By RACHEL HUNTER

Staff writer

Jeff Springer thought the heated fishing dock would help him catch some fish.

“It’s spawning time; they like to congregate around this area,” the Florence resident said. “But they weren’t biting today. It’s horrible weather for fishing. The wind was pretty bad, but I gave it a shot anyway.”

Springer did catch a couple fish on Saturday, but not as many as he usually does on his weekend excursions to Marion County Park and Lake. He, along with other fishermen along the lakeshore, contributed their lack of success to unseasonably cool weather.

“You have to have the right conditions or else the fish will just stay right there in the water,” he said.

He said Saturday’s conditions were warm enough for the fishermen, but not for the fish.

George Turnbell said he believed more people would have been utilizing the heated fishing dock if the weather had been cooler and the crappies were interested in what was on the other end of their poles.

Lake Superintendent Steve Hudson agreed, saying that in the past few weeks he’s seen people get up and leave because it was too crowded in the dock to fish.

Even though there was no real reason to be on the heated fishing dock, Joshua Crayton enjoyed fishing from the porch outside, because that’s the area where he finds a lot of the fish congregate.

“I always had good luck inside the dock, so I’m hoping it’s going to be the same out here,” he said as he settled himself on a chair on the porch. “It’s only a couple of feet. It shouldn’t make that much of a difference.”

Other fisherman, like Ben Tyson, didn’t care about whether they were on the fishing dock or not. Tyler said he tried fishing from there a couple months ago when it was colder, but said it wasn’t the same and left after only moments of being there.

“Part of the fun is getting away from people,” he said. “You can’t think when you fish if there’s too much racket going on around you.”

Tyler believes more people needed to experience the sport from a boat.

“It’s just different when you’re in the middle of the lake,” he said. “It’s peaceful. I love it. I get to come out here with my sons and just enjoy the afternoon. It gives us a chance to talk about stuff — everything from girls to school and their hopes for the future. You wouldn’t necessarily get to do that in front of a whole bunch of people.”

The fishing dock is open to the public 24 hours per day.