With the whacky weather we've had this year, with waters being much warmer than expected for the given time of year, and the natural habit of fish to act and react to those weather events, it's no wonder the fishing has been so unpredictable and unproductive from shore.
If you have a boat and the time to spend on the water, you will be in a better position to find the fish.
I've pretty much given up on fishing this year due to the lack of sufficient time to go where I want, when I want and the weather conditions, overall water temps and general disgrace with the fishing in this state (as a whole) have helped make that decision a hell of a lot easier.
only kidding.....
I couldn't go as much as I wanted because of committments at work and at home. I have noticed that freshwater locations are way too warm for any real active fishing. Fish just don't want to exert themselves when the water is like bathtub warm.
I wouldn't mind a nice cold spell, enough to cool things down.
You know it's been too warm when after a decent rain like we had last week I spent about an hour just to collect a dozen nightcrawlers when I could usualy get 4-5 dozen in that same time, picking and choosing in the process.
With the way this year has been progressing, I only hope we have a cold enough winter for safe ice fishing!