Waiting for warm weather

If April showers do, in fact, bring May flowers it’s going to be a colorful month to come. Rainfall totals for this April are two times the average amount. What has been lacking, of course, is the warm weather to spur flowers as well as most everything else out of doors. This weekend proves no exception to that rule as chill weather will dominate. There is hope (with the weather there is always hope) for better weather late next week and that is important; it’s the opener for fishing season.

Right now the reality is that the cool, wet weather has cut participation in all outdoor activities. Fishing (and panfish are the only game in town for this area) have been on again, off again with the weather being the key factor. On the rare warm days we’ve seen decent action but cold fronts shut things down. No surprise there; that happens any time of the year.

For the opener it seems clear that walleyes in this area will have spawned and moved out into deeper water. Panfish will be looking for the warmer weather to come and when it does they’ll move in. With any kind of luck we’ll see more seasonal weather patterns, warmer lake temperatures and a return to normal as we move into May. But for now lake water is cool and this weekend will not help that.

Turkey hunting is ongoing and success seems about normal. Cooler weather has a greater impact on hunters than it does birds. Turkeys will be in their normal patterns regardless of rain or snow or chilly mornings.

Water levels on lakes and rivers remain very high and caution, especially on moving water, remains the rule of the day. And with lowlands saturated one hates to say it but this could be a bad spring for mosquitoes. For now, ticks are out and it’s time to treat dogs for tick repellents as well as use a good tick repellent on pants legs for all of those who are in the woods hiking, hunting or fishing.
The Outdoor Report is provided by the staff of Mel’s Trading Post, downtown Rhinelander, where a variety of outdoor products is available.