By James McManus
So, this January has been like a return to the old days—nice til Christmas, then single digits for much of the month. Let’s hope the fishing does likewise at Fontana this February, with excellent conditions for landing toads.
In years past February was a great month for some of the largest fish of the year. Smallmouth did just like me over the holidays and ate til their bellies swelled up. Walleye were not far behind. Here’s to hoping that some of the stocked fish have survived and will answer the call to make runs. Fish have the advantage of dropping their undeveloped young and thus reducing their waistline. Not exactly sure how I’m going to manage my reducing plan, but procreation is not going to be one of the options.
I keep hearing tales about striper stocking and really hope it’s true. That will protect the spawning fish as they will disperse the bluebacks that will try and engulf all the laid eggs and hatched fry in the headwaters this month and next. You don’t hear much about them, but the white bass were eliminated as fast as the walleye when bluebacks were introduced. They were one of the big draws for our lake back in the day. Don’t remember hearing of any lake where the average size was as great. Schools of whites used to chase threadfins and crash the little buggers on top just to make our hearts beat faster. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to restock them as well.
Nostalgia can be misread or be disremembered, but some things were better back in the day. Two stroke motors, flashers, fiberglass poles and Zebco 33’s are not on the list of better, although I caught a bunch of fish with my Zebco. Definitely a fan of four strokes, live scope and braid filled spinning rods to fill out my current better list. I think selective memory is the best, and since my short term and name remembering memory are both about gone, I’m looking forward to creating some new ones that rival those of old.
Holler if you want to join in and thank the Lord for our beautiful places to try our luck. Later.
Capt. James McManus owns 153 Charters. Give him a call for a great day on the water at (828) 421-8125