Spring stocking has begun, but not as I'd hoped. Many of the ponds were not stocked on schedule, and it looks like a repeat of last year. In an attempt to get in on the first stocking of the year, I drove more than 30 minutes to a pond I hadn't fished before. It was supposed to have been stocked with 450 rainbow trout. I didn't get a single bite. I was ready to head home and decided to stop by a neighboring pond that was supposed to have been stocked as well. I almost didn't bother, but I got out with just one rod and gave it a go. Boy, am I glad I did.

Fishing the stocked pond as the sun rises. Will it pay off better than in the evening? Honeyworms dominated, but as the sun rises higher, the baits start changing in hopes of keeping the fish biting.

Back at the neighborhood stocked pond. The pond was supposed to have been stocked the previous day. There have been disruptions to the schedule this fall, and so I wasn't sure what I would find. When I approached the pond, I didn't see any surfacing and was concerned it hadn't been stocked as scheduled. I was wrong. What a day it turned into.