[Billfish715]

There are more and more occasions each spring when someone catches a fluke while chunking for stripers before the season starts. The water is still cold, but yet, the fluke are there. The cold water did not stop them from moving inshore. Their naturally imprinted migratory patterns keep them swimming toward the beach despite the temps. Water temps inside the rivers and bays are warmer than the ocean and that acts as a fish magnet which draws them in. This ice may slow them down a bit however. I'm more convinced that freshwater runoff has a much bigger influence on the migration patterns of some species than water temps. Lots of freshwater from floods and melt off reduces the salinity of the ocean waters as it flushed farther off the beach. It has to force some seasonal migratory changes from year to year. But, as sure as the tide changes, the fish and the fishermen still show up.......ice or no ice......cold water or low salinity. Any predictions on when the first keeper flounder is caught?