# Once More We Step into Magic Time



## Whit1 (Apr 27, 2001)

It's the Tuesday evening and we inch closer to that magical Last Saturday in April and once again those of us who revel in stream trout fishing are about to step into another season. I'm packing gear in preparation for Trout Camp '14 when I'll be sliding into waders, don my well worn trout vest, slip my split cedar creel over my head and head to that Double Eddy Hole below the old, ruined dam on my favorite trout stream. This will be my 60th year of stalking trout along streams both large and small and I can still remember that first outing with my father on the Betsie R. those many years ago.


What is it that still draws me like a moth to a flame to trout streams? Of course it is no one thing, but simply put I love where trout live. Deep bend holes shaded with overhanging cedars with a fine entry current, with the far bank being adorned with multiple logs deposited by long ago surges of flooding water, and the ever important tail end as the water scoots out into the shallow reaches below offer an enticing mystery that is only enhanced with the memories of past trouting experiences. 


Center runs sidelined with oddly angled woody debris, some of which have been in place for decades offer feeding lanes with close cover and under the right conditions the trout greedily take up their favored holding spots to suck in passing morsels of food.


It is more than the stream that draws me along it is also the sounds. The hoot of an owl or gobble of a turkey in the early pre-dawn perks the ears to attention. A far off flock of geese, heading north, add their haunting honk and of course their is the solitary music of what I call "the lonely bird whose "Tee-dee" signals a new day with new adventures.


I'm nearing my 70th year on this planet and the memories of so much tumble back to me, but nothing can compare to those involving trout fishing. As the footlights slowly draw on I am again about to step onto the threshold and onto the stage of another Last Saturday in April. I trout fish because I love the places where trout live.


----------



## Cherokee (May 24, 2004)

Robert Traver couldn't have said it any better. Enjoy your opener!!


----------



## jerrob (Aug 6, 2011)

Good stuff!
Welcome back.


----------



## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

I will anticipate your annual opening day report as much as I look forward to trout fishing myself!


----------



## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

I look forward to this post every year. Looking forward to seeing the results.


----------



## WILDCATWICK (Mar 11, 2002)

Awesomeness. Always look forward to your posts Whit. 


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## brookies101 (Jun 23, 2008)

Awesome stuff!!! Can't wait to read all the reports. I love this time of year


----------



## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

Thanks, Whit!



Sent from my LG-LS980 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## redneckman (Dec 7, 2005)

Steve said:


> I look forward to this post every year. Looking forward to seeing the results.


I'm with Steve. Great posts! 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## anon442018 (Jul 12, 2010)

*Whit1,* life is about priorities. Each year I realize just how popular the last Saturday in April is to a growing number of folks. This year we are changing our plans, we will go up on Sunday and forego some of the madness at places we enjoy on the rivers. The trip will be better if we avoid the madness of Saturday. Enjoy yourselves on the river and "be careful out there".


----------



## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Whit said:


> I trout fish because I love the places where trout live.


Amen.


----------



## fishagain (Jan 2, 2014)

I've seen those places


----------



## BearCreekPro (Mar 18, 2008)

Wooo.. Look forward to your post every year Whit1! Cant wait for the follow up!


----------



## LunkerMan (Jan 4, 2013)

Great read! Thank you for your post


----------



## flyrodder46 (Dec 31, 2011)

It is all so real, the sounds, the smells, and the memories. Thanks Whit for reminding us.

D


----------



## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

Good luck Milt. Thanks for the words of wisdom my friend. I hope you come back with a full basket. Enjoy!


----------



## J-Lee (Jul 11, 2000)

Have a great opener Whit, so glad to see your post here. It must be spring. :coolgleam


----------



## rcleofly (Feb 18, 2012)

Great post whit! Sadly my opener has been stopped due to my massive work load. I've been kind of bummed about not being able to head north this year. After reading your post I felt better. I realized I have many more opening mornings to come. Good luck this weekend guys. Be sure to post pics and pass on the trout stories.


----------



## fishinDon (May 23, 2002)

Thanks again for sharing your prose Milt, good luck on the opener!
Don


----------



## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

Great to see you back Whit, take care out there and I'll toss an extra nickel to the fish fairy for ya...good luck.


----------



## Rustyaxecamp (Mar 1, 2005)

Steve said:


> I look forward to this post every year. Looking forward to seeing the results.


 
Exactly.

I check in every year for this.

Good luck guys and thanks again Milt.


----------



## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

Good luck Whit. Is it the smell of spring in the forest or the smell of brook trout in the fry pan that brings your senses alive? The click of the bail on the first cast or the sound of the kingfisher on the riverbank. I have to work on Saturday but I will be on a river Sunday.


----------



## RIVER LADY (Jun 13, 2005)

What a great read....as always. 

Enjoy your opener and looking forward to your report.


----------



## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

So good to read a post from you again. Best of luck to you & to all.


----------



## crazydrake (Mar 7, 2002)

Good luck, Whit!!! Take a lot of pics. I look forward to your report every year.


----------



## Benz (Sep 25, 2010)

Well just pulled into the cottage all ready for the opener and somehow broke my favorite rod when I closed the hatch. Couldn't get worse. I have my orvis 5wt Clearwater but I was expecting to tangle with a few steelhead. Any suggestions on shops to hit early am for a new 7/8wt?


----------



## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

What town are you near ?


----------



## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Benz said:


> Well just pulled into the cottage all ready for the opener and somehow broke my favorite rod when I closed the hatch. Couldn't get worse. I have my orvis 5wt Clearwater but I was expecting to tangle with a few steelhead. Any suggestions on shops to hit early am for a new 7/8wt?


Ouch! Bad luck today, good luck tomorrow.


----------



## Benz (Sep 25, 2010)

I'm in Ludington. Gonna head to Baldwin in the morning and check out a few shops.


----------



## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Benz said:


> I'm in Ludington. Gonna head to Baldwin in the morning and check out a few shops.


That's where I was going to suggest, there is a Orvis shop there. Good luck.


----------



## Shupac (Apr 17, 2005)

Whit, you may be well on your way to a limit as I type this. I hope you, and everyone who made it out early, are having a great day. I had to stay in town for a family event last night, but will hit the road for Baldwin shortly.

Can't say I'm feeling that much about the opener this year. Used to be I spent most of my waking hours between new year's and now in an angling daydream. But over the last couple years the fire in the belly has really gone out. Never thought I would say that, but it's the truth. I still get in my share of fishing time, and enjoy it, but if I have to cancel a trip I'm not too bothered. Over the last few weeks I sometimes forgot about the opener altogether. 

A lot of life seems to have gone sour lately for no particular reason and I guess the fishing has gotten dragged down with it. But I know that fishing has helped hold me together in the past, and getting in touch with what has been good for me before certainly can't be bad for me now. So, I will get out there and take what comes. Never been on the PM for the opener--no idea what to expect, but I'll enjoy myself regardless of what it offers. Just maybe, it will be a magic time indeed.

Happy opener, all. Be safe, and bring back some stories.


----------



## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

Steve said:


> I look forward to this post every year. Looking forward to seeing the results.


Me too! Thanks Whit, glad to see you posting again, its been missed!


----------



## Sam22 (Jan 22, 2003)

Thank you for posting Milt. I, like so many others, look forward to it every year.

As a younger man, trout fishing was the thing I looked forward to most. We even had a second holiday we made up called "National Hook Your Buddy In The Face Day", to mark the first day that me and my best fishing buddy got to fish out favorite little stretch of stream (actually fairly near your house!). These days I am always too wrapped up with life, or steelhead or turkeys, but I look back very fondly on the trout fishing days. Maybe your post has inspired me to get out tomorrow and wait for that tell tale "Thump thumpity thump" on the end of a light rod.


----------



## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

Benz said:


> Well just pulled into the cottage all ready for the opener and somehow broke my favorite rod when I closed the hatch. Couldn't get worse. I have my orvis 5wt Clearwater but I was expecting to tangle with a few steelhead. Any suggestions on shops to hit early am for a new 7/8wt?


Hate it when that happens....done it before....too many times!!!! Once (duh) I even set pole down behind vehicle, removed waders, stashed all gear (except rod/reel) into vehicle, climbed into vehicle & commenced to back over broke-down rod (snapped both segments, dang).
Another time I placed several rods/reels on to tonno (sp?) cover over truck bed, got ocupied doing something else, and drove off with rod/reels still laying on Tonno cover....didn't notice untill I reach my destination about 20 miles away...back-tracked & found only one-half of a rod segment out of about 4 or 5 of my best/favorite combos....yes, I am quite the bone-head at times.....


----------



## adamhartwell (Nov 4, 2011)

Very well said. Thanks for taking the time to share.


----------



## DeerShack (Apr 7, 2013)

itchn2fish said:


> Hate it when that happens....done it before....too many times!!!! Once (duh) I even set pole down behind vehicle, removed waders, stashed all gear (except rod/reel) into vehicle, climbed into vehicle & commenced to back over broke-down rod (snapped both segments, dang).
> Another time I placed several rods/reels on to tonno (sp?) cover over truck bed, got ocupied doing something else, and drove off with rod/reels still laying on Tonno cover....didn't notice untill I reach my destination about 20 miles away...back-tracked & found only one-half of a rod segment out of about 4 or 5 of my best/favorite combos....yes, I am quite the bone-head at times.....


"Gear in car before car in gear" Old saying inspired by similar feats amongst our trout fishing camp.


----------



## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

I've also snapped rod tips closing trunks, vehicle doors, vehicle windows (I hate that sound of snapping rod as I go up with a rear power window in which the rod has shifted and is sticking out of the window...). I have tripped and impaled the rod into the ground and broke one rod setting the hook on a steelhead by bringing the rod back and smacking it against a stout overhanging tree branch. I have broke at least three rods trying to release a line from a downrigger, and others while jerking the rod back trying to free a badly snagged lure. A rod will take slow, steady stress, but that hard, fast, abrupt stress will break rods.
A cousin once broke an Ugly Stick by trying to show us how limber his newly-bought rod was; he grabbed the tip and as he brought the tip to the butt of the rod, the tip snapped-off in his hand, much to his dismay AS HE SAID, "WHAT THE F * # K!!!".


----------



## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

I am hoping Mr. Whitmore gives us a follow-up on his First Day encounters. This is an article I found that he wrote. From February 01, 2012.
http://www.woods-n-waternews.com/Ar...chigan-offers-some-premier-smelt-fishing.html


----------

