Saturday, June 17, 2023

Fishing for satisfaction

With luck, we may get some rain tonight and tomorrow. We could use it. Much of our area is back under moderate drought. I’m debating if a wet day tomorrow means Mother Nature is giving us a father’s day present of some much needed rain or if she’s spoiling father’s day barbecues with rain. Is the cup half full or half empty?

Streamflow along much of the Minnesota side of the St. Croix river is below the 7 day average for this time of year. I’m going to see if I can manage a half day or so of field check on the Wisconsin side one day next week. Smoky air kept me inside more than I’d planned for the week just ending. Then again, next week is forecast to be at or near 90℉, a little warm for pleasant field work even if it is near, but not in, a cold water stream. I seem to recall predicting last winter that Mother Nature would compensate for excessive winter conditions by providing excessive conditions this summer. Looks like she’s making an honest man of me, so far.

cool looking trout water
cool looking trout water
Photo by J. Harrington

We’re coming up on one of my favorite times for fishing for trout, when the tricos (Tricorythodes sp.) begin to hatch. It will be interesting to see (literally) if I can still tie on a size 18 or 20 fly to the end of a very fine tippet. Maybe I’ll just tuck a rod and some hip boots in the back of the Jeep if I get out to field check conditions. Many years ago, when I was a boy scout, I learned to “be prepared.”


Trout


I do my best 
to keep pointlessness 
at bay. But here, 
wet above my 
knees, I let it fly. 
Here, hot and cold, 
fingers thick with 
thinking, I try to 
tie the fly and look 
for the net, loosening 
the philosophical   
knot of why I came 
here today, not yet 
knowing whether 
I’ll free or fry 
the rainbows 
and browns once 
they’re mine.


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