April Tradition
To mark the opening of each fishing season I take my family for a picnic lunch beside the same secret and free to fish river. I'm not really one for routine but I like this tradition. My family has grown by one since last year's picnic and now four arms are needed to marshall two curious boys. Of course it means that my fishing time has been reduced even further, but these trips aren't really about fishing. I hope that over time a soft introduction will spark an interest in my boys in fishing and nature. April is a wonderful time to experience the awakening natural world after months of dark and cold. It's quite invigorating to feel the sun's warmth on the skin and to witness the return of green life. There was light snow in previous Aprils but my sense is that the turn of the season has arrived a little sooner this year. The trees seem to have taken leaf earlier and I paused to watch iron blue beetles tear apart the young growth of a hazel. I wondered if the trout
