Jim Bennett

Seems like everyone I talk to from Wisconsin to New Hampshire is sick and tired of the winter that just won't end. Cold to the bone temps and north winds just keep coming but the 2026 fishing season has arrived anyway. Regardless of the weather, people who are hooked on fishing are going to go out and fish. Some have boats, others kayaks, you may even see a few uncomfortable canoes. More fish from shore. That's a great way to fill a frying pan.

I remember growing up in Wisconsin when there was just one fishing opener. Simple days. Row boats were common, motor boats not. Most boats stayed on lakes year round. Only

Big largemouth bass simply put are a fun fish to catch. They can get really big and love to fly. I can still close my eyes and see one monster

T his is a birdwatcher's favorite time of year. Spring birds are back. I just saw my first hummingbird on May 17. Bird Feeders are full of seeds. Birdhouses are in all of the best places. Blue bird house trails are set along edge cover and openings. Backyard birders are watching to see which birds are back in their yards this year compared to last. Some record numbers, dates and species in a journal year to year. They are the most serious birdwatchers I know.

I had the best dream last night. I was dreaming about fishing. I always have wonderful dreams but this one was one of the best. I was on a trout stream fishing with a bamboo fly rod. Like most trout streams it’s hard to find a more beautiful place. The sound of the stream, standing in moving water, wearing waders or hip boots, they keep you warm and dry in cold trout waters. Birds are singing everywhere. Cedar waxwings doing a skyward ballet, chasing the insects I’m trying to imitate. Sometimes the flies I use are the ones I made, tied on a tiny fly vice. It’s peaceful and quiet with a symphony of sounds; water making music as it crests rocks and splashes wood that’s fallen into the stream.

T here is a wine cup showing a boy crouched on a rock with a fishing rod in his right hand and a basket in his left. In the water below there is a round object of the same material with an opening at the top. This appears to be a fish cage. This object is currently in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The cup is dated at around 500 BC. Today’s angler can relate to all of those items. As far as my dream about bamboo fly rods goes, they got their start around 1870 with a run of 75 years to the 1950’s, about the time of my birth. That’s when fiberglass took over.

I grew up when most anglers fished from shore. Any boats were left at the lake where you knew someone. Boat trailers weren’t popular until after World War II. Post war economics boomed and highway systems expanded in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. More people began owning small motorboats and had the flexibility to tow them by simply putting a hitch on their cars back bumper.

By Jim Bennett Wild River Trails T here is just something about watching a bobber go down. The only thing better is looking out and not spotting your bobber.

F ishing can be a lifelong activity. Those who learn the difference between fishing and catching will evolve and pass their skills along. Catching keeps you in the sport. Not catching chases many away. Snoopy Poles were my kids “go to” that opened a door for fishing. It got them involved into something I already liked to do as an adult. Today both my kids fish as adults. My daughter Erin and my son Josh both fish with their kids. As parents they are into the same evolutionary process I went through. They've both learned and taught their kids that catching is the fun part of fishing. They too have evolved from boats to kayaks as have I.

According to mountvernon George Washington was a fowler and a fisher, spending more nights under the stars than any of our founding fathers. He hunted with several kinds of guns