Spring has not sprung in Otter Tail Lakes Country
It’s April now and I’m looking outside at heaps of snow. The forecast, as most of you already know, is quite alarming and sad. Spring has sprung? What the?
Anyway, for those of you that enjoy ice fishing, there is good cause to celebrate, because the ice is going no where fast. That’s the silver lining to our spring weather. I can’t help but notice, however, that there aren’t a lot of folks out fishing and the few that are are driving trucks on the lakes. If you are planning on using full-sized trucks for travel on lakes, keep in mind that it is April and even though we haven’t had a big thaw yet—rivers and channels are in motion. When the sun comes out, the snow melts quickly and rivers swell. That’s why the mouths of rivers and streams are a lot larger than they were a couple of weeks ago—be careful.
Panfishing is still good around the county, but the best fishing is yet to come. I think most anglers are pausing for a moment, because when we begin to warm up again, and the snow melts off the lake’s surface the panfish will bite well. For now, if you’d like to get out on an Otter Tail County lake, keep the auger drilling until you locate some panfish. Even when I locate panfish this time of year I drill a bunch of extra holes so I can skip around from hole to hole which is a way to keep the action going. It’s common to fish a hole, catch a nice blue gill, catch a smaller one, and then the rest stand and stare at your lure and don’t bite. But if you keep walking around from hole to hole the action will stay steady.
Good luck if you head out to Lakes Country this week, and be sure and bring a heater and portable because it’s January again!
By Ross Hagemeister, meisterguideservice.com