Fishing this winter and getting skunked

Thank goodness this winter is coming to end. It's a dreary time of the year here. Even when it's sunny, like many places in the winter, it's still "chill you to the bone" cold. Sitting indoors gives you cabin fever...as if we all don't have enough cabin fever due to COVID. Yuck!

Fishing has been terrible this winter too. I can count on one hand how many fish I caught. Rewind a few months before the winter started and I would catch enough fish in one day to need two hands to count! Don't get me wrong. I love being outdoors fishing regardless of how many I catch. But this year I had a number of trips where I left the water with nothing but frozen fingers and a few lures less (because I snagged an underwater tree or rock).

> Only fish I caught after about 5 hours of casting.

I tried all the lures and techniques I knew. I'd pitch a jig. I'd finesse a plastic worm. I'd jerk a jerk bait. The bass in the above photo was from a bobber and minnow that I was ignoring until I realized the bobber was gone. HOT DAMN! There's a fish on there! Fish at this time of the year and this cold of water don't really have much fight in them. It felt like I was pulling in a log...I should know, I've done that a few times in the past few months.

> Channel cat I named "Whiskers"

It's pretty crazy how you can spend the whole day casting, changing lures, walking the bank and catch nothing. Then, just before you decide to leave, you feel a tug on the line. Fish on! The adrenaline kicks in. The fish jumps as you proudly bring it to shore, all while peaking around to see if the other anglers are watching. That's right boys! I caught one! I only exclaim that in my head though. Don't want to look like a showoff...especially since I fell into the water while showing off during trout season.

After looking through my pictures I realize, I really have to update my fishing wardrobe. That Columbia sweatshirt has been with me for over a decade. I even had to put patches on the elbows just before they wore through. I digress...

> Last fish of the winter - a bullhead

I just realized that you can see a progression of my beard from the first picture to the last. These three fish have spanned my fishing adventures for this winter. Obviously I don't have any pictures of the numerous times I went out and came back with nothing...what's the point in that?

Looking forward to some Spring fishing. The weather is nicer. The fish are hungry. The water is warmer if you fall in. Tight lines!