Being on the water almost every day and writing outdoors stuff for over 50 years you sometimes get it right. A month ago my column ” Will we see march weather in April” ran in the Driftless Journal newspaper.

Temps soared into the low 70s when the story published. Water temp soared. The bite was HOT.

This happy times pattern continued through March 11 far as walleyes are concerned. client that day caught an egg wagon weighing over 11 lbs. Since then no quality ‘eyes have come into my boat. Plenty of shorts & a few eaters, but no fat girls.

Bass and pike swam forward in good numbers to fill the void. Right now I’m getting ready for today’s trip in a 20 mph NW wind. Water temp dropped from 48 to 42 since last Friday. Tomorrow the forecast high ambient temp is 38. Looks like march weather in April.

I still say walleye spawn will get serious during the full moon period which kills off March 21. A month of warming water has shaken up many walleye reproductive systems.

If the water was still north of 45 the spawn would likely be over by March 28. With the return of March weather in April the spawning process will come in spurts & dribbles over a couple of weeks.

The positive side of this is the good fishin’ cycle should retrun about April 4 and hang around for at least a couple of weeks. Pike & a lot of the walleyes will be post spawn and active by then. SMB and to a lesser extent LMB will be active. White bass will be nutso if you can find them.

Regardless, I’ll be out there about every day. Most interested to see what happens on March 25 during the solar eclipse. tight lines!