OPENING DAY

Opening day Brown Trout

Every hunter or fisherman loves “opening day.” Fish and game management agencies use open and closed harvesting seasons as one of the tools to achieve their conservation goals. Hunters and anglers know that often, the first day of an open season usually comes with the best chance of success. There is more of what we are trying to harvest available and the fish or game has not been educated by near misses, whether that’s hooks or bullets.

In Indiana, there are no open or closed fishing seasons, so the hook and line crowd need only go when they think the time is right. Still, the first outing in the spring is very much like an opening day. Yours could be tomorrow, mine was yesterday. The same principles are in affect, whether the “opener” is a legal date or just a first opportunity.

Opening day anticipation is much more than just a better-than-average chance for success. Seasons and opportunity are too fleeting. The rest of the year, an avid hunter, fisher or trapper has to relive their passion in memories or preparation for the next opener. And as that draws closer, the anticipation builds like a 6-year-old waiting for Christmas morning.

Opening day on the Brother Nature was yesterday and was well worth the wait and the anticipation. The morning coffee never tasted so hearty on the trip to the lake. The concerns of “did I forget something” added drama. The weather report was perfect, the boat's motor started on comand and soon, with the “new” season only minutes old, the first fish bit and was reeled to the net.

That was certainly not the only fish of the day. The fishing was terrific. “Like in the old days,” one old-timer told me.

Yeah, just like in the old days. Or perhaps just like in old memories of opening days past.