Is this Spring ordinary or extraordinary?

[Swamp Girl]

I've only seen two Springs at Bass Resource. By "seen," I mean the Latest Catch thread, and I am so impressed by what's been caught this year. So many five, six, seven, eight, and above-pounders, more than I remember in the Spring of 2023. Does anyone else have the same sense or is my memory failing me...again?

[Pat Brown]

Honestly, last spring was kind of bypassed in North Carolina.  We had winter and then it was summer.  It kind of felt like the bass were all scrambling to spawn at once and it was chaotic and short.

 

This year the spring has been happening very gradually and there have been a lot of winter days mixed in with the occasional summery day and a lot of in between.

 

I think this more transitional weather tends to generate more big fish on the whole per year.

 

Years where we have long, cold Winters and long hot summers without much of a spring or a fall, tend to be the toughest ones to catch big fish probably.

 

If you think about it even on a daily basis, when we go out on the water we are looking for some kind of unique change in the weather. Perhaps a pressure change or some clouds rolling in or the breeze picking up or some drizzle starting to kick up the bite and make the big ones easier to catch. A transitional season is nothing more than a prolonged state of perpetual this kinda stuff.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

If you think about it even on a daily basis, when we go out on the water we are looking for some kind of unique change in the weather. Perhaps a pressure change or some clouds rolling in or the breeze picking up or some drizzle starting to kick up the bite and make the big ones easier to catch. A transitional season is nothing more than a prolonged state of perpetual this kinda stuff.

 

Pat, you are a contemplative, insightful angler. And you catch the bass to substantiate your thinking...or is it your thinking that lets you catch your big bass? It's a chicken/egg situation. Which comes first?

 

As Winnie the Pooh would say, "Oh, bother, I'm muddled."

 

Either way, I'd love to sit in a boat while you, Alex, Tom, Andy, PhishLI, and others fish. I'd love to hear you bassheads talk about getting into the heads of bass.

[Pat Brown]

I'm out of likes for the day but thank you.  I am always trying to get into the heads of everybody on here because there's so many smart people offering so many perspectives I haven't thought of on things that we tend to underthink and overthink both.  

 

I tend to feel like I'm the kind of person who overthinks what the bass are thinking and underthinks what's happening right now.  When I can get my mind off the big beautiful bass that I'm trying to catch and look around me and take a good look at it and take it in as if I'm fishing from the bank and limited to that quarter mile stretch or whatever it is I'm looking at, it really helps me.  If I can pay attention to where it gets deep and where it gets shallow and where it gets clear and where it gets dirty and where it gets calm and where it gets ripply and where the vegetation opens up or gets thick.  If can SEE a bass with my eyes..... When I keep my eyes on what's happening around me in the moment and interpret it with my whole collected knowledge, that's when I make my winning decisions.  The fish are always there.  We just gotta find em.

 

 

Yesterday at the end of the day, cuz the lakes are open until 8:00 p.m. now, we decided to head out for a brief evening fishing trip on the smaller lake we fish.

 

I took the boat all the way up the lake which only takes about 20 minutes because I think it's a 60 acre lake total, and as the sun was setting we were starting to fish the lily pads that kind of emerge everywhere in the river system that feeds the lake on the other side of an overpass bridge at the back end.  The sun was setting and the water was clearer than I expected it to be.  The sun was beaming down into a very protected pocket adjacent to the bridge and a big overhanging tree stretched its limbs out over that protected corner where the rip wrap from the sides of the bridge transitioned back to soil.

 

It was right there that I saw maybe 15 or 20 Bass ranging from 4 to probably 10 lb suspending in 0-2 FOW.

 

It was as though the minute my eyes trained on them. They became aware of me being aware of them and they all started to move around and disperse and act different.  We were probably 100 ft from them.  I worked a frog over the school. I worked at buzz bait over the school.  I threw wacky rigs at them.  Tried underspins and spinner baits.  I did everything I knew how to do.  These fish were smart.  Sometimes you find the fish but they find you first.  😎😉😂

 

[A-Jay]

Been here since the latest catch thread picture thread inception by @Master Bait'r10 years ago.

Seems its replaced the Reports thread.

 Recently folks are dropping entire trip info posts rather than just pic's.   

Get a clue and stay off my lawn.

A-Jay

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

54 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Sometimes you find the fish but they find you first. 

 

I so agree with this. I accept that I know less than a lot of you guys, but the one thing I do well is stealth. Yesterday, as I was paddling, even though I had winter's rust on me, I was still silent and proud of myself.

 

When I caught smallies in Canada, my long casts, enabled by 6 lb. test and big lures for smallmouth, like my F13 Rapalas, furthered my stealth. As I wrote in another thread, I caught 90% of my smallies in my first three twitches, a long ways from the canoe. Heck, Pat, you were 100' away from those big bass and they knew you were there!

 

I've shared the story of bumping bass with the bow of my canoe a few times each year. When they don't hear you coming until you bump them, you know you're quiet. And boy, oh, boy, do they book out of there when bumped. 

 

Pat, you're not just good at thinking about bass. You're also good at writing about them. You should write for Bass Resource. 

 

10 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Been here since the latest catch thread picture thread inception by @Master Bait'r10 years ago.

Semms its replaced the Reports thread.

 Recently folks are dropping entire trip info posts rather than just pic's.   

Get a clue and see stay off my lawn.

A-Jay

 

 

 

I use both. If it's a special trip for whatever reason, I'll do a stand-alone trip report. Considering I'm fishing three times a week when it's warm, if I did a stand-alone report for every trip, I'd clutter the trip report forum with my reports. 

[casts_by_fly]

I bet there is a very regional component to each year.  It was an odd year for us here in NJ because we had a really warm spell really early.  We often get one warm spell in Feb and one cold snap in March/April, but the intensity of them this year was more than normal.  I managed to get the boat in the water a couple times in Feb when its normally ice.  Then March has been so cold and wild that even if you could fish any day you wanted you'd have had a hard time out.  We're still in the very early 'bonus' season as I descibed on your other thread so take it for what it is.  When this current storm passes and we have a week of sunny and 65 as forecast I expect catches to shoot up in this area.  The water is about 47-48 depending where you are but that sustained warmth will heat things up. Looking back at pictures from the past two seasons, most of my pictures really start the middle of April and that's my target to be on the water as much as possible.

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Looking back at pictures from the past two seasons, most of my pictures really start the middle of April and that's my target to be on the water as much as possible.

 

I'm excited for you! Mid-April in 2023 was slow for me. I do boat a few 4 to 5.5 pounders, but didn't start catching 30-plus in a session until May.

 

I knew I was starting to fish too early this year by beginning in March. Even now, our water is only 40 degrees. However, the parade of big bass was/is driving me crazy!

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I'm excited for you! Mid-April in 2023 was slow for me. I do boat a few 4 to 5.5 pounders, but didn't start catching 30-plus in a session until May.

 

I knew I was starting to fish too early this year by beginning in March. Even now, our water is only 40 degrees. However, the parade of big bass was/is driving me crazy!

 

Thanks!  Last year we had a big vacation planned for the end of May (just over two weeks) so I missed some prime time.  We are away Sat-Wed coming, but then not going anywhere until August so at least we're home for all of prime time spring.  Granted, we're getting a puppy in < 2 weeks so my time may be iffy at times for that...

 

40 degrees is tough.  high 40's is a different story though and that's where I normally start fishing especially if its a steady warming trend.  If the weather takes the water from 45 to 50 a degree a day the fish are going to keep moving to follow the warm.  It might take them a day to start moving through so the ups and downs kinda hold them tight.  When it hits 50 and stays that way for a week you know its time.

[Swamp Girl]

22 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

When it hits 50 and stays that way for a week you know its time.

 

Our first week of 50-degree days, if the weather forecast holds, will begin on April 8th. Fingers crossed.

 

25 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Last year we had a big vacation planned for the end of May (just over two weeks) so I missed some prime time. 

 

I have three vacations planned too. I wish I didn't. I hate to miss out on prime fishing too.

 

25 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

high 40's is a different story though and that's where I normally start fishing especially if its a steady warming trend. 

 

Good to know. 

[FishTank]

Once the water reached 50 at the surface,  the fish seemed to shut off and disappear.  Plus, one of my favorite lakes still looks like this..

 

[MIbassyaker]

I don't know if this Spring is extraordinary; it may be, but there are big fish reported every year.  But it seems to me that if anything has changed it is that currently we have a number of active people at the right latitudes, who seem to be really fishing a lot. It seems like @Pat Brown, @AlabamaSpothunter and @Woody B are out there nearly every other day!

 

As per @A-Jay's comment, I'll point out that the "Latest Catch Pics" thread is 10 years old and a little over 700 pages of posts....but half of those have come since July 2022.  I went back and found my own first appearance there on page 7, back in 2015.  Back then, the thread was getting an average of a post or two per day over the summer, but much less in spring and fall, and winter, when it would go dormant for awhile.  On page 5 there is a 4-month gap with nobody posting anything between November and April!   It is a different time, with a different population of regulars.

[casts_by_fly]

20 minutes ago, ol&#x27;crickety said:

I have three vacations planned too. I wish I didn't. I hate to miss out on prime fishing too.

 

 

Our anniversary is May 27th and that usually kills me every year for some chunk of time...

[TnRiver46]

You don’t have to worry about me posting any 6+ this year! 😂 I don’t think I’ll be anywhere near one , maybe next year. Won’t be able to make my annual Alabama trip. 
 

When I first joined, I posted all my trips as a stand alone report. Never got any replies and usually a small amount of likes. Then I started putting things in latest catch pics thread and people instantly saw it. People put their pics on the internet to share with others as opposed to being ignored 

[gim]

There's always the local/regional threads too.  I actually prefer to put my trip reports in that one and then just post a photo of a nice fish in the photo thread.  A more detailed trip report on conditions, water temps, and patterns are more relevant on a local thread IMO.

 

I'm only looking for haircut violations anyways lol

 

To the OP @ol'crickety, its not really quite spring here yet.  Still kind of wintry out there.  Moving towards spring though.

 

[GreenPig]

All Springs are great, it's my physical and mental(mostly) abilities that make them ordinary or extraordinary.

We had a nonexistent shad spawn in 2023 and it hurt my feelings something fierce. 

[Swamp Girl]

34 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

We had a nonexistent shad spawn in 2023 and it hurt my feelings something fierce. 

 

If ^this^ ever happens again, get an old boombox and an old Barry White CD and play it down by the water. That'll get those shad riled up for sure. 

 

#oldschoolsolutionsnevergrowold

 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

People put their pics on the internet to share with others as opposed to being ignored 

 

Heck, yeah!

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

When I first joined, I posted all my trips as a stand alone report. Never got any replies and usually a small amount of likes.

 

You should do what some YouTubers do and give your trip reports titles like: "Fishing for 13-pound bass!!!"

[Bankbeater]

Around here some springs are memorable for the fishing, and some springs are memorable for the weather.  The one constant seems to be that a nasty front will come through the day before a trip.

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, ol&#x27;crickety said:

 

You should do what some YouTubers do and give your trip reports titles like: "Fishing for 13-pound bass!!!"

ALL CAPS! MASSIVE! COPS CALLED! 

[you]

Spring here has been weird. We didn't really have a 'winter' (even by Florida standards), and I haven't been successful with the same shallow-water patterns as past springs. Still catching fish, but not as many and not as large on average. Shad activity has been odd, too. Kinda frustrating but there's always something to learn.

 

Pickerel fishing has been fabulous, though. Same for inshore gulf species.

[MediumMouthBass]

It seems like the guys down south are doing good but those of us up north seem to be experiencing an odd spring so far. Here in my part of PA our winter was something i would barely even call a winter and our weather now is going from wearing a t shirt one week to almost getting frostbite on the ears the next. The bass are unwilling to cooperate (must still be lethargic and in the deeper water), but the panfish and trout seem to be roaming the bank in huge numbers, going to fish trout for a few weeks until the bass get the message that spring is here and its time to eatttttttt. But whats even more weird is that usually we dont have panfish come out until may, so id say its extraordinary spring so far since the species behavior have switched.

[Zcoker]

There are some spring days down here in the south Florida everglades that are only what dreams are made up, literally. All year has great fishing but there are days when a giant is practically around every corner. Every hit is a biggun in the net, sometimes one right after another, getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I haven't seen much of a fluctuation as far as the catches go, that is, one year being better than the other. Much of the action can depend on our local water management districts. On the whole, though, springtime has been pretty consistent here in S. Florida. 

[DrAloha]

I feel this in TN— and extraordinary spring in that it’s so ordinary.  The plants are all flowering at once (I’ve always been one to judge the bass spawn based off of trees flowering).  The temperature and precipitation have been average.  It’s been beautiful (except for my allergies). 

 

Last year, we had some weird cold snaps that really seemed to throw the bass off— I could never really nail down the spawn. There was a mini-wave in mid March, and I didn’t catch the next mini-wave until mid-May.  It was very strange. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Zcoker said:

Every hit is a biggun in the net, sometimes one right after another, getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

 

You should film such times and share the footage. Not still photos, but video that let's us see you consecutively catching big bass after big bass, each one bigger than the last. I'd love to see that.