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Opening day of trout season like Christmas

For many of us, today is like Christmas morning.

Today is the opening day of trout season in Michigan, and, for those of us crazy enough to wade into streams swollen with melted snow runoff, the experience is both exhilarating and electrifying.

I can trace my trout roots to Bull Run in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. While the name of the stream is as unappealing as any trout stream I ever have fished in, over the years the stream has been good to me. I started to write that last sentence to say my success rate there has been good, but, for me, success really isn’t measured in the number of fish caught. It’s measure in the quality of the fishing experience enjoyed.

I started fishing for trout as a teenager. Back then, it was spinners as my lure of choice. And, like the opener here in Michigan, the closer to the opening day it got, the more excited I got. Over the course of those openers, I can remember some years being “skunked” and others being successful, but I always remember the time spent with my dad or brother were special.

I didn’t do as much fishing during my college years or the first years of my professional career. I’m not exactly sure the reason for that, other than that my priorities were different, time was more of a premium, and young children arrived on the scene that needed extra attention.

It wasn’t until I got to Michigan when the trout opener became special again for me. One of the reasons I love northern Michigan so much is because of the many fishing opportunities in quality trout streams across the state. Because of rivers like the Au Sable, Black and Pigeon, I taught myself something I always wanted to learn — fly fishing. At first armed with very basic gear and equipment, I would head to a stream with patient friends who would offer advice, show me different casts, and help train me to match the right fly or streamer to the conditions of the water.

To this day, I still consider myself a fly fishing novice, always learning and always trying to perfect the craft. For me, fly fishing is an art, and I work it the same way a painter would a painting — with careful skill and attention. It is a great feeling to be waist-high in water on a warm day and making a perfect cast by landing a fly between branches at that perfect pool around the bend. There is a great sense of joy to battle a trout at the other end of a strike and to succeed in actually landing the fish, despite the fact it tried many different ways to wrap your line around sunken logs as it tried to escape.

I enjoy the tranquillity of the trout stream. I love watching trout swim around me in their habitat or come around a bend and spook an eagle or otter. For me, fly fishing is fishing in its purest form, and actually gives the fish an advantage. That’s why, these days, the only way I fish for trout is with a fly or a streamer. In fact, in water like this in early spring, when the streams are running high and a little more cloudy than most times of the year, a streamer should, on average, produce more hits.

Any day spent outside in nature is a good day indeed.

That’s why I, and many others like me, are excited for today.

Tight lines, my friends.

Bill Speer can be reached at 989-354-3111, ext. 311, or bspeer@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @billspeer13.

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