As so often happens in this area, we went from ice-out to summer in a relatively short time. We had heavy frost several days last week (mid-20s). It was in the high 70s three days ago, and it hit 87 degrees yesterday and today.
It was interesting to see the pond change colors three days ago. We went from five to six feet of extremely clear "black water" to less than two feet visibility in nice green water.
The fish have gone crazy with several bug hatches in the last couple of days. I was working a few hundred feet above the pond this afternoon. I saw what appeared to be a snake swimming across the pond towards the dam. About six feet from shore, there was a tremendous explosion of water. I figure that some bass had a nice Sunday afternoon meal.
I harvested four nice female bluegill (8-1/2, 9, 9-1/2 and 10 inches) this evening. They were really fat for this time of year. From their size, I expected them to be full of eggs. Instead, they had a lot of black bugs in their stomachs, and all four had some nearly digested pellets, probably from last night. But, only one had any trace of eggs, and that trace looked far smaller than the usual drop of mustard that usually falls onto my necktie before an important meeting. Their fillets were thick.
Ken
Let's hope for a great year.
