I am loving this cold windy weather!

I hope the cooler the air temps slow the warming of the creeks and rivers. If they warm up too quick, all these beautiful fish we are catching close to home will migrate elsewhere. It seemed like all our fish arrived early due to a extended warming trend, in the spring. The fishing is excellent this year.

This was last night. Why these big Stripers eat these little Walleye plugs is beside me. This one straightened out one set of hooks and mangled the other. There was one tine of a small size 6 Treble still holding as I slid the fish to my feet. Cynthia Sarnoski took the photo as I quickly raised up the fish for a quick shot and released it.

This is the worst way to hold a Striper for Pictures. I should have supported the body with my other hand. In the excitement of the moment I forgot to use proper technique. While releasing the fish, I held the fish by the lip in the water until she bit down hard on my thumb, while grabbing the Wrist of the tail with the other hand she let go of my thumb. When she kicked hard away I let her go and watched her swim into the depths.

If I could apologize that fish for poor handling I would.