What March madness TRULY is

If you are a fisherman then every month has a purpose. For bass fisherman June exists just so you can fish for bass, it feels almost like a kid waiting for Christmas Day to open thier presents; when you can finally cast a top water onto a glass like surface to hear a bass suck it down off the top. If you're a trout fisherman and fish the streams then when April comes around the corner and it warms up you start getting excited to wade Into your favourite pool Of water and you are excited to know You Got there first even if it means as soon as day light comes you are battling 10 other guys in the same spot who Cross Your line because they don't know How To fish with the flow of the river but yet as mad that gets you You are still somehow at peace because this is the moment you Have been waiting for since the last one. but in March you have yourself caught in an in-between stage. Most fish are illegal to target and even if they weren't its to cold to summer style fish and not cold enough to winter style fish and you are usually only forced in to two options if you live in the GTA.

1 get your boots on to brave the slush and hope the ice is still good enough to fish for perch which to a fisherman who Fishes mainly for Sport doesn't really actually fill the void. OR

2 wait until a fish that tickles your fancy comes in season.

For guys like me, I am usually forced to wait and that wait is treacherous. I used to fish for fish just given the seasons and all was good but I have slowly become a strictly Summer guy In Terms of passion anyway and it is killing me.

If you break down the months. January and February and even the first part of March are fun hard water times, late April you can start to fish rivers for rainbows or go for crappie, carp, or catfish if that tickles your fancy.
May the lakes open up to boaters and you can target walleye, and pike.
Early June you have muskie if the walleye or pike didn't tickle your fancy.
The summer you have really anything you want. Even bring out the down riggers and go for deep fish. Once bass opens up in late June its like all the stars are aligned and you are free to go about or fish about how you will. Early fall you can transition to river Salmon if you don't have a boat. Feeding muskie, walleye and bass if You do and it is still a great time. Then October you are starting to go against the odds and the elements but you are still having fun. You can find some trout Roming the streams maybe some leftover salmon that were late spawners. You can go for musky still and some heavy fattened up bass but deep Down you know the best of the year is behind and you are about to face a long lull.
Personally I absolutely hate November. Too cold to Summer fish but not cold enough to Winter fish. Fish start going deep and acting differently than they did in the summer and if you choose to Creek fish you're not climatized to the cold yet and your fingers start freezing making your fishing trip not enjoyable. You can put on gloves but they just get in the way of your line and will probably make you even more frustrated. December is usually not cold enough in the GTA to have enough ice to ice fish yet but with Christmas most people are too busy to even notice.
So you see if you count Novembers purpose to absolutely bore you to death and basically kick u in the balls. To tell you the summer fishing is over,
every month seems to have a purpose expepct for Late march and that is when the madness ensues.
The whole month is a Gamble. There is no fixed time on when the ice is going to break out and you can't ice fish anymore. There is no set time how long it's going to take for you to put the boat in. All you can do is sit there and wait and it drives you nuts. You can watch fishing shows but that makes it worse and you can watch College basketball but... Boring but even if you like it it's only a week and you end up right back with the rest of us ....
shopping for fishing stuff you don't need just for something to do That's remotely related to fishing for your favourite fish and its very convenient that all of the "spring shows" happen right in this lull. Then when your money has run dry you organise all of the new lures and gear you got and tie up all your rods so that you're ready but then what? You look at the calandar and see that it's not even April yet and you still have 3 more months until bass season ahhhhhhhhhh
2 and a half until Muskie, 2 until walleye, 1 and a half until pike 30 days until rainbows and all of that feels like an eternity, An eternity that can drive you MAD

Excellent summarization of the seasons.

LOL great read...

YUP I have been buying fishing stuff that I don't need..

I agree. I have a fishing fever.

really---that rarely happens to most fishermen i know?!!

Agreed, except I dunno how you define Sport fishing, but hammering big jumbos on ultra light gear is just as much fun for me as hauling in big bass!

so true...….. I have a to list that is mind boggling.....every minor fix on my boats takes 4 times longer than scheduled and so does the price


went tp bp yesterday to pick up 1 item, ya right, that did not happen


was going tp do the bottom coat paint today, forecast 13 and sunny, that changed to rain


all part of the process though

You have the Steelheading part backwards. Right now is better than April for steelheading and November is the best time of the year.

ya, altho I enjoyed that read and know where you are coming from...….depending on where you live


some species are readily available on those 'off months" you refer to

salmon are on in April for sure and bass in November can be unreal just to name 2

Yup.

Went to bps a few weeks ago for a reel. They were sold out of the reel and yet I walked out with this receipt.

I more so meant waiting for the season to start but ya If you don't mind fishing below the CN bridges and braving the cold yup I hear it's good.
Me personally I don't like fishing the in-between months. In the winter you dress for the cold and all is good. But I find it hard working the line in streams with gloves on but if you don't wear gloves it's only a matter of time before your hands are cold hence why most wait for the weather to warm up around opener.
Good on those who brave it and are successful and same with november bass. but for me... Nope it's a lull period

@longshank November bass are good when u can find them. I personally can only find cold weather skunks in November

Yup.

Went to bps a few weeks ago for a reel. They were sold out of the reel and yet I walked out with this receipt.

yes, we all seem to have this wacko disease......hopefully incurable

Anytime...All the time...For anything

March to me is the last month I'm allowed to buy tackle without risking dipping into bass season gas money and expenditures. Now that I'm broke nothing left to do this month but google map some new lakes to explore and goals to be reached (come on 18 straight weekends of bass fishing. )

April and May will most likely be needed to install 2 fish finders and a g-force handle.....wish I was handy feel like these things shouldn't take 8 weeks.

Really enjoyed the read, thanks Fork

Not if your here on the Notty---can you say 'double double'??