The winter season in the Interior is characterized by long and frigid months. As the cold weather approaches, the days start to become shorter at an alarming rate. Soon enough, the sun rises at 10 am and sets by 3 pm, leaving you with only a few hours of daylight. The temperatures drop below -50, keeping most people indoors, hibernating just like the bears. This period commences in late October and lasts up until April. It has a way of wearing you down.
It’s now April, and the sun has returned, setting after 9 pm. Temperatures are in the range of 40-50 degrees, above. However, winter is still stubbornly holding on. This is perhaps my least favorite time of the year, I call it the “in-between” season. We are still ice-fishing, and 5 ft of ice still remains. After nearly 6 months of ice fishing almost every day, I’m eager for open water. The snow has started to melt, but it still covers the ground. Although I enjoy winter, it’s hard not to wish for warmer temperatures and everything that true spring will bring.
It is an understatement that I am dreaming of spring. Spring will usher in the beginning of a new hunting and fishing season. We can place bear baits starting April 15th. While it isn’t expected to have bears hitting these baits until May, I plan on placing at least one close to the opener. I’ve spent the past few weeks preparing for this year’s baiting season. I secured my grease from behind KFC, popped 100 gallons of popcorn, purchased scents and additives, and grabbed a few barrels free from the bulk fuel plant in town. I also plan on hanging beaver carcasses as a form of a “call” lure, something that will draw bears in from miles away. Here in the interior, we can shoot beavers on a trapping license. Once the sloughs and rivers break up I will be floating with the 22. Lr at the ready. Last year’s break-up didn’t conclude until mid-May. I’m hoping for an earlier start this year, so far the weather and snow melt seems to be 3 weeks ahead of last year. This will provide for a longer hunting season over my baits. While we can hunt black bears over bait until the end of June, Grizzly bears are only open to hunting until the end of May in the units I hunt. If I’m lucky, I’ll have a realistic chance at seeing one come in the entire month.
The true arrival of spring in my mind is the arrival of the grayling to their spawning locations. Each spring as the days get longer and water temps rise, grayling migrate from their wintering areas to where they will lay their eggs. There are a few places near town that are well known for having this spring spawning run of grayling. The most popular one, Badger Slough, is close to being ready. The ice has cleared substantially, yet no fish seem to be present. The earliest I have caught fish here was April 17th. What is interesting is that when I caught the fish that day I had to walk out onto the ice and jig my streamer up and down in a small hole in the ice. Last year, the ice wasn’t cleared enough to fish in until April 25th. I managed to catch a few through the small opening on that trip. This year there is plenty of open water but the fish have not arrived. It shouldn’t be much longer, but after 6 months of waiting it is hard not to be anxious for the first fish on the end of the fly line.
Feeling extremely cooped up, I headed out shed hunting yesterday in hopes of turning up a bou antler from the couple hundred I’ve been keeping tabs on throughout the winter. The week before the snow had melted down exposing the bare ground everywhere but in the snow drifts. The morning met my friend Matt and me with strong flurries and a fresh coat of snow on the ground. The fresh layer made conditions less than ideal for spotting sheds and we ended up being skunked despite covering over seven miles each through prime areas. Even though no bone was found, it felt great to get out of the house and stretch the legs.
While it is technically spring, until the snow has melted and the activities I look forward to take off it sure still feels like winter. I’ll try to keep patiently waiting but every year this “in-between” season seems to drag on forever. The bears and fish better watch out because when they arrive, I’ll be there waiting for em.