The Mid-Winter Blahs
To be on the river again, where even the tiniest brookie makes the day worth it.
After two days of clear, perfect driving conditions, Mother Nature once again decided to throw a temper tantrum. While I did my best to make it to school, the big white flakes of snow causing reduced visibility, the brown slush making my snow tires spin going uphill, and the roads blockaded by flashing lights from emergency vehicles, all combined to make me re-think the drive and head home. I spent the rest of the day working on school assignments and watching the snow weigh down the boughs of the spruce trees.
Normally, I would love a good snowfall. However, I find myself longing for green grass, sunny skies, and open water. As much as I love ice fishing, I am starting to get sick of donning my floater suit and slogging through the snow to set up the ice hut and fish through a hole. Perhaps all I need is another great outing on the ice. Our last couple of outings have involved small fish and slow days. Hooking into some aggressive slab crappies is usually a good way to cheer me up. But until that happens, I find myself continuing to fight the mid-winter blahs. I am tired of driving on snow-covered roads and constantly checking the weather to see if I will make it to school, or if I will make it home. Winters such as these may be a defining part of our Canadian identity, but I can’t help feeling tired of it.
What I want more than anything right now, is to be wearing my waders, walking the shores of my favorite brook trout streams, fly rod in hand. The clear, babbling water, the sweet smell of cedars, and those enticing overhangs that whisper for you to cast to them. The anticipation while drifting the fly along just the right path, and the excitement of the shadow that darts out to greet it. I long for the bright colours and spunky attitudes of the little trout that I will pull in for a quick picture before watching them swim away. I want to sit on shore, under the shade of the cedars, and just watch the fish as they go about their day.
This passion for fishing really took hold after long days on the river, chasing brook trout and marveling at their behaviour. There were so many nights I would come home from work, grab my fishing rod, and take Jack (our Australian Shepherd) down to the river. More often than not, Darrell would join us when he got home from work and we would fish until it was dark. I miss those days more than ever during this long winter. There are still a few months until trout opener, but the anticipation is already building. It won’t be long, my dear brookies, until we meet again. Maybe that thought is what it will take to get me through these cold, snowy, blustery days.
argosgirl
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It’s hitting me hard, too. It’s been winter since November, and it looks like it has all intentions of remaining winter until April. The fishing’s pretty bad lately, too. I keep wishing for a beach vacation to break up the snowy monotony, but I doubt that’s in the cards.
A beach vacation is not in the cards around here, but I agree, it would be nice!
I’m longing for those green brook trout days myself, but the caps of snow and ice are still between us and the fish. We’ll have to tough it out and keep on dreaming.
After looking at pictures from the last few trout openers, I`ll have no problem dreaming about them 🙂
I always get that here in NC. It doesn’t snow a lot but it’s too cold to fish. The fish stay deep and seem to disappear from their normal lies.
The cold is as bad as the snow. Just keep focused on the warm sunny days, they’ll be here eventually!