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Sharing Opening "week" Steelhead


Paulus

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It's been a surprising spring, here in southern Ontario. Summer-like temperatures during March Break seemed to herald an early and almost unnaturally warm spring. But snow in April and many night-time temps below zero seemed to put the brakes on it, and it left a little hope that there would be some rainbows left in the rivers come opener.

 

I was concerned with the lack of rain at one point, but I booked time off & made plans nonetheless.

 

As you get older, fishing becomes less about your own little victories and more about those of others.

 

On opening day, for my son and his little buddy, piscatorial success of the steelhead kind remained a future endeavor, though they did manage to hook one that got off. That provoked some oooo's and aaaahh's and probably planted a little seed...

 

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Walking to the next spot, after our little friend had to go to Lacrosse practice, somebody got tired. This is how it is.

 

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But we made an early return home and, now, he wants to get back at 'er :). 6 years old and counting. Star Wars and Hockey; and now fishing.

 

Sunday saw me driving a good distance from home to spend a day with a friend. The river was somewhat stingy, too clear and in my estimation abysmally low.

 

One I managed, early.

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My friend, plying the waters with a drift, while having a puff.

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An onlooker:

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Monday was not going to be a full day. One of the things that depress me about the trout opener, sometimes, is that finicky spring-times can be really dry. And when it's like that - maybe I'm getting old but - merely seeing fish (who spook at the first sight of your shadow) just doesn't do it for me. There was a stretch of river that I wanted to explore, and I didn't think it would take me much past noon to do so. Plus fishing there had the added benefit of getting me home in time to be of some use to the missus... always a good calculation for future days on the water, in my books :whistling: .

 

Not entirely unexpectedly, I had good results, and the best part was that I got to do battle with this tremendous fish - who dragged me down several yards of river and leapt and flashed many times in doing so. I took my sweet time releasing this one, because it really did give me an "epic" fight! It's important to make sure that they have a chance to rest a little before you let them go.

 

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I wasn't sure if I really wanted to fish on Tuesday. As it turns out, one of my friends who wanted to join me for the day could only go on that specific day. So I resigned myself to my fate, ready to fish more low and gin clear flows; until, not long after I got home on Monday, a wonderful thing: rain! Over the previous week, the weather network had called for 1mm at one point, scaled it up to 5m then, to nothing, then again to 1... but by the time I took the garbage out in the evening, there were worms out on the pavement - surely more than 10mm of blessed wetness!

 

My buddy is not only a good fisherman, but a great photographer. He keeps telling me how great my shots are.... (three from me):

 

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But he's no slouch either...(three from him):

 

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This trip lasted all day, and the rain was just the thing to make the fish happy and give them added flow for their voyage back to the Lake.

 

Getting home, I packed everything away until next fall. Steelhead opener's done for me for another year :blush:

 

Thanks for reading :)

 

p.-

Edited by Paulus
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T'as l'air pas mal cool avec ton cigar dans y'eule..

 

Encore mieux avec un poisson s'a ligne. :canadian:

 

Well done bud.

 

 

cheers

HD

 

Eille, mon estique! Presqu'aussi beau que toé avec tes belles p'tites mouchetées :)

 

Glad to see you had success buddy. Love the shot with the giant stogy LOL!

 

 

Me too,you don't see a lot of that anymore.:good:

 

 

Thanks for the kind replies :)

 

Yes, I do like a stogie now and then. I used to smoke 'em casually, sitting on the porch on a warm summer evening - but now I find I only take one out when I go fishing. Much less expensive (and I assume healthier) that way.

 

Tuesday was just an awesome day for one, too. Not a breath of wind most of the day, meant I could blow smoke rings like a pro. Plus the fish were cooperating. Add good company in the mix, plus a miraculously unexpected dose of rain - and it was a sweet day indeed. It ended my season with a real BANG!

 

:P

 

p.-

Edited by Paulus
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