William Neer, who spent opening day with his father and grandfather, shows the smile of a hooked angler
I got up early this morning and headed for the water -- but not to cast flies for sea-run cutthroat trout in Puget Sound, a redsides rainbow on Oregon's Deschutes River or a Columbia River smallmouth bass.
I was up early for one of my own fishing traditions -- to report and write a newspaper story about the opening day of lowland lake trout fishing in western Washington. At first glance, opening day seems to be awash in bottles of PowerBait -- that weird, Day-Glo paste that floats and makes hatchery trout eat like a hungry dog -- boat ramp mishaps and too doggone many anglers in too little space.
All that weirdness is part of opening day, and it's part of why I don't cast a line on opening day.
But, if you take a closer look, opening day is better and nicer than it seems. It's a day where families often fish together, and that is pretty much a good thing.
It's a day where people leave video games, televisions -- and even the Internet -- inside. They get up early and go out into the morning chill to do pretty much the same thing our ancestors did hundreds -- even thousands -- of years ago. Our ancestors didn't have high-tech line, outboard motors or neon-green PowerBait, but they did use hooks and weights -- and sometimes painted themselves bright colors.
And it's a day where you might meet someone like 6-year-old William Neer, who was at western Washington's Summit Lake with his dad and granddad.
William got to spend a very cold morning out in a boat with dad Mike Neer and granddad Bill Neer, but he didn't seem to mind the ordeal. In fact, he was delighted.
And why wouldn't William be happy? He got to fish with his dad and granddad -- surely a trip he will remember for the rest of his days -- and he caught most of the fish trolling a Mepps spinner while the grownups fly fished.
"I want to go fishing again because it's fun," William said as he held up the family catch.
Watching William grin -- and hearing him laugh -- reminded me of my first fishing trip with my dad and brother 41 years ago. We were on California's Kern River, and I got to use my brand-new Zebco rod and reel. I didn't know diddly about fishing, but I sat on a footbridge and kept pushing that cool button on my reel.
I liked seeing the line zip downstream. I didn't know that I was sending my salmon egg on a perfect drift to a slot swarming with trout. I caught fish after fish, and I was as hooked as those hatchery trout.
I mostly fly fish these days -- and I favor wild trout -- but I'm more hooked than ever.
Watching William reminded me of sitting next to my father on that bridge, and how he laughed every time I hooked a trout.
Watching William smile reminded me of taking my daughter Courtney -- now a university freshman -- fishing on Oregon's Deschutes River, Willamette Valley crappie ponds, Columbia River smallmouth bass reefs and Florida mangrove flats.
In my mind, I kept hearing Courtney's burbling giggle, my father's laugh and the sound of time sliding back and forth.
Opening day is more than meets the eye or ear -- even if you don't cast a line.
