There are a lot of folks who are extremely bummed out by this weather – and I completely understand – but I thought I’d try and offer an opinion of a bright side to all of this!
Just think of how many fish wont get caught and killed this winter! I feel like winters like this one (although this one is pretty extreme so far… haha) is Mother Nature’s way of giving the lakes a break. I’ve got a few lakes I love to fish for big slab crappies but they have taken quite a beating the last two or three winters, and its starting to show a little bit. I know every lake cycles through spawning classes and stuff but I just cant help but be excited about the future of the fish populations of our lakes because of this warm spell!
I cant even imagine how many fish get taken out of any given lake each winter. Panfish, walleyes, pike, and bass are like sitting ducks most of the time under the ice in many of our smaller lakes… and although there are many of us who practice catch and release/selective harvest I’d be willing to be there are way more people who over-stuff their freezers each winter just because “they can” and its relatively easy if a guy knows what he’s doing.
So, as much as it sucks for us not to be out on the ice we should try and think about how good the next few years COULD be because of the lack of fishing pressure!
