Part of the author’s plan is to get patterns tied up for early spring panfish. Simonson Photo.
By Nick Simonson
Perhaps the two sweetest words this time of year in the upper Midwest are “January thaw.”
With temperatures ticking into the upper 40s and walks around the block to rooster pheasants crowing and small covey of partridge taking flight on the north end, I noted how suddenly it felt like everything was in fast forward. It seemed especially so coming out of the deep freeze the weekend prior where wind chills were on a similar end of the spectrum, just with a minus in front of them. With water running down the curbs like it was mid-March, and the streetside berms of the winter’s limited snow disappearing before my eyes, it was tough to deny the feeling of spring in the air.
While I know it won’t be all easy going, sunshine, and melt, the near term forecast for the region is classic El Nino, and temperatures are way above normal. That means spring fishing opportunities may come on a whole lot faster than normal, and certainly trips to my favorite cabin-fever-breaking power plant lake to the north will be in order much sooner than the late-February and March trips that make up the normal part of my first vernal angling efforts. It also means that I’ve got a lot of work to do before those outings and the ones that follow them.
Looking over my gear in the late afternoon light as the western sun warmed the door frame of my garage, I pulled a couple rods off the rack and began respooling the reel of one that I had left after the late trout outings last fall. It’s always best to start the season fresh with new line to avoid the kinks and curls that come with monofilament that’s been stored tightly on a reel for several months. Looking over my jigging rod, the white wraps of superline also suggested that it needed replacement, as the wear and tear of launching lures into snaggy situations and the water absorption from countless trips last summer for walleyes, bass and more suggested a respooling was in order as well, and I added a roll of Fireline to my shopping list for the week to come.
A half-filled flybox sticking out of my vest on the hanger also suggested that more time at the vise is required, not just for those classic crappie streamers made of bucktail and marabou, but also a slew of woolly buggers in various shades for the stocked trout that will follow my panfish pursuits after ice out. It’s hard to say when the pike run will begin, and how much runoff there will be when it does, but it’ll likely be required to crank out those beefy offerings of bucktail, strung hackle and flashabou to catch their attention whenever they decide to stage and then squeeze their way into the shallows of the rushing creeks of spring.
While tempted to peel the tarp back on my puddle jumper, I figured I’d let the warmth do a little more work this week and melt the block of ice that had pulled it tight in the middle of the boat. However, I didn’t hesitate to move the battery into charging position in hopes that by mid-week things will be ready and the launch up north would be all clear for an outing. With a quick clean in the temperate forecasted evenings for the approaching week, there wouldn’t be much else required besides the half hour drive to the warm water destination.
Even if this winter warm up is an illusion and is only a reprieve in a long season, the preparation that comes from it will certainly make things easier when real spring conditions descend on the region. With rods and reels relined, tackle and fly boxes restocked, and boats prepared for the water, whenever we get the final go-ahead for spring’s start, be it late or early, I’ll be ready for it…in our outdoors.