There may be snow, but spring is sprung!

[Jeff Reardon]

We had spitting snow last night with an inch or two accumulation on top of the snow already on the ground, but temps warm enough that it melted on roads and vehicles.
so
Wind turned hard to the south an hour or so ago, temps are rising and it's now raining a bit harder.

But spring is here, because I just heard the first flock of geese sail over my house riding that south wind. They must have been low, because I heard the honking with my windows closed in my home office. Looked out to see them head over the woods past my house and drop into a little pond across the street and 400 yards away. I don't think there is any open water down there yet, but they either landed or kept low enough on their way back out that I never saw them again.

Piles of common and red breast mergansers on open water on the Kennebec River. My guess is sea-run smelts and maybe tom cods are starting to spawn and the mergies are filling up on their way to nesting sites.

And neighbors are reporting woodcock peenting even over snowy fields. Have not seen any in my field, but I rarely do. Springs in the woods are snow-free and probably have some worms for them to feed on now.

 

[Carl]

Maybe winter will finally end for y'all up north???

Do you ever fish for smelt? I never went for them when I lived up north and only tried eating them after I met my wife. They are very popular in Japan, both fishing for them and eating them. We love them, very tasty grilled teriyaki style! The frozen ones we find in the larger Asian markets all come from Canada.

 

[S Lewis]

Spring? 10" of snow in the past 24 hours here in northern Michigan...Deer are digging for food again. But did have 200+ trumpeters set down in front of the house yesterday to rest going north. A very nice symphony of spring chatter.

 

[Jeff Reardon]

Smelts are probably my favorite fish to eat. We seem to be losing runs from Massachusetts through southern Maine, so even the recreational dipping season is now closed on the coast near me. It was a springtime tradition when I was a kid to head out with a flashlight, a bottle of something warming for the adults, and a dipnet to stand at the head of tide on April nights.

Maine has arcane rules on how to measure the 2 quart limit of smelts in freshwater. You want to use a solid measuring device, not a ziploc bag. Many a smelter has filled two "quart" bags only to have a warden pour them into his measuring device and find an extra few smelts spill over the top. That'll get you a ticket every time!

 

[patrick mccarthy]

Big winds, snow, rain and sleet here today
Boom may have broke now we're iced up.


View attachment image.jpg

 

[Chris Hughes]

Talking more snow here for Connecticut on Saturday.[frown]l

 

[george w]

Patrick, that looks like a view from Algonac, Mi. Lilacs are in leaves, hostices poking their shoots out of the ground. Next thing, I will have to leave the shop to get dead branches into a yard waste can, along with trimmings from a backyard rose and out butterfly bush. I like the re-greening but not the bull work associated with it.[:/]

 

[RLLigman]

Smelts are probably my favorite fish to eat. We seem to be losing runs from Massachusetts through southern Maine, so even the recreational dipping season is now closed on the coast near me. It was a springtime tradition when I was a kid to head out with a flashlight, a bottle of something warming for the adults, and a dipnet to stand at the head of tide on April nights.

Maine has arcane rules on how to measure the 2 quart limit of smelts in freshwater. You want to use a solid measuring device, not a ziploc bag. Many a smelter has filled two "quart" bags only to have a warden pour them into his measuring device and find an extra few smelts spill over the top. That'll get you a ticket every time!

I would rather see this than some of the horrible waste I have witnessed dipping for rainbow smelt; coolers filled with dead smelt that were rotten in a handful of hours; piles of dead fish dumped when sobriety began to return or drunkenness overcame their desire or capacity to carry the catch up off the beach.

As a kid I ice fished them via hook and line after dark in front of my uncle's home on Gull Lake, northeast of Kalamazoo. We used minnows or minnow pieces to take 20-50 fish in an outing. Surgical scissors and worn-out coarse bristle toothbrush were the cleaning "kit". We used to save gallon milk jugs we washed out for smelt storage. We cut the top and handle off, filled the remaining container with cleaned fish and wrapped the top with two layers of Saran Wrap held tight by a rubber band after it was frozen via the chest freezer. I do remember sever cleaning sessions that started after midnight and concluded well after sunrise the following day.

We dipped at Pier Cove along the southeastern Lake Michigan shore for years, first with my dad and brothers, and then by myself when their interest decayed...though they still readily consumed my catch.

When I lived in the eastern UP we found a couple of spots on the Gogomain River that held good concentrations of rainbow smelt during daylight, due to its tannic acid stained water. We also dipped a couple of Lake Huron tributaries west of Hessel.

I finally quit dipping when my net that I had left with the handle sticking in the sand by our fire to keep the mesh from freezing was stolen when I walked up into the dunes to relieve myself. Never trust an attorney to guard your equipment, even after you ask them to accomplish that task. Tony was contrite, but never offered to replace my net...so much for contrition!