Maybe Janet Will Drop By

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I knew that today I would be up near what I've been calling "the early-season trout lake," so I threw my vest and my light rod into the truck. I even wore my old boots so it wouldn't matter if I got them all muddy. The plan was to do my work then head over there and cast a nymph or two for awhile before heading home.

Because the lake was already open, see.

Just before I left I decided I'd better confirm that little fact for myself. Well, I couldn't. I didn't find anything in the DFW regs or special rules except what I had thought in the first place: this lake opens on April 1st.

Not March 1st.

I headed over there anyway after work. Things are looking good.

I was tempted to follow through on my plan. I probably would have except that the last time I was on the river I heard the brush crackling across from me and looked over expecting to see a deer. But it was a woman climbing down the bank. "Hi!" she said. "How are you?"

I thought maybe one of the fantasies I had as a younger man was coming true. Then she said, "I'm Janet, with Fish and Wildlife. Just looking around." She was real nice, didn't check my license or anything, and was really just trying to find out how the fishing was. We had a lovely chat.

But. Wham!, out of nowhere, there's the DFW standing across the river from me. This time it would have been a steely voice behind me: "I'm Bob, with Fish and Wildlife! Freeze!"

So I just took some photos. The water is opening up nicely.

And for the first time I could see that sweet descent from sun-dappled shallows to deep green depths that pulls me right into a lake.

I also saw a couple of muskrats, reminders of last Spring when they were everywhere:

Home Waters: A Fly Fishing Life: Monday Fishing Report: A Modest Proposal
Home Waters: A Fly Fishing Life: I Rest My Case

So I will continue to wait. Tomorrow I should have some time to get back to the river. The temperatures have been in the fifties, with a couple of sixty-degree days thrown in, and there's supposed to be an overcast with a chance of rain. Promising.

Just a couple more weeks and I'll be out there with those ducks and geese--and muskrats. And maybe Janet will drop by.