Fishing Season

April 17, 2013

As I drove up route 16 to camp my eyes focused on the back of the truck in front of me. I had been following it for a while but I hadn’t actually looked at it. Fishing stickers were plastered to the back window. That’s when it hit me. Fishing season had begun. How had I forgotten? Perhaps because I still have my skis in my car and the snow in Rangeley is still thigh-high in the woods. Just when I realized I was following a fisherman, I also realized I was coming up to one of my favorite places to spring fish: the Magalloway River in Wilsons Mills.

I drove over the bridge and peered down the river at the pale evening light reflecting off the water. There were four fishermen chest high in the water and another one climbing over the snow bank to get into the freezing river. The truck in front of me put its blinker on and turned in. I cursed myself for not remembering it was spring and to put my rod in the car. But then again, it looked mighty cold in that water.

Instead of fishing, I hiked/waded through the snow behind Red Quill to Moose Pond and built a snowman. When I came back to camp I built a roaring fire in the woodstove and pulled out all my fly boxes and started organizing and getting ready for fishing season. With my flies spread out on the table before me I started thinking that the water might not be too cold for fishing…I dreamt of trout sucking down my flies. Even though the snow is still high, spring is in the air, and fishing season has begun. It’s time to keep the fly rod next to my skis in the car.

~Leah