Scratching the March Itch

After months of skiing, the days are getting longer and the sun is shining. I woke up the other morning to clear blue skies and temps around -2 degrees. As I skiied that day, I kept looking down into the valley, or more specifically, at the river. By the time I was done with work (skiing) it was 30 degrees and still sunny. My mind was on fishing, big time. I raced home and started to dig out the boat. A couple of hours later, there she was, ready for the water.

A few days later, the forecast said sunny skies with daytime highs around 34 degrees (nighttime lows still below zero). I knew that it was still too early, but I couldn't resist. I called up the boys and we planned to be on the river the next day.

We met at the boat ramp at 9:00am. Temperature, 5 degrees. We putzed around for a while trying to let it warm up a bit, but by 10:00am it was go time. We pushed the boat over the snow and ice and hopped in. Temperature, 7 degrees.

The surface of the river was a mix of water and slushy ice. Each stroke of the oars piled up snow-cone fixings. The bow of the boat had a nice ice coating on it, as did the oar shafts by the blades. We knew better than to try to fish yet, so we cracked the first beers of the young season and enjoyed the crisp air and stunning views of the Tetons.

After a brief adventure, we hauled the boat upstream out of a channel that a tree had blocked, we could wait no longer. 11:30am. Temperature 20 degrees. We put together some rods and started fishing. We talked about many ways to keep ice out of the guides, yet employed none of them. Opting to crack off the rime every 10 minutes or so.

We floated, fished, drank, and awed at the mountains for several hours. Enjoying every second. We even managed to catch some fish before the day was up. We knew we were way too early to be out on the river, but we just couldn't wait any longer. Now the boat is set, the gear is ready, and it won't be long until we're back on the water.

When are you getting out?

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