Good Fishing About to Hit the Skids

The snow was falling today but the
fish were still hitting. Looks like
fishing is heading downhill, again.

Get ready for the deep freeze that is coming weekend along with a snowstorm that has the potential to bury us next week.  Here we go on the March roller coaster.  Just when carp fishing was coming alive, it's all about to go downhill.  In the last three days I have landed 24 carp, real good numbers for this time of year. That warm spell on Wed., and Thurs., of this week really got the fish feeding. I even got out today in the snow and cold and landed 5 fish on a snowy bank.
I will have to say that while the fish have been hitting they have been sluggish on the take and on the fight.  That's all due to the cold water.  So, I changed up tactics a bit.  Instead of putting the bait directly on a small hook (not working this week), I tied up some smaller hair rigs.  I used a #10 hook and tied a small hair that would take only two small pieces of sweet corn, used lighter line on the hooklink (30 lb. test Power Pro), and added a small swivel.  I also went smaller on the sinker, opting for a half ounce steel egg sinker.  I also used a small method ball. It all worked great as I seemed to do much better with the smaller stuff.  I even set up a light steelhead rod and loaded it with a Shimano baitrunner with 8 lb. test mono.  That outfit seemed to get the most attention.
I'm more than certain the coming cold and snow will put the ice back onto still waters. I'm guessing we might be looking at 7-10 days before I can get again. So, it's back to the ski slopes for me!