Topwater Bass in MARCH!!!

I got out fishing today for an hour with my 5 year old son. We hit a pond we found a few years ago that has been really good to us. It's a simple retention pond in a fairly new neighborhood and I don't think it gets much pressure at all. I've only seen one other kid fish it....I think.

We started off close to the car and saw a few fish. After trying for a few minutes I was able to catch a bass on a fly I tied months ago.

First fish of 2012

"Dad! I gotta pee!" is never quite what I want to hear when we've only been fishing for 10 minutes....especially since we were right there in a neighborhood. So, we hiked around to the back of the pond where there is a dirt bike and snowmobile (for winters when we actually have snow) trail and he was able to find a little privacy.....then it was back to fishing.

We made our way around the pond to the smaller section, which was shallower, and saw some movement near the shore. I switch up to a gurgler and started casting. Immediately I was getting hits...likely from bluegill. Not many casts later however, I had a bass explode and take my fly! It was game on! For the first time EVER, I was catching bass on top in freaking MARCH! Not March after the official day of spring.....but March BEFORE the official day of spring! I was loving it! This is my kinda winter! Shovel 3 times and start bass fishing in March! Bring it on every year till the end of time! Thank you global warming!

My son got to reel him in

After that first bass we ended up catching 2 more on the surface, and missing 4 or 5 others too. Crazy they were hitting like that. I suspect the shallower water, close to the inlet from the runoff from the neighborhood, got that water to warm up and get the fish active.

Splash!

Besides catching bass on the surface, something else I never thought I'd be doing in March was kayaking....especially in Lake Ontario. A friend of mine brought up a second sit on top kayak 2 weeks ago and we went out. The temperature was in the mid 40's and I stayed pretty warm. It was great paddling again, especially in a comfortable sit on top....I definitely need to figure out a way to get one of those!

Miles and miles of open water