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Merwin: Deep Snow and Happy Trout
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Syndicate
The Honest Angler
in your Inbox
February 20, 2009
Merwin: Deep Snow and Happy Trout
By John Merwin
I take some solace from the fact that this morning's snowfall will eventually become part of next summer's trout stream. That's how I consoled myself while clearing the driveway so my wife could get to work. It is still snowing hard as I write this, 15 degrees, and with a harsh wind.
As with so many other places, our winter snowpack eventually becomes the ground water that feeds area creeks all summer. In years with little snow, our streams and trout suffer from low and warm water. But not this year. I haven't seen bare ground since November.
I've often though of living in Florida or New Mexico or someplace else warm and snowless. But I'm not sure I could do it. I think the harshness of winter makes spring seem all the more glorious. A couple of months from now, spring flowers will be in bloom along the riverbanks, flowing waters will have cleared, and the trout will be rising to a Hendrickson hatch--all fed by this morning's frosty blanket. I can deal with that.
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Comments (12)
Merwin,
where do you live??
we had record snowfall in december up here in ND. ACtually it's snowing heavily right now as i type this. We're getting all kinds of "100" year flood talks. It floods every year, but this year could be really bad.
So where are ya gettin all this snow?
Nate
Don't want to get all "Al Gore" here, but it's definitely crazy times we live in where some folks are having a 100 year flood, but in places like California water levels are at record lows.
JM - just be one of those "snowbirds," winter in Florida and you'll have the best of both worlds. Could probably get a steal on South Florida real estate these days (that is if your investment portfolio survived).
60256,
I don't even want to hear the word flood this year.
JM, I agree good snowfall seems to produce a more glorious spring.
Nate....
I live in Vermont ski country, where we get our share of snow but nowhere nearly as much as some other areas of the country.
troutrageous1.....
I've been looking at FL real estate lately, but even with prices as tanked as they are now, it seems like any neighborhood I could afford I wouldn't want to live in...I need a waterfront shack for less than $50k!
Good lord John, I couldn't even get that on the flood prone Mississippi.
John John John, I'm a little surprise your not eating up the winter trout with your fly rod. February is my favorite time of year to fish. I don't know about you anymore. I cut my teeth with your books and articles in F&S and you've always been a hero to me but after reading your recent blogs about you letting some punks into your fishing holes then another blog about your failure to recognize the finer qualities of the carp and now I find your sitting at home waiting for the snow to melt? Do you realize right now Cermele is out there catching fish with play-doh? Com'on John. In your next blog I want to know how you killed that grizzley with a pocket knife.
Out here in Utah, we are completely dependent on a good snowfall- for both a good ski year and also for enough water to last through the summer. Reservoirs here have dried up in August, killing millions of dollars worth of fish. They dry up because the farmers need the reservoir water for crops.
This time of year i start to really look forward to the end of snow, but I always try to remember that every flake means more water through summer.
You've got the right idea about the snowblower attachment. I've been so busy sanding (no ice melt or salt, just sand) and plowing because of these 2" snowfalls. Unfortunately most of the runoff from the highways and roads are packed with Sodium Chloride and Calcuim Chloride, nothing I would want hitting my fishing spots even in diluted or microscopic ammounts.
Another month and we won't have time to blog because we'll all be fishing!!!
Merwin, If I play my cards right with the Mrs on Saturday, rest assured that I'll be spending a good portion of Sunday out fly fishing the beautiful Cheeseman Canyon stretch of the South Platte. Maybe eastern rivers are different, or perhaps subject to seasonal regulation, but I'm thankful to say Colorado's tailwaters are in play year round.
Oh and you'll have to forgive me for this, but what kind of matchbox does your poor lady drive that she can't get to work if there's 2, maybe 3 inches of snow on the driveway, as evidenced by the picture? Sorry, but as the "Yooper" in my name would suggest, I guess I'm not impressed by any amount of snowfall that doesn't require you to shovel "down" to your roof.
Gotta love that global warming.
buckhunter....
Funny! Actually, not a pocketknife. I used my teeth.
YooperRyan...
Yes, the U.P. snowfalls--and those in much of Colorado--are far more extreme than what we have. She drives a Saab with a full set of Blizzaks, is convinced she can go through anything, and often does. My clearing out is by way of being a good guy and because I enjoy driving the tractor in the snow (not necessarily in that order). The rivers around here aren't conducive to winter trout fishing, unfortunately, for various reasons. I'll start whacking some steelhead in Lake Ontario tribs in March, though. How was Cheeseman? Crowded?
Post a Comment
Merwin,
where do you live??
we had record snowfall in december up here in ND. ACtually it's snowing heavily right now as i type this. We're getting all kinds of "100" year flood talks. It floods every year, but this year could be really bad.
So where are ya gettin all this snow?
Nate
Don't want to get all "Al Gore" here, but it's definitely crazy times we live in where some folks are having a 100 year flood, but in places like California water levels are at record lows.
JM - just be one of those "snowbirds," winter in Florida and you'll have the best of both worlds. Could probably get a steal on South Florida real estate these days (that is if your investment portfolio survived).
60256,
I don't even want to hear the word flood this year.
JM, I agree good snowfall seems to produce a more glorious spring.
Nate....
I live in Vermont ski country, where we get our share of snow but nowhere nearly as much as some other areas of the country.
troutrageous1.....
I've been looking at FL real estate lately, but even with prices as tanked as they are now, it seems like any neighborhood I could afford I wouldn't want to live in...I need a waterfront shack for less than $50k!
Good lord John, I couldn't even get that on the flood prone Mississippi.
John John John, I'm a little surprise your not eating up the winter trout with your fly rod. February is my favorite time of year to fish. I don't know about you anymore. I cut my teeth with your books and articles in F&S and you've always been a hero to me but after reading your recent blogs about you letting some punks into your fishing holes then another blog about your failure to recognize the finer qualities of the carp and now I find your sitting at home waiting for the snow to melt? Do you realize right now Cermele is out there catching fish with play-doh? Com'on John. In your next blog I want to know how you killed that grizzley with a pocket knife.
Out here in Utah, we are completely dependent on a good snowfall- for both a good ski year and also for enough water to last through the summer. Reservoirs here have dried up in August, killing millions of dollars worth of fish. They dry up because the farmers need the reservoir water for crops.
This time of year i start to really look forward to the end of snow, but I always try to remember that every flake means more water through summer.
You've got the right idea about the snowblower attachment. I've been so busy sanding (no ice melt or salt, just sand) and plowing because of these 2" snowfalls. Unfortunately most of the runoff from the highways and roads are packed with Sodium Chloride and Calcuim Chloride, nothing I would want hitting my fishing spots even in diluted or microscopic ammounts.
Another month and we won't have time to blog because we'll all be fishing!!!
Merwin, If I play my cards right with the Mrs on Saturday, rest assured that I'll be spending a good portion of Sunday out fly fishing the beautiful Cheeseman Canyon stretch of the South Platte. Maybe eastern rivers are different, or perhaps subject to seasonal regulation, but I'm thankful to say Colorado's tailwaters are in play year round.
Oh and you'll have to forgive me for this, but what kind of matchbox does your poor lady drive that she can't get to work if there's 2, maybe 3 inches of snow on the driveway, as evidenced by the picture? Sorry, but as the "Yooper" in my name would suggest, I guess I'm not impressed by any amount of snowfall that doesn't require you to shovel "down" to your roof.
Gotta love that global warming.
buckhunter....
Funny! Actually, not a pocketknife. I used my teeth.
YooperRyan...
Yes, the U.P. snowfalls--and those in much of Colorado--are far more extreme than what we have. She drives a Saab with a full set of Blizzaks, is convinced she can go through anything, and often does. My clearing out is by way of being a good guy and because I enjoy driving the tractor in the snow (not necessarily in that order). The rivers around here aren't conducive to winter trout fishing, unfortunately, for various reasons. I'll start whacking some steelhead in Lake Ontario tribs in March, though. How was Cheeseman? Crowded?
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