Okechobee

B.A.S.S. will begin their 2010 season with the Southern Open on Lake Okechobee tommorow. As everyone, or nearly everyone knows the weather has NOT been cooperating. Yet the reports are for the temperatures to warm into the 70's tommorow and remain there for the rest of the week. We are supposed to get into the 40's this week, in New England, and hopefully this will bode well for the guys in FLA.
I can't help but find this funny, though, because a few anglers in Florida are reporting water temps in the 40's. The last time I went out in my boat the water temp was about 48 degrees. It was like being in Alaska, though in New England we are used to dealing with relatively long winters. Lake Winniepesaukee is 34 degrees, and that is about as cold as it will get, iced over until April. Yet a lot of smaller lakes down here, in southern NH, are still provinding largemouths out of the ice. I, however, will probably not be icefishing at all this year. I'll be happy to wait until things warm up.
And therein lies the irony. In Florida the fish will be spawning next week. SPAWNING! That doesn't happen for at least 6 months here! Think about that. It's a 24 hour car drive but only a 2-3 hour plane ride to most parts of Florida from New England. Wow. I envy that, big time. But that's the way it goes. Granted, a lot of this might be overstated (will the fish really be spawning?), but to those of us who deal with ice a lot of the time the fantasy is worth it.