March comes in like a lion, they say. 

Mid-60's today and had to take the day of to fish since it sounds like we're about to get hammered with the biggest storm so far this season. 

@NorcalBassin what elevation are you?

12 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

March comes in like a lion, they say. 

if it wasn’t for the leap year your be right on here. It’s now 20 mph steady and gusts to 50 mph here. The power is flickering enough that some electronics are kicking off and restarting. The generator hasn’t kicked on yet though. This continues tomorrow but by this time tomorrow night it will be still for a few days. 

We had that bout 8 hours ago, it’s moving fast 

3 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

@NorcalBassin what elevation are you?

We're ballpark 3500' feet. My sister and her family live up at 5000' just 15+/- minutes away, and I sure as heck don't envy what they're about to get. 😬

I was planning to head out this morning to fish a couple of ponds. Woke up to a snow and rain mix.  Well at least we are getting moisture.

Everyone’s favorite 38 degrees and pouring rain today. 

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Everyone’s favorite 38 degrees and pouring rain today. 

Think I ended up with your weather here in Iowa and you got mine. It was 60 and sunny today...strong South wind. March 1st is now officially the earliest I've fished open water in a pond or lake. Hit up a pond about 45 minutes east of my house...one I've fished at ice out for years. There's a shallow bay on the north east end that warms fast and draws panfish and it didn't disappoint. Caught 15 bluegills that were just about, almost, maybe keepers but I pitched them.back...if I was starving they would have worked. Also caught 4 small bass...lots of fun on an ultralight. Highlight of the day I ended up with 6 nice crappies between 9.5 and 12in.

2 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

It was 60 and sunny today

Even warmer this weekend too.  Possibly 70 by Sunday.  80 in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

Winter lasted about 8 days here in MN.

Yeah, we may be breaking record highs by Tuesday. It was 20 this morning. 54 when I got out of work. 

@J Francho Tuesday it was 75 for a high and 24hrs later it was 25 and a windchill of 5. It was crazy cold. 

50 snd half an inch of rain here today. 64 and sunny tomorrow. The river rat will ride again!

13 hours ago, gimruis said:

Even warmer this weekend too.  Possibly 70 by Sunday.  80 in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

Winter lasted about 8 days here in MN.

I'm a long ways from Des Moines ....I'm half way between Sioux city and Sioux falls SD...gonna be 66 here today and 60 tomorrow. Heading back to that pond today with a buddy. May try somewhere in town tomorrow.

Can You guys on the top half of the map please take winter back next year?? Been “one of the worst on record” down here. That quoted phrase always makes me laugh, like we just pretend the ice age didn’t happen 

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Can You guys on the top half of the map please take winter back next year??

Sorry - no backsies

34 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Can You guys on the top half of the map please take winter back next year?? Been “one of the worst on record” down here. That quoted phrase always makes me laugh, like we just pretend the ice age didn’t happen 

I’d say one of the warmest on record up here so there’s that. 😎

As long as old records don’t count…..

the caveman papers all burned up when it got hot 

 

dinosaur: “hold my beer”

 

according to local reports, we’ve had the hottest coldest wettest driest year every year since about 2018. (Excluding anything that happened before 1900 sooooo basically just say whatever you want so people will click your app) 

 

Geologists: “the earth is millions of years old and was once covered in glaciers”

 

reckon it was cold back then ?

 

meteorologists: nah, yesterday was the COLDEST 

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Can You guys on the top half of the map please take winter back next year?? Been “one of the worst on record” down here.

I’m sure it’ll shift back next winter. El Niño is the primary cause, and it’s projected to neutralize this summer. By fall, La Niña will return and a more traditional weather pattern will likely emerge.

 

Look on the bright side, maybe it won’t be so hot down there this summer.

I do recall the first time I heard the term El Niño it flooded like crazy. That usually means like 76 degrees instead of 86 degrees. But then again it nearly always floods, 2012 and 13 was the last time we really dried out for very long. Not many crops here so we welcome droughts 😂, the only side effects are material like bans on washing cars or filling up swimming pools 

On 2/28/2024 at 10:10 AM, TnRiver46 said:

March comes in like a lion, they say. 

Lol. Reminded me of this old SNL skit. 

 

It’s still possible and quite likely we’ll see some more snow but as of right now we’ve had 40” of snow this winter compared to 110” last winter. 

Continued warmth will favor the Midwest, Great Lakes Region, and Northeast.  I guess at this point its kind of expected in the northern tier because that's what we've been having for months now during this fake winter anyways.  I expect to be crappie fishing before the end of March, which will be the first time that's occurred since I've been living here (1991).

 

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

I expect to be crappie fishing before the end of March,

My panfish rigs are all cleaned/re-lubes/re-spooled. Bag is packed...I may even go out sometime this week as I noticed that The Narrows was open.

3 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

My panfish rigs are all cleaned/re-lubes/re-spooled. Bag is packed...I may even go out sometime this week as I noticed that The Narrows was open.

I haven't bought my 2024 angling license yet but that will be acquired soon.  My panfish rigs are ready for action too.

 

Make sure you start updating your outings in the 2024 Season Thread.  Its going to be a longer thread this year with much earlier open water!