Most sportsmen and women consider the month of March the true dog days of outdoor recreation. The dead of winter settled across the northern half of the United States months ago, and now with April upon us the predator hunting and ice fishing seasons are winding down. Frankly, this time of year I try to get motivated for what’s ahead of me here in the north country.
Yet by the time you read these words, the amount of daylight across the north already has increased by an hour-plus since Dec. 21. The coldest average week of the year (third week in January) has long passed, and the rate of daylight minutes added per day is accelerating rapidly. This all adds up to ample opportunity out-of-doors in just a few weeks.
In states that offer year-round fishing in the middle portion of the country, snow and ice are long gone. There’s plenty of dissolved oxygen in the water now which has rejuvenated lethargic fish and caused them to begin their spring transitions.
In my home state of Minnesota, we shut down the season for many gamefish species – pike, walleye, and bass – to protect the spawning process. There are some legitimate reasons for this. In the south, some gamefish may pull off multiple spawns in a year, but in North_Country, with our short growing season, these species get one shot. Fisheries managers traditionally have removed angler pressure from the equation to give the fish some peace and quiet. Stress these fisheries too much, they reason, and you can destroy an entire year-class of fish. One could make the case that it’s doubly important in a state like Minnesota with more than 1 million hungry licensed anglers.
(Indulge me a brief aside here: Thanks to catch and release, I think the growing volume of arguments out there to allow some pre-spawn fishing opportunities for species like bass in states like Minnesota have merit. Also, it defies simple logic to close stocked walleye lakes to fishing, doesn’t it? I_think the case could be made that we’d sell a few more licenses, too.)
Other states with fewer anglers and longer growing seasons don’t worry about year-round fishing. It’s these destinations – in places like Missouri, southern Iowa and southern Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska – where I’ll be trailering my boat in coming days, weeks, and months.
Here, on what I call the fringe of the ice belt, the hard water is gone on some lakes, soon to disappear on the northern lakes, and boaters and shore anglers can take advantage of an excellent late winter/early spring bite for panfish and other species. Go a little farther south and you’ll find waterways that remain open year-round. The formula for catching fish in early spring fish succeeds in any portion of the country but it shifts north as spring progresses.
Gamefish like crappies, big sunfish and bass are leaving their winter haunts and moving into shallower yet still protected areas. Darker, muck-bottomed areas – particularly south-facing bays and inlets – will warm faster in spring, and that sets the food chain in motion. Dark surfaces or anything that absorbs sunlight (read: heat) will warm surrounding waters, and that allows plankton, daphnia, and other small food sources to flourish. Larger insects, minnows, baitfish, and then big predators follow. We’re seeing the beginning of an annual growing season that will continue through next autumn.
As I target crappies and other panfish, I’m looking for structure within these sheltered coves and bays. Brush piles, rocks, logs, rip-rap along the bank – we’re talking any good cover to attract forage and attract the crappies.
Not coincidentally (given that I’m a multi-species fisherman) bass will use that same cover this time of year. Neither species is in spawning mode yet; rather they’re feeding and gearing up – calorically speaking – for the spawn later in the spring. Using basic spring crappie tackle will produce both species, since they’ll strike similar baits.
Typically in March and early April on such areas, you’ll find me throwing an 1/8-ounce jig tipped with a small plastic tube or beaver tail-styled plastic. Fish that setup 18 inches, (or roughly half the depth of the water you are fishing), under a slip bobber or even under a fixed float, and you’ll probably go home with a mess of fine white crappie fillets.
Now remember, these fish have survived the most brutal weather of the year, and there might be nasty weather still to come. They’re not exactly breaking water with aggressive strikes just yet. That’s why it’s too early for bass anglers to be breaking out the Zara Spooks or other topwater lures.
When does that change? Well, when you see bass bump or strike your bobber, that’s a pretty good sign. Dig out an Original Floating Rapala, cast it out, then just twitch it back. I get tense just thinking about it because it’s some of the most exciting fishing of the year!
Walleyes are tougher customers, because they spawn earlier. In my neck of the woods (Minnesota) these fish will stack up under lake ice in potential spawning areas, and the spawn will begin right after ice-out.
In areas where the season is open, find out where they’re stacked. (This probably won’t be too difficult, because you’ll see boats stacked there, too.) Places like the Mississippi or other rivers where dams provide logical stopping points for these fish are likely locations. Less obvious spots include the mouths of feeder creeks and stream that enter larger waterways. Fish will travel through these areas pre- and post-spawn, and though you might catch fewer numbers of fish there, you’ll usually catch larger walleyes or sauger and encounter fewer angers.
In lakes or reservoirs where natural resource agencies provide mostly stocked fish, you’ll still see walleyes attempting to follow their natural instincts. They invariably fail, but they’ll still behave like spawning fish and search for the closest suitable spawning habitat. Probe areas with running water like culverts, feeder creeks, sandy or gravelly areas like beaches or places with old cement tailings. If nothing else, fish shallow areas with structure like the inside of weedlines, or flooded timber and brushy structure.
Hit the water earlier in 2009 than you have it the past, and you’ll see fewer anglers – all while catching more fish. Several species I’ve just described are in a pre-spawn mode, so catch-and-release becomes ultra important. You can really demolish a lake population if you’re not careful, so don’t be filling the freezer!
As for destinations, I head south to some of the great bass fishing mid-state reservoirs where I fished tournaments._When pre-fishing, I’d hear about great crappie holes or walleye systems that I had to ignore while “on the job.” Now I return for fun in the early spring before my home state melts. Personally, I really like Arkansas waters, those clear Ozark-type bodies of water. We have a lot of clear water in Minnesota, so perhaps those reservoirs remind me a bit of home. I like the big fish in Texas, and gas is cheap right now, so I’ll probably head down to the Lone Star State this spring. The big river systems of the southern Great Lakes also provide some fantastic multi-species fishing with sometimes surprisingly few anglers.
Bottom line, I like to see different fisheries, and early spring in the central United States provides a great time for some exploring.By: Adam Johnson
