I'm putting this in general discussion because, while it's about bass for me, it's mostly about the turning of the seasons away from our cold wet winter and onto brighter days.
I'm just about tired of winter. Tired of gore-tex all the time. Tired of chasing my recycling bins down the alley after each storm. Tired of the constant soggy ground and mud. And yeah, despite living in the PNW my whole life, this happens to me about this time every year. The salmon and steel seasons are mostly done (come on WDFW, where's that Skagit CnR season...) and even with the fun of snowboarding, I'm pretty tired of rain, 30mph gusts, and cold temps in the lowlands. Maybe if I'd been born 20-40 years earlier I'd be excited about the late winter and all the fish it brings. But those days are gone and I haven't ever been much of a lake fisher. Sinking lines and sitting around waiting for the chironomid bite just wasn't for me.
I wasn't ever one who got too depressed over our dreary winters, though that is absolutely a thing that affects some poeple. In high school and college, it just means snow season was here. But the older I get, and the more rare free time becomes, the harder it is for me to get the winter stoke going. Oh, don't get me wrong. Heading up the the ski hill is still a ton of fun. Especially having my kids to ride with the past few years. But even that gets old after a while. I've been making that 3+ hour round trip drive for over three decades now. It's not the exciting adventure it once was even if the riding is still fun.
More than the improving weather, something that has gotten me excited about spring/summer fishing in recent years has been bass. Like I said, I've never been much of a lake fisherman. I just don't care to sit and wait. But back when covid shut everything down, I started messing around with the little lakes/ponds nearby looking for bluegill. That led to some bass bycatch and I quickly realized how fun and aggressive those fish are. Sure, it took me a long time, but I finally started to understand why hundreds of thousands of anglers are obsessed with these fish. The fish are aggressive, and like fishing the river, even when you aren't catching, you're pretty constantly doing something. It's a hell of a lot of fun. And unlike our river fisheries, bass are doing just fine up here in the PNW. Nobody arguing over run sizes on the bass pond, there's no North of Falcon debates about smallmouth. Plus, there's not a damn thing wrong with floating around on a warm bass pond in the sun.
This year I'm gonna push harder to get more of them on the fly rod. I admit I do enjoy pitching gear at them. But just like the enteral Roland Martin points out, bass on the fly rod is a ton of fun. Plus, when you get dozens of hawg photos from @Billy, you start to think "Well shit, why not me?" about bass on the fly.
So let's get this shit done and get into spring. Sure, spring weather can be all over the place. But you get more variety at least and the daylight is noticeably longer. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here here in the PNW drizzle and daydreaming about being able to wear sandals instead of wool socks.
What about you? What fishing fills your mind when you are looking at the window at another grey winter PNW day?
I'm just about tired of winter. Tired of gore-tex all the time. Tired of chasing my recycling bins down the alley after each storm. Tired of the constant soggy ground and mud. And yeah, despite living in the PNW my whole life, this happens to me about this time every year. The salmon and steel seasons are mostly done (come on WDFW, where's that Skagit CnR season...) and even with the fun of snowboarding, I'm pretty tired of rain, 30mph gusts, and cold temps in the lowlands. Maybe if I'd been born 20-40 years earlier I'd be excited about the late winter and all the fish it brings. But those days are gone and I haven't ever been much of a lake fisher. Sinking lines and sitting around waiting for the chironomid bite just wasn't for me.
I wasn't ever one who got too depressed over our dreary winters, though that is absolutely a thing that affects some poeple. In high school and college, it just means snow season was here. But the older I get, and the more rare free time becomes, the harder it is for me to get the winter stoke going. Oh, don't get me wrong. Heading up the the ski hill is still a ton of fun. Especially having my kids to ride with the past few years. But even that gets old after a while. I've been making that 3+ hour round trip drive for over three decades now. It's not the exciting adventure it once was even if the riding is still fun.
More than the improving weather, something that has gotten me excited about spring/summer fishing in recent years has been bass. Like I said, I've never been much of a lake fisherman. I just don't care to sit and wait. But back when covid shut everything down, I started messing around with the little lakes/ponds nearby looking for bluegill. That led to some bass bycatch and I quickly realized how fun and aggressive those fish are. Sure, it took me a long time, but I finally started to understand why hundreds of thousands of anglers are obsessed with these fish. The fish are aggressive, and like fishing the river, even when you aren't catching, you're pretty constantly doing something. It's a hell of a lot of fun. And unlike our river fisheries, bass are doing just fine up here in the PNW. Nobody arguing over run sizes on the bass pond, there's no North of Falcon debates about smallmouth. Plus, there's not a damn thing wrong with floating around on a warm bass pond in the sun.
This year I'm gonna push harder to get more of them on the fly rod. I admit I do enjoy pitching gear at them. But just like the enteral Roland Martin points out, bass on the fly rod is a ton of fun. Plus, when you get dozens of hawg photos from @Billy, you start to think "Well shit, why not me?" about bass on the fly.
So let's get this shit done and get into spring. Sure, spring weather can be all over the place. But you get more variety at least and the daylight is noticeably longer. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here here in the PNW drizzle and daydreaming about being able to wear sandals instead of wool socks.
What about you? What fishing fills your mind when you are looking at the window at another grey winter PNW day?
