Watch out Fish

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.  ~John Buchan

Saturday was the first day of trout season.  Because of the lack of winter weather,  there had been no ice fishing so the menfolk were raring to go.  Out of staters arrive the night before and camp beside the river so they can stake their claim as soon as the sun rises, even though you can’t cast until 8 AM.  We are lucky to own land on the river so we don’t have to fight for prime fishing real estate.

The sons went to a lake fishing but the man, #2 daughter and I went to the river.  We had frost

and it was still only 33 degrees when we left but the sun was shining and expectations were high.

We go down to the river’s edge and begin to fish. 

I am an impatient fishing person.  If I don’t catch something within an hour I start to wander.  I found myself walking.  Most of the shoreline is rocky but there is a small sandy beach off to the left. 

Growing in the sand is horsetail

 and the dreaded Japanese knotweed. 

I found a blog with recipes for this.  If the zombie apocalypse ever happens and we need food at least I know where to find some.  For right now it an obnoxious weed over taking the native plants.  I do see some water iris 

and hopefully the cardinal flower that use to bloom down here will still show it’s self in the coming months.  Here is another weed, 

the dandelion growing out of the stone way.  Definite sign of tenacity!

I find evidence that others had been near the shore for one reason or another, leaving tracks to mark their presence…

Time passes, the son’s appear with two trout and my nephew gave us one.  We call it a morning as we have work that needs doing. 

After shopping and working in the fields trying to reclaim old pasture #2 son cooked the trout for dinner.  We returned to the river that evening to test our wits against the fish  and come back empty handed again.

Sunday dawns, the man and I sneak out of the house to fish alone, thinking maybe the kids are giving us bad luck.  After two hours of casting and reeling we leave skunked again!  

Back to the fields we go returning to the house for dinner.  My brother stops by with two more trout for the freezer.  It must be us!  After dinner they all leave to go fishing but I had enough humiliation and stayed at home to visit with a friend. 

There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process.  ~Paul O'Neil, 1965

Regardless of the humiliation, it was a great weekend.   Sitting by the river with eagles, ducks and geese flying over and turkeys calling in the woods, the warmth of the sun to keep you warm a slight breeze to keep the bugs at bay and spending time with family, what more can someone ask for.