Last weekend was opening weekend for trout in the State of Michigan. That means crowded trout rivers, trout camps and lots of cars in every river access point. Honestly, it's a weekend I avoid due to the crowds. Not all rivers have fishing restrictions but the ones that do become swamped with people that one weekend. The river near us is one of those rivers. So I pretty much don't fish that weekend.
But this weekend is a different story. It was quieter and I managed to sneak out for an hour or so to fish. When I arrived, no one was there and the fish were jumping. I tied on a fly and had three missed strikes before I lost my fly in a tree. That's one of the reasons I don't like crowded rivers, I am constantly losing my flies in the alder branches. I trekked a little deeper in and just enjoyed the cedar swamp for a little bit. I cast a few more times but I was a little discouraged by losing my fly and never saw another fish. But the restorative value of standing next to a river, the calmness of the forest and the small splash of rising trout cannot be overstated. There's nothing else I can think of that causes your heartbeat to slow down and the stress to melt away.
