After years of delays, Southwest Park/Randleman Lake has finally opened. The weather was beautiful on Sunday so Ed and I headed out for a bit of paddling and fishing. We had high hopes that since very few people had been fishing here we would have good luck.

Ed has a theory that when you have a new lake or pond and the fish haven’t see artificial lures yet, that they are more likely to bite. He thinks they get gun shy after being caught a few times. Fortunately for the rest of you, we didn’t scare any of the fish by catching them. Sometimes I imagine them at underwater fish bars floating about and laughing and telling stories about me.

Seriously, the real reason most folks aren’t reeling in the numbers probably has to do with the water temperature. Even though it has finally started to warm up, the water is still at a cool 50 degrees (we found a few spots at 55). However, we did hear stories of a 9lb bass caught a few days earlier.

We haven’t caught anything in months, but Ed says it is still practice. I sure hope he is right. We are “practicing” and getting ready for the Get Outdoors fishing tournament on April 10th. Ed won the fly fishing category last year so he has high hopes. I don’t have too much hope, but it sure would be really nice to beat Ed, plus a few prizes never hurts the budget.

Southwest Park Information:
Only non motorized boats
Launch fee-$4
Be aware you will need a “waste” bag (for sale-$5) or 5gallon bucket with a lid

edgar

Here are a few links for the new lake.

http://www.southwestpark.info/

http://www.ptrwa.org/rec.htm