Farewell to punkass days of no trout fishing...

It's highly probable that today, 12/31/12, marks the final day of zero stream trout fishing opporunity in southeast Minnesota. 

Please read here: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/rules/fisheries/se-mn-trout.html

Various levels to this:

(1) It appears that the anglers have spoken, the DNR is responding.  Now legislature should follow through; this is how process is meant to work, as far as I can tell.

(2) Iowa stands to lose a fair bit of business from we MN folks in October- December.  I suppose many will still fish Iowa; especially those who want some meat (that includes me).

(3) The most important thing though, is that it's a step in the direction of dispelling what is at current a moderately dark waiting period.  There has been no nymphing of seams around here; there has been no riffle to trod upon.  The barring of boots on riffles rusteth the chisel, it rusteth the craft and the craftsman. Underlain by the shortening of days that peaks at solstice, right along with the culmination of three months waiting; is thy bread ever more of stale rags, is thy bread dry as paper, with no mountain wheat, no strong flour (EP).

And so, and so: thank you MN DNR and all who are working to get this done.  It could and should look like this: winter trout 2013 opens tomorrow; C&R and C&keep go on as normal; fall 2013 is different: C&R stays open longer, then state parks open all year...   on and on.  So there are some streams that will open tomorrow and will not close to angling (of some sort) at any foreseeable date.

This is highly remarkable. 

So while the carp mull things over and the SMB hole up in slow stretches, one will be able to go visit the warm (relative to winter surroundings) bosom of the aquifer-fed trout streams.  The limestone and the watercress and the midges that walk on snow grains at streamside.

In the end, there will be a downtick in ephemeral depression in southeast MN.  Marriage counselors and social workers in the region, folks who would pass by this news as unrelated to their professions, ought to be amongst those who write the DNR in thanks.

Following are a few winter pics from last weekend.  Four inches of ice found via chisel on 12/22; rural Cass County lake.  Kids played boot hockey three different days.  Merry Christmas and indeed, a happy and marked new year 2013.