Chris Maroldy
After a cool start earlier this year, fishing at Jordan is heating up as we head into the prime time of March and April, the peak of the spawning season.
This year, we didn’t really get the one or two warm spells we usually do in January and February so it seems to me we’re getting a little bit of a late jump on the spring bass and crappie. Cold water, erratic weather and fluctuating water levels will do that. March is leveling off now and looking good going forward, though.
I have an old fishing buddy who used to like to start his bass fishing year mid-April, after his taxes were done. I always enjoyed the first trip out with him because the weather was good and so was his mood, unless he’d just had to stroke a check to Uncle Sam. If that was the case, though, the fishing took at least a little bit of the edge off.
But it wasn’t usually the *best* fishing, at least for largemouths, because the biggest fish usually swing aboard at Jordan before April Fool’s. Our initial trips often resulted in good *numbers* of fish as smaller males could be aggressive once you found them, but it’s a missed opportunity for larger pre-spawn females if you neglect March at Jordan. Early trips (even into February) often reward crappie fishermen with some of the biggest fish of the year as well.
There are a lot of challenges to fishing Jordan in March and April, but one saving grace is that given enough time in a day or in a fishing career, you will find fish relatively shallow if you cover enough water. Jordan can be an intimidating lake if you are accustomed to finding fish using visible shoreline cover, and a lot of the best fishing *is* “offshore.”
But the sooner you realize that visible cover can be a crutch, and that the fish are between your boat and the bank throughout the spring almost regardless of what the bank looks like, the better off you’ll be. Don’t go crazy and hug the bank on a blustery day in the middle of a cold front, but you know what I mean.
Speaking of blustery, one of the bigger challenges to fishing Jordan at this time of year is the wind. Jordan can be wide, flat and open, and a stiff spring wind can make boat positioning a challenge if you’re not ready for it.
Technology can be your friend here, offering everything from power poles to trolling motors that use GPS to hold your position or even follow an underwater contour that holds promise, if not fish as well. It’s not just a matter of your grandpappy’s anchor anymore, though the wise use of such ancient tech in a stiff wind or current is a skill to admire.
Another challenge at Jordan as the season progresses is the fishing and boating pressure, particularly on weekends. (Wind and boat wakes are two of my favorite things as a kayak fisherman, by the way.) Just as you can make the wind work for you (by pushing baitfish or warm water, or by providing a slow drift) so too can you put your fishing competition to good use.
I always like to watch what the flotilla of crappie boats are doing, since that gives me a sense of the paths and positions that both crappie and bass are taking. In addition to the vertical structure that crappie particularly love, keep an eye out for productive channels, stumpfields, and points for bass, particularly if they are near firm-bottomed spawning flats. Over time, you’ll begin to unlock the secrets to early fish at Jordan.
