I guess it’s a case of old habits die hard. My fishing friends and I are in the habit of fishing from the shore at the middle net pens on Rufus Woods and catching fish. We have been doing this for years. I’m not saying we are always getting our two-fish limits, but we have had days when four of us have done so after fishing for just a few hours. Not so on Thursday. James Lebow and I just had to give it another try. Our supply of triploid fillets is either low or gone, and we both would like to get enough for a smoker load. Just after we arrived the fish checkers came by and said that so far this month the fishing has been slow. Everyone figures it’s the cold weather and cold water has the trout lethargic. Banks Lake is still mostly open water and hasn’t frozen enough for ice fishing for whitefish that is popular this time of year. I checked on the ice in the Coulee City Marina, on the way home, and the ice isn’t thick enough here either. Rufus needs to warm up and Banks needs to get colder. What a spot we are in.