Opening Day.

Living in Manitoba you never know what the weather will be on opening day and the forecast this year wasn't hopeful. The morning of the new fishing season started with a fresh blanket of snow and minus two degrees Celsius, brrrrr. The afternoon called for an eighty percent chance of rain or snow. As I sipped my steaming cup of coffee beside the blasting heat of our wood stove, I knew I was committed to brave our icy waters today.

Off I went to buy some live minnows and the new season's angling license. Upon my return I started with my full piece long john's as the first clothing layer of many. To my surprise, my wife Irma said she would join me as long as I promised to drop her off at shore when she was too cold. In all our years together she never fished with me on opening day when the weather was this frigid. What can I say, we have just finished one of our longest and coldest winters and she was anxious to be on the open water. My neighbor Gary, after a half hour of convincing earlier in the morning, opted to join us as well.

Once the boat was launched there is always a pit in my stomach as I glare at the motor that had run beautifully last fall before I winterized it. Will the motor spark to life and guide us to a honey hole of Walleye for our crew? Well, I flooded the motor and I prayed it wasn't a sign of bad luck. However, the Mercury coughed and spit to life after a few minutes and many many pulls and the air filled with the aroma of gas and oil, I smiled and thanked my twenty-five year old motor.

Off we roared to our first destination on Bird River, a spot I call "Fishing Woman's Dock" and not a nibble between the three of us. With the abnormally cold spring we've had so far this year, everything indicated that the Walleye had not spawned yet. As the minutes turned into hours and as we hit every "guaranteed to catch a fish" spot, the tough weather conditions equalled the biting action. Every boat we talked too had the same story, no to very few fish. Every angler held their breath when the question would be asked, "catch anything?", hoping to be told where the magical spot could be found on this opening day.

After five hours of working the river and our spring spots we felt a sense of pride in our boat. First, we survived the elements and the afternoon turned out to be a sunny affair and not even close to the morning forecast. We saw a Red Fox along the shore and several Turtles sunning themselves on driftwood. Assuming the other anglers were being honest about their luck, I know we lied about ours when asked, lol, we caught nine fish between the three of us. We lost some and we were able to bring home four good-sized keepers. My wife, Irma, caught the biggest Walleye and also landed the most stringer fish. Damn, she starts this year with the bragging rights!