Nebraskaland Magazine
The last day I walk off the ice every winter is a bad day. I hate that day. Oh sure, I am on the water or in the field somewhere in Nebraska twelve months of the year, but I really love ice-fishing.
So I kind of ease into spring. You know what it is like in early spring. . . well, more like winter many days. Sure, we will get a day or two of beautiful, warm, sunny weather, but then reality slaps us all in the face. Spring comes in fits and starts.
Eventually I warm up to it. It is nice to breath the fresh air, hear and see all the waterfowl migrating, dry off a fish or two.
Then April rolls around. There are still plenty of set-backs, lots of windy, cold days, even some snow, but it gradually gets a little warmer for a little longer.
One nice afternoon when the wind finally dies, I hear it. . . . The first gobble of the spring. Then seasons open up, and I am “gone”, gone turkey hunting, at least mentally, ALL the time. Spring gobblers are the one thing that distracts me from fishing. As long as there are toms strutting and gobbling, as long as there is an unpunched tag in my pocket, I have only one thing on my mind. Who cares how long it takes to fill a tag? I enjoy every minute I spend with those birds. Eventually, well, I am a hunter, and the shotgun speaks:
Then, quickly, time is passing! Spring is moving on! There are some of these to pick!
Finally, the distractions wane and it is time to get back on the water! Good to do a late spring trip and spend some time with my son:
I had a nice muskie follow, but the only toothy I could hook looked a little bit different:
Later on, these showed up:
That is how the whirlwind of spring has blown past me. So much to do, so many turkeys to hunt, so many mushrooms to pick, so many fish to catch, but so little time! I have loved every minute of it, wish it would last for another three months!
No fish were harmed in the making of this blog post, all were immediately released. The toms and mushrooms, well, not so much. But, they were delicious!
