It was a glorious day to be at the beach and with good company it’s just that much better. We are on the verge of getting that summer heat that Iv’e missed for so long.

A week ago, I wouldn’t think of going swimming. The water was still in the mid to lower sixties. This weekend I would guess it’s approaching seventy degrees. I swam around for a couple minutes and it wasn’t too bad.

In another couple weeks, once Memorial Day hits, this place will turn into a real paradise. I suspect there will be many sunny, hot weekends at the beach, and I can’t wait.

These early summer days are really the best. You can get down to the beach before too many other visitors know its warm enough. Plus I like the idea of getting a head start on my tan.

Emerald Isle beaches are absolutely splendid this time of year, and will only become more inviting as the mercury rises.

If you haven’t made it out yet this year, it’s prime time at the moment. We’ll see you out there.

But this cold weather does have an upside. The fishing should actually get pretty hot during these cold days. Yes there should be some nice fishing for reds and trout if you can stand the cold. Right about this time last year a buddy and I had some killer Emerald Isle fishing. I hope this cold spell brings that kind of action back. It was cold as you want it that day.

But if I remember correctly we still killed them right into February and maybe March. So if we’re lucky this cold spell could bring in some excellent fishing to the Crystal Coast area.

And if that’s the case, you don’t want to miss out. Plenty of my friends were bummed out they never got out for some winter fishing action. I know its hard to believe, but the fish can go crazy sometimes with these cold snaps. I’m thinking Sunday may be the best day since there will be two nights in a row of bitter cold air temperatures.

What do the other Crystal Coast Anglers think?

Not a good day for fishing or anything outdoors really. I was nearly blown into Bogue Sound while walking my dog earlier. And with the cooler temps and cold water, it would have been no picnic.

The worst part is we’re in for a cooldown after this wind moves out of here. Apparently there’s some cold front generating all the wind. So once it’s gone the temps will plunge downard. Yikes!

I really am spoiled from living on the Crystal Coast. I get cold once the temperature is below 68 degrees. Which is wierd because as a kid growing up in Missouri I was pretty acclimated to much colder temperatures.

At any rate, you know what they say about the weather on the Crystal Coast…”If you don’t like the weather, stick around it will change soon.”

Today was so nice, it was hard to be at work, when all I wanted to do was knock off and go fishing. I think we hit near 70 degrees today, maybe even higher, that’s just a guess. And they’re saying mid seventies on Friday. I’m thinking about fishing the weekend since the temperatures are supposed to drop back into the fifties over theweekend.

Tomorrow look for temperatures in the sixties, then dropping to the fifties in the late afternoon to evening. There’s also a 50% risk of showers. There is currently a small craft advisory so boating may be out of the question.

But with seas anywhere from 3 to 6 feet, they’re may be some decent surf.

The rest of the week looks to provide highs of around the mid-sixties, then hit the seventies at the end of the week before dipping slighty on Saturday.