Warmer weather gives fishing a jump start

By Bill Bartusek

After it seemed like our summer warm weather finally returned, just in time for the weekend the cold front had a short term negative effect upon the fish. The warm water helped get the fish jump-started and a good bite is going on again.

Some of the weeds we saw earlier in the year are gone now. They have matured and fallen down. Later weeds, like cabbage and coontail are taking over. Both of these weeds are much easier to fish through then some of the early weeds we had to deal with. Of course, the greener the weeds are the more likely they will hold fish. I also noticed fish are starting to bulk up a little bit now. They are finally starting to fatten up for the upcoming winter. This is probably the time of year when most fish do their growing for the year. So the fish you catch from now until winter will actually weigh more than they did about a month ago. If the weather ever settles down we could really have some fun catching the big fish.

I spent the weekend with a big part of my family at the cabin. Joining Brenda, Grandma Bev and I were Jed, Kari and Carter Hankinson and Chuck, Michelle, Allison and Sam Fenger. Talk about a crew. It was the first visit for the Hankinson's and the second for the Fenger's. The weather was great and we all took advantage of it. We spent a lot of time on the water fishing and a lot of time at the campfire. One-year-old Sam tried to wear out the patio screen door, going in and out. Allison and Carter like Grandpa's boat and spent time in the sand on the beach. All of them kept Brenda very busy.

The guys would go fishing with me early each morning. The bass and pike were feeding well and we all caught our share. The girls did well too. Kari caught pike from the boat and the dock. Michelle did her best and caught some fish too. It's over now but everyone is planning to come up again soon. I sure hope they do! Maybe next time the fishing and weather will be even better.

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