It's been the coldest winter in years here.

You know it's cold when all the ice boats are out on the tidal rivers.

I was actually thinking how great it would be to cut the lawn

But yes, the days are getting longer

55 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

@Lottabass: That was a joy to read. Thanks for sharing it, Al!

You are welcome, Katie. If an exceptional writer like you enjoys it then I hope everyone does!

You started a great post for this time of year when we all get the ITCH!

This is the longest bitter cold stretch I remember in my 56 years in OH. -21 on my way to work at 3am Saturday. That was a fun morning. Brrr.......... If the extended forecast is anywhere close to right, I'm guessing open water around the third week of March.

February gains 70 minutes of daylight here. March gains over 100. More sun is coming to the northern hemisphere.

2 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

And he reports it ... you're killing me DogBone

It's winter .... that's what fishing addicts do this time of year!

This morning it hit a balmy -13°. For us it's a little too early to think of spring.

Little over a week ago we woke up to -21f....this Thursday they're predicting a high of +40....wacky weather all around.

33 minutes ago, Crow Horse said:

This morning it hit a balmy -13°. For us it's a little too early to think of spring.

Yeah, it's still cold, but pay attention to the Sun. Warmth is coming. One day, as in the passage Al shared, we northern folk will step outside and smell something again. Then we'll smile.

Here in south Louisiana we have had our coldest weather this winter over the past 10-12 days. Lows in the upper teens to low 20’s at night with highs in the upper 30’s.

All that changes starting tomorrow. Highs will be in the mid 70’s by the end of the week. In the area I concentrate on this time of year the bass are already in pre-spawn and will be actively feeding by this time next week.

1 hour ago, river-rat said:

Here in south Louisiana we have had our coldest weather this winter over the past 10-12 days. Lows in the upper teens to low 20’s at night with highs in the upper 30’s.

All that changes starting tomorrow. Highs will be in the mid 70’s by the end of the week. In the area I concentrate on this time of year the bass are already in pre-spawn and will be actively feeding by this time next week.

I'm excited for you, buddy. Go get, 'em!

That's sooooo cold for southern Louisiana. Your homes aren't build for days and nights that cold. Good job weathering that weather.

On 2/1/2026 at 2:15 PM, Swamp Girl said:

No, it's not getting warmer, but for the first time this winter, I can feel spring coming. Yeah, it's still so cold it hurts, but the Sun's higher and the days are longer and winter will bend and then break. I've spent the last few months planning what I'll cast. I caught my first buzzbait bass last fall and that was a blast, so I'm going to cast some more buzzbaits and I'll be casting bladed jigs too, as well as the spinnerbaits that worked so well last spring.

I'm even thinking of trying some shiners. I used to use leeches for smallmouth in northwestern Ontario and really enjoyed that style of fishing. I think I'd enjoy shiners too and there's a bait shop nearby that sells them. They also sell white suckers and if they sold some smaller ones, I'd like to try them too. The four ponds I fish already have white suckers, so I wouldn't be introducing an exotic species if one escaped.

Does anyone else fish with live bait?

Are you guys seeing the daily changes in the Sun too?

I’ve done some live bait fishing where we spent an hour or so catching our bait out of a small creek first. We cut up a night crawler into tiny pieces and put them on tiny hooks, dunking them in eddies next to the bank. The water was very clear and even though I never saw any bait fish, it didn’t take long to catch a couple dozen creek chubs. Wading a small river, we put a small split shot on the line ahead of the chubs. Very low tech, very simple and very effective. It was a ton of fun fishing the way we used to as kids.

There is always fishing, it’s what you’re willing to put up with to go.

7 hours ago, Motoboss said:

There is always fishing, it’s what you’re willing to put up with to go.

The world's largest ice fishing contest recently took place here near Brainerd, MN on Gull Lake. Nearly 12,000 anglers gather for 3 hours trying to win various prizes such as trucks, ice castles ATVs, augers, and many other items.

The next 10 days, our forecast are mostly in the 50's and even some 60's, but most importantly, the overnight temps are going to be staying above freezing also. Good chance we'll have open water here again by the end of that 10 days if it holds up.

28 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

The next 10 days, our forecast are mostly in the 50's and even some 60's, but most importantly, the overnight temps are going to be staying above freezing also. Good chance we'll have open water here again by the end of that 10 days if it holds up.

I'm happy for you, Clayton. Today will reach 31 degrees, but in a couple days, it'll be cold again, so no open water for many weeks.

3 hours ago, gim said:

The world's largest ice fishing contest recently took place here near Brainerd, MN on Gull Lake. Nearly 12,000 anglers gather for 3 hours trying to win various prizes such as trucks, ice castles ATVs, augers, and many other items.

That's an awful lot of holes...just sayin

25 minutes ago, Kev-mo said:

That's an awful lot of holes...just sayin

I've never participated, and never plan to.

But I know several individuals that have, or still do. They drill about 15,000 holes the day before. You can pick a hole starting at 8am (the contest runs from noon - 3pm). No augers are allowed once you select a hole so if its cold the night before, you might have some manual labor to conduct in order to open that hole lol

The holes in deep water are the most popular. That's where the majority of fish are caught this time of year. If you catch ONE fish in 3 hours, you are pretty much guaranteed a prize.

31* ... Indian summer ... I'm feeling it @Swamp Girl ! Warm enough to mow the snow

Went out and washed the vehicles just now, not bad other then the driveway turned to glare ice. 33*

We usually catch bass all winter here in Florida, except for 2-3 days after a cold front. This year all of January was a cold front!! I honestly haven’t seen any difference in the sun. Not that I look at the sun much !😎

I would definitely try shiners. But , a word of caution: If they are not wild shiners the fish don’t like them near as much. Hatchery raised shiners are often silver , and the bass can tell the difference.

Yesterday was the first day in 10 days the high made it over freezing. The rest of this week the high temps will be in the 40's and 50's. I'm hoping that when this thaw ends that the temps will stay out of the single digits.

I'm in SW Washington and it has been one of the warmest, most mild winters in a long time. We had close to 3 weeks of sunshine in January. Unheard of. Usually we have snow on the ground by now. Mt Hood has not received much snow. Typically I am up there every weekend skiing in the winter. Not wasting my money this year.

11 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I'm happy for you, Clayton. Today will reach 31 degrees, but in a couple days, it'll be cold again, so no open water for many weeks.

And let it be known, that 31 degrees is the warmest we have seen in 3 weeks lol. This is a brutal stretch

Finally back in the 20s here, after 3 weeks of...well, less than that. Only overnights have been strictly below zero, but we've had probably more of those in the last month than the last couple years combined (I could look it up but, but I'm tired).

In any case, I'm still 2-3 months out. Even if we ice out earlier (guessing mid-late march), I have no chance of being free to do any actual fishing until April, maybe May. Too much life stuff.