It has been a very long winter. I won't bore you with all the details, but a winter with hardly any snow, no money, no job, and no place to go makes for a very long winter.
Its March now and spirits are high. We got more snow, I got a cool new job, and most important of all......Steelhead season is just around the corner.
I fish Steelhead on the streams of my home waters of Lake Superior. Not the glamorous west coast, but still a rugged and beautiful place full of awesome fish and awesome scenery. Our window for quality Steelheading is very narrow, about a month or less. The fall run is all but non-existant and the spring runs are dictated solely by spring melt run offs. If we don't get much snow or spring rains, our Steelheading sessions are very poor to dismal at best so the recent snows we've had have made the upcomming season very promising. Our streams are very narrow, shallow and sterile so without the snow melt and rains there is no water and the fish stay in the lake.
Every year around the first of March I get the bug. All I can think about is getting out after some chrome. I must say that it is very hard living in MN when you are in love with native Pacific fish. Thank God that states surrounding the Great Lakes have been introducing these fish to our waters.
The hardest thing is the small window of oppertunity. With only about a month, it really makes the other 11 months drag on. I do fish other species and have other hobbies and activities to pursue, but nothing in the world could have prepared me for what happened 4 years ago when I became lovestruck with the chrome sided beauties I encountered on a secluded North Shore stream. That day my life changed forever and I will never be able to turn off my obsession until the day I die.
Hopefully someday I will be fortunate enough to move my family to more stable and wild Steelhead local. Maybe someday I'll at least be able to visit them more often or for longer periods of time. For now all I can do during the lonely time waiting for those chrome beauties to show up, is fall more deeply in love, yearning for the next chance to caress those babes again and continue to stock my boxes with eggs.
