February

There are only 24 days left in February, in my book that means 24 days until I can realistically start targeting bass again.  The first decent striper fishing in the Chesapeake is generally once we've had a sustained period of weather over 50 degrees and some sun that will warm up the water.  In late February and March the sun will warm up the water considerably more than the air temperature.  On a sunny in shallow areas with dark bottom you can actually see higher water temps than air.  These are the places I target first.  This is also a good time for kayak and shorebound anglers to explore some local spots that don't get much boat boat pressure.  In my experience the same philosophy will apply up and down the east coast for bass.  On the cape the shallowest parts of the harbors and bays will warm up to the point bass can be caught there by late April as long as we get a normal spring weather pattern.