Just about everybody I’ve talked to lately has said they are sick and tired of all the snow.
The thing is, it’s only the middle of February so there’s no way of knowing for sure if we’ve seen the last big snowfall for the season, or if we are going to have another two months of winter weather. All I know is spring can’t come soon enough.
Having said that, I suppose there are all sorts of things I could do to help get myself through the next couple of months. Maybe I’ll sort through some of those fishing magazines I picked at the thrift store and haven’t quite gotten around to reading yet. I could always go through my fly boxes and see which patterns need to be replaced and/or replenished. Maybe I’ll even start fly tying again.
It’s been a few years now since I’ve tied any of my own flies. There is something special about catching a fish on a fly ou’ve tied yourself.
If nothing else, I could always spend a bit of time going through my fishing gear make sure everything is in order. I really should check all my lines, leaders and tippet to make sure the lines are clean and there are no ‘wind knots’ in the leaders or tippet. I can start by cleaning the lines with a solution of warm water and a small amount of dish soap, and then replace the leaders. I don’t usually replace the tippet until I’m actually ready to head out to go fishing.
I know I won’t have to look too far for things I could do around the house. There’s that bookshelf that I built to hold all my fishing magazines – the one that doesn’t exactly fit where I originally wanted to put it.
I could phone Cory and see if he wants to go to the Sportsman’s Show in Abbottsford at the beginning of March. We both just like to walk around and look at all the new fishing gear and talk to the tech reps and sales people. I like it when their eyes light up because they think that I might be in the market for a new rod or reel. Mostly, I just pick up brochures from all the fancy fishing lodges I’ll never be able to afford. I’m sure it really irks the lodge owners when they see a guy like me helping myself to one of their expensive brochures. But you never know – I could win the lottery.
If I were to win big on the lottery I would invest in a new boat – a nice 17-foot aluminum runabout set up with downriggers and an electronic fishfinder. Maybe I’d book a fishing trip to Mexico or Belize, or better yet, a salmon fishing trip to Scotland. More likely, I would probably have to settle for putting my winnings towards a new rod or reel. Then again, I could also just save my money, not waste it on lottery tickets and put it towards a new fly line. You can’t win though if you don’t have a ticket. Too many decisions.
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I’ll probably just head on down to the local fishing tackle store and join the gang for coffee where we can take part in the time-honoured tradition of telling fishing stories. The best part of sharing fishing stories with those guys if that even if you lie your head off, no one will question what you have to say, at least not to your face. They all have a certain respect for the art of telling a good fishing story. I might as well bring along my casting and spinning reels to have new line put on for the coming season. I make a point of replacing each and every reel lined with monofilament at the beginning of each season. I like to get it done at the tackle store because they have a powered spooler that does a much better job than doing it yourself.
Then again, I could drive over to the thrift store and see if they have any more new fishing magazines. While I’m at it, I think I’ll drop off that stupid shelf that I made – the one that doesn’t exactly fit where I originally wanted to put it.
There are all sorts of things I can do, I guess, to help get me through the next couple of months.