The afternoon temperatures the last few weeks have been very mild and have been melting snow and ice at Six Lakes Resort and Fishing Preserve. These warm afternoon temperatures and mild weather has brought an early spring to Six Lakes and we are excited for spring fishing in just a few weeks when the ice has melted off and the lakes are open water. In this blog we will share a few tricks to help you catch more fish in the early spring at Six Lakes.
As the ice melts off the lakes at Six Lakes the fish are hungry and they are looking for a big meal along the muddy bottom of the lakes. The cold air temperatures at night does not allow flying insects to hatch in the early spring, so the main source of food for trout in the early spring at Six Lakes is along the bottom of the lake. Fish feed on crayfish, blood worms, minnows, and midge larvae along the bottom of the lake and weedbeds growing on the bottom. Fishermen will want to keep their flies near the bottom of the lake and either hang them off of a strike indicator or jigging them slowly on a sinking line near the bottom.
Water temperatures are still very cold in the early spring and trout are lethargic, because of the low body temperature with cold water. Fish will be looking for an easy meal and will not want to work to hard for food. Hanging midges or balanced leeches off of a strike indicator is a great way to get flies in front of fish, but not move them, so trout can lazily swim along and eat them without much effort. Fishermen that prefer to strip flies can use a sinking line and strip leeches and woolly buggers slowly along the bottom. Dropping a blood midge or red cooper john off the back of your leech can often intice more fish to strike if you are moving it slowly along the bottom.
Six Lakes Fishing Preserve is a beautiful place to fish in the spring with the migrating waterfowl, wildlife, and big trout. We hope to see you this spring at Six Lakes!