The Best and Worst of Mother Nature

Tony Lynn and I headed south at 4:30 a.m. April 2 for our annual spring trip to Newton Lake, fully hoping to match or exceed what we did during April of 2006 (See Articles Page for five-part series from last April entitled "You Have to Fish This Lake").

The morning started out as nice as you could ask for in Illinois during early April. It was 55 degrees at 8:30 and warmed to the mid-70's by afternoon. The wind was slight from the southeast with not a cloud in the sky. The water temperature at the main ramp was 77 degrees.

Prior to the trip I had checked my fishing logs and "keeper map" to get an idea about where we might start our fishing.

The cold arm of the hot water discharge lake had out-produced the hot arm by far last year, so we started fishing near the mouth of the largest cove on the east side of the cold arm. The water temperature there was 73 degrees with a water clarity of 12-15 inches.

We began fishing with a variety of fast-moving baits such as spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, Rattletraps, and jerkbaits. After an hour with no results, we slowed down to fish soft plastics and grubs in shoreline wood and weeds.

We were rewarded by our change in presentation when Tony landed the first fish of the day on a salt/pepper Chompers grub. The fish measured 18 1/2 inches, had a bloody tail, and was caught near the back of a cove on a south-facing bank.

We continued fishing south-facing banks and caught a few scattered fish on lizards, Senkos, and Flukes, but moved to main lake points in search of more and bigger fish.

Fishing a white/white, double-willowleaf Nichols spinnerbait and a chrome/black Rattletrap, we caught a few small bass on points. We finished the day with only nine bass, including one keeper and a couple 16 to 17-inch fish.

Some bass were far back in coves engaged in the spawning process, while others were hanging near main lake points and chasing baits.

If the fish weren't confused, we sure were. Today affirmed what fisheries biologists tell us about fish not all spawning at the same time, so we would regroup tonight and start over in the morning.

Day 2- Before the Storm Front

Day two began the same as yesterday, with 65 degrees and a sunny sky at 8 a.m. Winds were 10 mph from the southeast and the water temperature at the ramp was 79 degrees.

We decided to fish a "milk run" of cold-arm main lake points where we had caught bass during previous trips, rather than deal with the spooky, spawning bass than we had seen yesterday.

Another reason to fish main lake areas was that weather forecasters had predicted that a violent storm front would hit us during the day, with damaging winds, lightening, and possibly hail. In a few hours, main lake areas would be unfishable.

Despite the fact that fish are doing many different things at the same time during spring and that weather is unstable and unpredictable, Newton Lake has the advantage of offering a variety of water temperatures to fish and varying water clarity ( 4 inches to 2 feet during this trip). It also has some relatively sheltered coves in which you can fish out of the worst winds.

As happens to fishermen everywhere, sometimes your first fish of the day, occasionally on your first cast of the day, is the biggest fish you catch. Of course, what happens next is that you waste the next several hours trying to duplicate the feat, naively believing that Mother Nature will give you a break today and make it easy for you. Sure she will, when pigs fly.

Tony caught our only keeper of the day on his first cast of the day, using a white/silver, double-willowleaf Nichols spinnerbait on a windblown main lake point.

We fished points until the wind got out of hand at 9 a.m. and then retreated into calmer coves.

The sky darkened about noon, the wind howled, and we could hear the rumblings of thunder. Maybe the weather people would be right this time (see "Why Fishermen Hate Weather Forecasters" on the Articles Page), so we headed to the ramp after four hours of fishing.

Last year, we had stayed out all day during a steady rain to have the best day of the trip, but this storm was too violent to fish in, at least for sane people. Instead, after securing the boat tarp, we sat under the shelter near the ramp to field test fishing products made by Anheuser-Busch and the Miller Brewing Company.

We finished the half-day of fishing with five small fish and one keeper, caught on spinnerbaits, 6-inch black/purple lizards, and a Gene Larew soft jerkbait.

Coming Soon- Part 2- We bundle up and fish in Chillsville, wondering why the fish never really "turned on" before the front and trying to figure out how to make them bite.