It doesn't matter where you live, nearly all of us have to survive an off-season. Whether it be because of seasonal weather, or by regulation, most of us know the off-season as winter.
If you're like me, you clung onto the fall fishing like a cat hanging on a screen door. I know I wasn't the only one fishing after ice had started to build up along the edges of the Bulkley River late last November. However, I do think I was the only one breaking through the ice on the shores of a local lake with my waders in -5 Celsius to catch a few more cut throat before everything froze over entirely.
Unfortunately, however, every cat is eventually removed, or falls off (or through) that screen door and suddenly winter is upon us. It starts off alright with memories of the past fishing season still fresh; a little adrenalin left in our veins from those fish we will never forget, that discovery of that spot we can't wait to fish next year and for us fly tiers we look forward to having the time to stock up our fly boxes for next year.
As the winter wears on our focus begins to become more and more narrow because spring is coming. The days start getting longer, the snow begins to melt, and the most mentally and emotionally challenging time we as anglers face begins. At least this is how it is for me.
SAS or "Spring Anticipation Syndrome" kicks in. Our fly boxes are full, and when you try to tie more you end up sitting at your tying bench staring at an empty vice. It isn't that you don't know what to tie, but your mind is somewhere else.
In your head you're back on the river, your favourite hole, or perhaps a new hole, hooked up to a fish you can't imagine. When you come back to reality you decide that watching a fishing DVD, or program on TV will help. But it doesn't. Now you're fidgety, flailing your arms and mimicking fighting a fish as you imagine you're hooked into that fish you just saw on your TV.
At this point you either scream out loud, or proceed to sigh the deepest sigh of your entire life. Either way you cannot deny you have SAS, and bad!
Unfortunately, there is only one cure for SAS and it relies on winter ending, and spring taking over and the fishing to turn back on. Ultimately your SAS will not be cured until you do catch that first fish of the season. Last year mine was a nice little Rainbow Trout (pictured above) taken on a micro leech from a lake I hadn't tried before. It was a great feeling.
If you're still suffering from SAS, just remember, you're not alone, and it won't be too long before the fishing is back on. At least that's what I've been told is the right thing to say these situations.
If you're like me, you clung onto the fall fishing like a cat hanging on a screen door. I know I wasn't the only one fishing after ice had started to build up along the edges of the Bulkley River late last November. However, I do think I was the only one breaking through the ice on the shores of a local lake with my waders in -5 Celsius to catch a few more cut throat before everything froze over entirely.
Unfortunately, however, every cat is eventually removed, or falls off (or through) that screen door and suddenly winter is upon us. It starts off alright with memories of the past fishing season still fresh; a little adrenalin left in our veins from those fish we will never forget, that discovery of that spot we can't wait to fish next year and for us fly tiers we look forward to having the time to stock up our fly boxes for next year.
As the winter wears on our focus begins to become more and more narrow because spring is coming. The days start getting longer, the snow begins to melt, and the most mentally and emotionally challenging time we as anglers face begins. At least this is how it is for me.
SAS or "Spring Anticipation Syndrome" kicks in. Our fly boxes are full, and when you try to tie more you end up sitting at your tying bench staring at an empty vice. It isn't that you don't know what to tie, but your mind is somewhere else.
In your head you're back on the river, your favourite hole, or perhaps a new hole, hooked up to a fish you can't imagine. When you come back to reality you decide that watching a fishing DVD, or program on TV will help. But it doesn't. Now you're fidgety, flailing your arms and mimicking fighting a fish as you imagine you're hooked into that fish you just saw on your TV.
At this point you either scream out loud, or proceed to sigh the deepest sigh of your entire life. Either way you cannot deny you have SAS, and bad!
Unfortunately, there is only one cure for SAS and it relies on winter ending, and spring taking over and the fishing to turn back on. Ultimately your SAS will not be cured until you do catch that first fish of the season. Last year mine was a nice little Rainbow Trout (pictured above) taken on a micro leech from a lake I hadn't tried before. It was a great feeling.
If you're still suffering from SAS, just remember, you're not alone, and it won't be too long before the fishing is back on. At least that's what I've been told is the right thing to say these situations.
