Reflections On the End of Winter

So on my latest road trip I had plans to pack up the float tube and float Lenore Lake, which I pass on my way to Rocky Ford Creek, and which opened for business on March 1. It's a Cutthroat lake, and we do like our Cutthroat lakes.

But then I couldn't find the pump for the flaccid tube, which I completely emptied of air last fall. I've got the pump location narrowed down to somewhere under a large stack of items in the garage, piled there in the waning days of November as we slowly emptied the shed at our old place and completed the move.

On the morning of the trip I almost tackled the job of moving all that stuff--move it where?--but the road beckoned, and I decided to forget it for now and just head on to Rocky Ford.

But on the way I stopped off at Lenore Lake for a look. Looked pretty good.

Except for these signs. That got me wondering--for about 30 seconds before I hopped up behind the wheel again and tooled on down the road for the creek feeling glad that I hadn't wasted valuable time on the tube that morning.

Once I was home I researched it, and discovered something I had overlooked in my first perusal of the state fishing regs (emphasis mine):

LENORE LAKE (Grant Co.) CLOSED WATERS - area within a 200-yard radius of trash rack leading to the irrigation pumping station (south end of lake), and area approximately 100 yards beyond the mouth of inlet stream to State hwy.17.

Oh. It turns out the place I figured would be my put in was right in the middle of that approximate 100 yards. So now I know.

But it's a fairly good-sized lake. I think I'll be able to find plenty of open water on my next trip.

So I'll need to be tackling that garage soon to find that air pump, and you know how, as long as you keep a pile like that a "pile" in its own place, it's kind of "put away." But once you begin to move it it's just a big pile of stuff that needs to all be put away somewhere else. Well, for three months I've said I'd get to it "in the Spring." So...

Speaking of Spring, there was another sign of Spring on the last trip besides pelicans and violet-green swallows. Yes, construction season has begun.

One more note. Someone asked if I had a name for this streamer.

I had gotten two hookups on a little bead head woolly bugger in the first hour I was at the creek, but things had slowed way down after that. As always, I enjoyed the challenge of trying different flies and tactics, and the learning curve is always highest when you're experimenting like that. But it was nice, in the last hour I was there, to finally try a streamer and get two fish almost back to back.

I tied this streamer a long time ago, and may have used it once or twice, but I don't remember catching anything with it. It's sparse, as you can see. The body is light olive antron yarn with a round silver tinsel rib. It might have a flat silver tinsel tag. The wing, I think, is white calf tail, then pearl krystal flash, then black calf tail.

I have to say, it worked beautifully on that last day of winter. I guess maybe a good name would be the "Winter's End."