Fall to Winer transition

This is that time of year that I feel stalled out. Trout season is done, the bass boat has been put away, there is no ice on the lakes for ice fishing, and the unpredictable weather conditions for grouse hunting. Not really cold enough for a stocking cap, but not warm enough for just a baseball hat either. Totally a frustrating time of year for me. Grrrrr.

So this weekend was spent moving things from the house and yard to the shed, replacing the dryer vent tube, placing ice scrapers and sleeping bags in the vehicles, covering the A/C unit up, shopping for a BBQ grill cover (still searching for one), looking for my winter clothes, and miscellaneous other to do's around the house since it has been abandoned so many weekends over the past two months.

Also I spent time at the fly shop getting a few supplies for some flies I want to tie and spent some hours looking up 'stuff' on catching big Blue gills and Pumpkinseeds, and potential places to cross country ski. My wife and I thought about trying it out last year, but there was little snow and very cold. We are hoping to try it out this year, the outlook is promising according the Farmers Almanac predictions.

So for now I wait, and wait, and wait some more. I will soon be ready to sit for hours in my fly tying room thinking about the next season of fishing, refilling my depleted fly boxes with some proven patterns and also with some late-night-inspired experimental patterns. I am sure there will be an evening or two 'organizing' the room, and maybe a night or two of catching up on the poor neglected unread fly fishing magazines that I have fallen behind on. All these things to do to pass the time of winter until I can rig up a fly rod again and slip back into my waders. I can all ready hear the spring sounds of my favorite trout river that I haven't been on since September.

I think this might be a winter I try to go ice fishing for Lake Trout, as I have only fished for them once before on a beautiful day after a foot and a half of show fell the day before in the U.P. with some friends from the area. It would be a nice change to go for something that I haven't caught a thousand times before just to mix it up and amplify the excitement of the great Midwest northern winter tradition.

I do have some fish pron to watch either tonight or tomorrow that I borrowed. I am excited about that. The first one is called "The Best of the Bear, Steelhead with Jeff 'Bear' Andrews" I had the opportunity last year at the Greatwaters Fly Fishing Expo to talk with him and watch him when he tied at the Fly Tying Theater that our club was in charge of. A very nice guy and knowledgeable about steelhead flies and steelhead fishing. The other two DVD's I borrowed are "Trout Bum Diaries" and "Drift." They should hold me over or cause me to book a trip and leave town next week. I'll let you know either way.