The change of seasons is finally upon us. Meteorological Spring started March 1st. The Spring Equinox was on the 20th. For most people, Spring begins when the weather turns and you can open the windows and the crocuses bloom. We finally have a near-term warming trend which looks like it will hold or improve for the next few weeks at least. For me, this means a lot of things. It means the Spring flowers will bloom and that I need to start my tomatoes and that I can get out in the garden and hoe down the overwintered weeds. It means that I finally don't have a weather related excuse why I can't clean the garage out. Outside projects like filling a couple holes in the driveway and repainting the shed doors and replacing the window trim on the house are all on the horizon. Most importantly (to this post anyway), it is the start of the saltwater fishing season.
I'm not a big freshwater fisherman. A lot of people go nuts over trout, but I've never even caught one. It's one of the first fish you can catch and keep in the Spring, but the idea of waking up at 3 a.m. to stake out a spot on opening day doesn't sound all that appealing. For me, the start of the season is when the squid arrive. They come in sometime between mid-March and early-June every year in anything from small pods to massive ones. Living here, I always wanted to go out squid jigging in the Spring. I would hear stories and see the results of people who would fill a 5 gallon bucket in an hour back in the 80s and early 90s. For some reason, I could never get my fishing act in gear until the main part of the run was over.
Two years ago, I was on the ball, prepped and ready to go with jigs and a rod and bucket in my trunk at all times. I checked the forums, went out early, stayed out late, lost sleep, and obsessively read fishing reports. All of this was for nothing though because 2013 was the Spring-squid-run-that-wasn't. So, last year, I was a little hopeful, but mostly reserved because I didn't think I would ever see a bucket full of squid. However, my reserved hope was more than enough because it was a banner year for squid. In fact, it was probably the best year for squid from shore in a decade or two.
So now, as we approach the start of the new saltwater fishing season, the question remains. Will this be another banner year? It makes some sense. If there were more squid, then there would be more squid eggs. If there are more squid eggs, there should be even more squid. Further, if the weather has been bad enough (it was) to keep the commercial squid vessels in port, then there should be more squid to make it inshore. Lastly, if the weather breaks hard so that it goes from frigid to warm and stays that way, the squid should move en-masse like they did last year. So, all in all, I am hopeful that this will be another good year for squid. Only time will tell though. Fortunately, with the change in weather, that time is near.
