All the Signs are Here...

Another gorgeous day on the water yesterday. It was a fantastic day. The trees are all budding

(sniffle, cough- allergies kick in) and the sun is shining. Water temps are coming up. 

I looked around for the signs I had been waiting for. Then the first came in an unexpected manner; I got a text message. Oh the wonders of the modern world! My buddy (and fishing guide extraordinaire) Jesse Haller of the Middlebury Mountaineer shot me a photo of a mayfly and the note that Hendricksons are coming off. Very nice! 

I sent him a pic back a few moments later as I found one of the things that I had been looking for. The mottled leaves of the trout lily (Erythronium americanum) were all over the place but I had been looking for the little yellow flower that is its bloom. When the Hendricksons are around the lilies are blooming. But that is not what I was thinking about...

As I tossed a streamer tight against the bank I saw what would look like a rock to most observers. I knew otherwise. I worked the pool carefully without moving anything. Another cast near the front of the hole got me stuck on bottom and gave me the chance to investigate further. AHA! I was right! It was one of the other signs I had been expecting. A wood turtle (Glyptemis insculpta for you other geeks out there) was sunning itself. I walked over and picked it up. The concave plastron (bottom) of his shell gave away his sex. A few pics (and some hissing and snapping from him!) he was on his way. A while later I saw a pair of them fully engaged in their vernal reproductive ritual. I felt like a bit of a voyeur so I moved on...

What do all these signs add up to? Good fishing is soon to be here. I would give it inside of a week, maybe a bit less. Their slinking dark shapes will first show up in pools in the deeper end of river bottoms. They will hug the bottom tight and the first few bites will be furtive, almost hesitant. The fight will be more of a bulldog battle rather than the acrobatic show that is provided as the flows warm. Those first few fish tend to be heavy bodied females, ripe with eggs; the next generation of pugnacious fish more than happy to take a fly. 

Yes, it is that season...