a flashlight. 

That's what I used to do as a kid too.  It was easy pickings on the driveway after a rain.

 

Haven't done it in years now because I don't use them but whenever I see some after it rains it reminds me of when I used to do it.

[casts_by_fly]

17 minutes ago, gimruis said:

That's what I used to do as a kid too.  It was easy pickings on the driveway after a rain.

 

Haven't done it in years now because I don't use them but whenever I see some after it rains it reminds me of when I used to do it.

 

Same.  Grandma had a baitshop in the basement from before I was born until nearly when she died.  Every year about this time of year my dad would stock her up on worms as much as he could.  There was one particular soccer field that was absolutely the best place around.  Some weekends he'd pull all nighters on friday or saturday and fill up a pair of wooden boxes he had made just for the purpose (they were 18"x18"x24").  I'd join some times, though not often on the all nighters since I was so young.  Most weren't easy pickings though.  On nights where it was warm and pouring they would be out crawling on the surface.  Those were my best nights and when you could get the biggest nightcrawlers by just walking around.  Most of the time though, it was down on one knee (your dragging knee, usually the same side as your picking hand and the right side for me), flashlight in the left hand up by your ear and partially covered by a finger or two, left elbow on the 'up' knee for support, and right hand almost always on the ground or very close.  You'd slide your knee across the damp ground until you could just reach a worm coming out of its hole.  Pin it with your thumb (gently!), wrap your fingers around and under it, and straight pull out of the hole.  Much easier said than done.  You'll break a bunch before you get the hang of it.  With the big ones they will contract immediately when you grab them.  Don't pull!  That breaks them for sure.  Let them finish contracting and relax and they will slide right out.

 

Nowadays I only use them when I'm taking kids or going for trout.  About this time of year I'll make up a batch of worm bedding and put it in a tupperware in the fridge to even out moisture.  Then on nights like last night when there are worms just out and on the ground I'll grab the easy ones and throw them in the bedding.  I'll carry 3-5 dozen this time of year until the summer or when I'm done with kids fishing.  That said, there's a pond nearby that they stock catfish in.  I bet on a nice day it wouldn't be so awful to sit in a lawnchair with two rods cast out and crawlers on the bottom. 

[MN Fisher]

Winter is definitely coming to a close - the DNR has reported the following lakes in my area as open

East Auburn, Long, Steiger, Stone, Virginia and Whaletail,

[TOXIC]

It’s gonna be hard leaving here tomorrow morning and driving 13 hours through predicted rainstorms on my way back to Virginia.  

[casts_by_fly]

36 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

It’s gonna be hard leaving here tomorrow morning and driving 13 hours through predicted rainstorms on my way back to Virginia.  

 

OBX?

[TnRiver46]

17 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

OBX?

Im guessing FLA, even I can get to OBX in less than 13 

[casts_by_fly]

21 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Im guessing FLA, even I can get to OBX in less than 13 

 

 

Ah, yeah I read over that bit.  Gotta be somewhere Daytona-ish.

[TOXIC]

Cresent beach, St Augustine Florida.  Brother in law and sister in law have a beach house.  It was forecasted to be 85 there today. Got home and it’s 45. 😒. Rained from the Georgia border all the way home.  Still raining.

[Bird]

We're getting the most rain we've had in years here I western VA but we've had mild temperatures as well for early March.

[throttleplate]

North dakota, south dakota need rain or snow, there is no snow melt left, not that there was any to begin with but the lakes arnt rising which feed the rivers and dams i fish.

This is going to be a bad year for river fishing for us if the rain dont show up.

The rivers and dams i fish are not big to begin with and i need depth, all the rivers i fish i can cast to the other shoreline during a normal moisture year.

[gim]

8 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

North dakota, south dakota need rain or snow, there is no snow melt left

Very little snow here this winter too.  El Niño funnels low pressure to the south and mild air from the Pacific sits over the northern part of the country.

 

I agree though, we need a wet spring and not another annual summer drought.  Otherwise lakes and rivers will already be low by May.

[Glenn]

Be careful what you ask for.  We had a low snow pack that worried the drought alarmists.  Then we got SLAMMED with FEET of snow within a few days....and it CONTINUED for weeks!  Still happening.

 

We're now in flood watch alerts, avalanches, closed highways, blizzard whiteouts, washouts, etc.  

 

Went from too little to WAY overkill in a matter of days.  Had a major storm blow through today, leaving flooding, downed trees, power outages, and deaths. Got another storm hitting us again tomorrow.

[TnRiver46]

@throttleplate, maybe the drought will make the fish easier to pick off ? Less hidey holes ?