Made my first crack-of-dawn trip this morning.

I've made better decisions.

Air temps in the high 30's and an east-southeast wind that made it hard to fish cleanly.

Water had dirtied up, not surprising.

But I was surprised to see the water temp in the low 50s already.

Local Lake Menderchuck is a shallow dark-bottomed deal that warms up very fast.

I poked around a bit early, mostly trying to keep my hand from freezing off.

It eventually warmed a bit as the sun finally poked through late morning.

The wind did not let up.

Either way, I managed a dozen trophies in training, with one just sliding over the 4 lb mark.

All on Megabass jerkbaits that included perch, of course.

Alien Gold and Baby Kingo patterns both attracted some attention in the colored-up conditions.

Not sure what the rest of the week holds.

I had planned on hitting it hard on some bigger water, but after today's debacle,

I am second-guessing myself.

Wind blew out my video, so here are a few pics.

A-Jay

Those are some gorgeous bass! Looks like a great day of fishing in some cold conditions. The wind blowing across the water this time of year always cuts right through me.

Sometimes mother nature determines all the outcomes.

Nice. I'd go.

It's just dust in the wind 😃

Back in the day casting floating Rapalas into the wind was like trying to cast a potato chip 😧

And to top it off you time traveled 🙃

My fishing is nothing like yours (rivers) but I find I do better in the earlier spring when the water is colder. So that bigger water may be a better bet.