The Warming
By Darrell Pendergrass
The problem with warm weather at any point in the winter is that immediately my thoughts turn to the Brule River and fishing for steelhead trout, which is strictly not a winter sport. Not for me.
I guess it’s the smell of spring that comes with the warm temperatures that does it. It’s the feel of April. It’s the thought of sliding into a pair of waders and edging into the waters of Douglas County that gets me.
Eventually that feeling is going to come, and if it happens in late February or anytime in March that’s OK; any time earlier and you’ve got problems.
Still, ones thoughts turn to strolling along the banks of the river as it surges and careens and scrambles from the higher elevations up near the Town of Brule, before tumbling headlong toward Lake Superior itself. The air is crisp. A chickadee sings off in the cedars somewhere. Anglers greet one another with hardy “Hellos” and cheery chilled smiles.
But wait – there’s a lot of winter yet to come. There are many more snow-blower wrestling matches still to endure. I’ll have to get through several snowball attacks with the kids down by the garage. Darn these warm temperatures.
See, it doesn’t make much sense to be sitting atop a stand in the hardwoods hunting deer with your thoughts continually drifting over to steelhead. The two just don’t go together. When hunting deer your thoughts should be firmly fixed upon what’s for dinner and when do the Packers play next. Nothing else.
Case in point, this past November the temperatures got up around 40 degrees or so and I had that tinge of angling anticipation, the earliest known case of this affliction I’ve ever encountered. In fact, I phoned angling buddy and fly-fishing guru Dangerous Dan Bloomquist smack dab in the middle of deer season to see if he was feeling it, too. See, I usually don’t call Dan that often because the phone is way over on the other side of the living room and anytime my wife catches me standing she starts barking orders to get some chores done.
Anyhoo, I did phone my friend and sure enough Dan was feeling fishy also. Then I started thinking, which doesn’t happen every day, but I thought perhaps this ‘thing’ truly was an affliction. Maybe it is a medical problem. So I did some looking on the Internet.
Steelheadeous Anticipationeous is the mental and physical desire to angle for lake-run rainbow trout, diagnosed by restless sleep, tremors in the extremities and an obsession with paging through outdoor magazines and catalogues that specialize in the sport; the disease is brought on by warming temperatures and sporting good shows. Patients sometimes will gaze open mouthed and glossy eyed at outdoor television broadcasts focused on angling of any kind. Cures include the purchasing of new fishing rods and reels, as well as a few good smacks upside the head. Symptoms will vary as temperatures flux prior to opening day.
Then again, Dangerous Dan has steelhead fever year-round, no matter the temperature. “You bet I’d go today, if the season was open. I was out combing through my fishing gear just yesterday. I would only need a few hundred new flies and I’d be set,” Dan said.
Those who know Dan know his collection of fishing flies is second only to the Cabelas Company, he has THAT many flies. He once tried to have his fishing vest and flies insured, but the company wouldn’t bite because if his collection actually burned in a house fire it would bankrupt the firm. In fact, I believe most of Dan’s fishing gear is kept in a walk-in safe somewhere in the basement of his home; or that may just be a Trout Unlimited rumor.
But back to the topic at hand – so, the weather was warm, I was wanting to go steelheading, my friends Dan would have gone along as well, and instead I was hunting deer. Which is funny in a non-humorous sort of way – because I shot as many deer as I caught steelhead.
The point here? There’s never a point. Only that it was warm, I was hunting deer and I wanted to go steelheading.
If it stays warm it’s going to be a long winter.
Darrell Pendergrass lives in Grand View.