And so it has come down to snow and cold chasing me indoors for the year.
I can't really complain about winter though. I knew it was coming, this is Wisconsin after all, yet I never managed to get out fishing again after the 29th of September, the date of my last post. And now, I must bear responsibility for wasting a perfectly temperate, if a little wet, October. I planned to try maintaining the hellacious two-or-three-times-a-week pace I achieved over the summer. I can normally handle chilly weather; in fact, after the crazy heat wave we had in late August and September, I liked the thought of casting out on fresh mornings amid changing leaves. But I slept straight through alarm after alarm as October galloped past. Before I knew it, cool had turned to chilly, then cold. Hunting season came and went, gave way to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and the following week, cold temperatures turned bitter, then plummeted to downright frigid, leaving the days suitable for only a certain kind of fisherman, far hardier than I.
Worst of all, I never found Big Missy. I really thought it would happen, really thought Big Missy and I would meet again. I could see myself landing her a second time, taking pictures, and even had my blog post written in my mind for the occasion.
Such a waste...
But there's always next year. I may never see Big Missy again; I may catch her and not realize it's her, the lure long since rusted out...or it may be that someone else caught her and kept her. She was a keeper, I'd say, or damn close. But there's always a 'Big Missy' to be had, a 'Big Missy' story to be told, which is at the very heart of the fishing experience - the unknown. And who knows, depending on regulations, maybe I'll try a little early spring fishing if the water's open, try to catch the northern pike spawn, because Big Missy or no Big Missy, I'm a fan of pike fishing.
Hell, I'm a fan of any fishing. And I'm already waiting out winter.
Two words for next season: hat cam. ;-)
