Who said Mother Nature doesn't have a sense of humor? On the heels of unseasonably frigid weather just a few days ago, she played her annual April Fool's joke on opening day trout anglers by whisking in 60-degree temperatures. The hole card she played, however, was that the stream water temperatures were more February-like and water levels were so high any bait or lure lowered into the current was swept by hungry trout so fast that the fish probably thought they was hallucinating.
Did I mention the wind? Gusts were so strong that unless anglers added a quarter pound of sinkers, the wind might blow the line and bait right out of the water. I'd hazard a guess that it also raised havoc with anglers trying to fish the smaller, brush-lined brook trout streams where the technique often involves merely swinging and then dropping the bait into openings over the water.
There was a time when I was young and foolish (well, maybe young and more energetic) that nothing could keep me off the trout streams on opening day. Probably the Postal Service could have used me then, because neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor gloom could keep me from my appointed destination with the trout. Did the trout care? Most years, they certainly didn't seem to fully appreciate the sacrifice I was making to meet them, ungrateful creatures that they are.
Often, consolation-wise, it was easier to open a package of Mrs. Paul's frozen fish sticks than to clean a bunch of slippery trout for supper ... not that I had to worry that often about that. You can't clean fish you don't have. Now, I'm not belittling those who braved the elements Tuesday, and I congratulate them on their dedication and tenacity. But I also wonder how many had fish sticks for supper Tuesday night?
The real beauty of opening day is it's like being able to mentally, if temporarily, shove winter aside and allow springtime to enter, even briefly. Regardless of how winter-like conditions might be, opening day of trout season is akin to seeing the first robin or red-wing blackbird of the new year – it means that winter is almost over.
Realistically though, the very best trout fishing – or should I say ætrout catchingæ -- will arrive later, probably late April and May. I'm reminded of years ago when my late-April task as a young angler was to catch enough live shiners to use as bait for when the May 1 pike, walleye and pickerel season opened. Using a small piece of worm for bait, I usually caught as many brook trout as I did shiners then. And the strange part was I most always had the streams all to myself. Where had all those opening day trouters I saw a few weeks ago disappeared to? Oh well, why look a gift trout in the mouth.
This year's opening day was the classic example of an April Fool's joke. Due to the record rainfall of last month, coupled with the unseasonably warm temperatures of Tuesday that caused extensive snow-melt, the amount and volume of water in the streams made them nearly unfishable. Mayhood's Sporting Goods reported precious little in the form of fishing success, the best apparently occurring at Guilford Lake, where the ice had melted near the outlet, which allowed one angler to catch a few rainbow trout. Otherwise the opening day score elsewhere appeared to have been a shutout favoring the trout and the fishing conditions.
We will no doubt have better weather and fishing conditions soon (I have my fingers crossed), and trout fishing and catching will become a more realistic activity. In fact, since the tremendous growth in popularity of the month-long May gobbler hunting, you're apt to see few anglers on streams once hunting starts. Also, many anglers switch gears to go after pike, walleye, pickerel, bullhead and perch come May, and that also cuts into the trout fishing densities then.
But as Tuesday proved, opening day of our trout season isn't totally about catching trout. And, hopefully, most opening day anglers won't catch cold either. After all, the frozen fish sticks' season is open year-round.

20 Kids Can Win a 1,000 Islands Fishing Trip
The 30th annual Take-A-Kid Fishing Trip will be held on Sunday June 1 in Clayton-1000 Islands, NY. The event is sponsored by 1000 Islands Fishing Charters and Thousand Islands Inn. The contest is open to all youngsters ages 9 through 15 on June 1 who reside in New York State. The names of 40 young anglers will be drawn on April 19. Twenty names will be drawn as winners and 20 as alternates, in the event that any of the winners are unable to attend. The winners will be notified by April 23. Alternates will be notified by April 30.
Submit email entries at www.1000-islands.com/fishing/contest . Entries by email must be submitted by midnight April 18. Postal entries should be submitted on a post card and include the youngster's name, complete address, telephone number, date of birth, age, the name of the publication they saw the contest announcement in and the name of the outdoor writer who wrote the story. Address postal entries to Take-A-Kid Fishing Contest, P.O. Box 69, Clayton, NY 13624 and must be postmarked no later than April 15. Only one entry per person will be allowed. Duplicate entries will be discarded.

Reloading Class at Mayhood's
On April 19 Tom DeBrita will conduct an 8-hour NRA class on metallic cartridge reloading at Mayhood's Sporting Goods, Rte 12-south. The course registration is $35 and includes a copy of the NRA Reloading Handbook, all materials, plus refreshments and lunch. Pre-registration and payment deadline is April 4 as class size is limited. For more information or to pre-register, contact DeBrita at (607) 244-1637 or reloadcourse@yahoo.com.vent trouble in the seventh. He started an inning-ending double play with a diving stop on a hard shot by Pat Burrell.
It was Zimmerman who hit a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Washington a 3-2 victory over Atlanta in the debut of $611 million Nationals Park on Sunday night.
“That’s why he’s the face of the franchise,” Nationals manager Manny Acta said. “He’s going to have a long career.”
A 30-year-old right-hander pitching for his fourth team in the majors, Redding shut down a potent lineup that’s led the league in runs the past two seasons.
Redding improved to 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in seven starts against the Phillies. He was just 3-6 in 15 starts in his first season with the Nationals last year, but should’ve had a better record because his ERA was only 3.64.
Brewers 8, Cubs 2
At Chicago, Jeff Suppan held Chicago to two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings, Rickie Weeks homered on the game’s first pitch and Jason Kendall reached base five straight times for Milwaukee.
Suppan (1-0) gave up Derrek Lee’s home run leading off the fourth on a 41-degree day and left after allowing Geovany Soto’s homer in the seventh.
Chicago starter Ted Lilly (0-1) gave up four runs and five hits in 4 2-3 innings as the Cubs dropped to 0-2.
Reds 6, Arizona 5
At Cincinnati, Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give Cincinnati its first victory under manager Dusty Baker.
Arizona took a 5-3 lead into the ninth on the strength of an impressive debut by right-hander Dan Haren, who doubled, scored a run, hit a sacrifice fly and pitched six innings.
Mets 13, Marlins 0
At Miami, Ryan Church and David Wright each homered, Carlos Beltran had three doubles and New York pounded out 17 hits.
Church had three hits and drove in three runs.
Oliver Perez (1-0) allowed five hits over six scoreless innings.
Andrew Miller (0-1) gave up five runs and eight hits over 4 1-3 innings in his Marlins’ debut.
Cardinals 8, Rockies 3
At St. Louis, Rick Ankiel homered, singled twice and made a diving catch for the Cardinals.
Todd Wellemeyer (1-0) struck out six in five innings and Rico Washington drove in an insurance run with his first career hit after nearly 4,000 minor league at-bats in a four-run eighth.
Brad Hawpe had a home run and RBI double for the defending NL champion Rockies. Aaron Cook (0-1) gave up four runs and six hits in six innings.
Braves 10, Pirates 2
At Atlanta, Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer and Yunel Escobar added a three-run shot in seven-run eighth inning.
Jair Jurrjens, acquired in the offseason deal that sent Edgar Renteria to Detroit, gave up seven hits and two runs in 5 1-3 innings to help the Braves avoid an 0-3 start.
Tom Gorzelanny (0-1) gave up six hits and three runs with three walks and three strikeouts in six innings.
Astros 9, Padres 6
At San Diego, Lance Berkman hit a three-run homer off Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the ninth inning and Houston rallied for its first win.
With the Padres leading 6-5, Hoffman (0-1) retired the first two batters before walking pinch-hitter Jose Cruz Jr. Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence followed with singles to tie the game and Berkman drove a 3-1 pitch over the center field fence.
Giants 2, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Tim Lincecum made his season debut in relief and scored the go-ahead run on Randy Winn’s sacrifice fly in the sixth, and San Francisco avoided its first 0-3 start since 1984.
The Dodgers decided to start Hong-Chih Kuo in place of Chad Billingsley due to the threat of inclement weather. The Giants followed suit, starting Merkin Valdez instead of Lincecum.