Fishing and the Farmer's Almanac

You may notice that it's been a while since my last post.  Rest assured that there have been trips, just not a lot of success.  As I've mentioned before, bites in the winter tend to slow way down.

In this part of Texas, winter weather is a roller coaster.  It might be in the 30's for a high and the 70's for a high in the same week.  The bizarre thing is that I've hit the lake on some of those 70 degree days with an arsenal of baits ... and nothing.

By contrast, the 3.5 lbs bass I caught last month was on a 46 degree day.  I was discussing some of this with a fellow fisherman at work.  He mentioned that he was going to try it this weekend.

That surprised me because our forecast was cold and rainy.  At that point, my friend mentioned the Farmer's Almanac.  The almanac forecasts good fishing days for 2015, and he said this weekend's fishing forecast was good.

I was intrigued.  Like most everything else, the Farmer's Almanac is online.  I took a look, and I learned a lot.  The almanac's forecast takes into account moon phases and tides, both of which affect fish feeding activity.  That's even true inland, away from the sea.

So my daughter and I gave it a shot.  It was in the 40's and sunny, but the windchill was in the 30's.  Once the bait was set, we stayed in the car and watched the poles.  I cracked a window so that she could blow bubbles.

The baits were worms and chicken livers, both of which I was able to get at Walmart.

What happened next surprised me.  The fish started biting almost immediately.  They were all bullhead catfish, and most were small.  Here are the two larger ones.

I can now say that I'm a believer in the Farmer's Almanac.  I think it's especially helpful in winter when fishing becomes more difficult and you need every advantage.

On a warm day during any part of the year OTHER than winter, would I do something else because the almanac says it's a bad fishing day?  Not a chance!

Tight lines!