Running a Temperature..

No I'm not ill, not in the true sense anyway, I think I might have fishing OCD though!
Actually I have been following water temperatures very closely this year, in order to try and ascertain a benchmark figure for when, as precisely as possible, it reaches a realisitic level when one might feasibly start catching fish. Saltwater fly fishing, as with all other forms of angling is not an exact science, there are many variables to contend with, but it is possible to pinpoint certain factors and conditions that promote the best chance of catching, at any given time. It's quite painful watching the water temperatures on a daily basis, as they creep up almost imperceptably, but over a period of a few weeks you can begin to see the daily peaks and averages going up. Yesterday for a short time they crept over the ten degrees mark, with an average of around 8.5. Whether this is 'the' trigger point I don't know, we have just had the Spring Equinox, when the Moon was at it's closest to the Earth for twenty years. The tides were the biggest of the year, I'm wondering if this, combined with the warmer weather we have been having recently, ( air temps in the upper teens ), will have encouraged a few fish to sneak inshore for an early feed? I'm writing these thoughts as a personal record so I can look back in future seasons and make comparisons, to try and understand the factors that might combine to produce a realistic starting point. We have already been out a few times to chance our arm, but of course so far we have failed to catch, but you have to start somewhen, and the weather has been reasonably favourable and pleasant in which to cast a fly line, so why not? The last couple of seasons we have not caught fish until April, so we may well have a couple of weeks left yet, but either way we are close, and I can't wait!