And the Groundhog Says:

Spring in Wisconsin is a wonderful time. I can remember running out to the playground at recess and the teachers scolding us for not wearing our jackets – it was only 45, but after a long cold winter it felt warm to us.

Spring is a season that titillates all the senses. There is the warm sun on your back, the smell, feel of the warming earth – you can actually taste Spring! Look close and you can see Crocus, Daffodils, and Tulips just starting to push through the sun warmed rich black soil along the side of the house, oblivious to the rim of ice still clinging to the cement.

As we grew older Spring became about the opening day of the fishing season The ice was off the lake, and it was time to get out and soak in the experience. Not the Johnny Bassboat kind of fishing where some hillbilly is trying to live out his dream of being the champion of the Bassmaster tournament by dashing from spot to spot guided by his trusty fish finder. No, this fishing was leisurely, filling the senses with sun, birdsong, the languid waters parting under the keel of the boat. Sure, once in awhile a pan-fishing derby would break out where my brother and I would try to out do each other catching small fry - The surprise of seeing a tiny fish dangling in front of my eyes as my brother notifies me this one gives him the lead. Life couldn’t get much better then a boat, my brother, and a six-pack. If the fish were biting that was ok, but the main reason for being out there was just being out there. No worries out on the lake, with the exception of hitting a snag and losing your favorite lure, or finding out that was your last casting bobber now hanging out of reach in the branch of a tree.

I still look forward to spring such as it is here in the Valley of the Sun. Tough to have much of a spring since we don’t have much of a winter. All said and done there is really no one to fish with; but no matter the fishing is sparse anyway. Sometimes I sit in the back yard, a Four Peaks Kiltlifters Ale in hand and just close my eyes and imagine I am back out on the lake and just let the world drift by.