Early WInter

Early WInter

Andy Dear | Thursday, 29 October 2020

Years ago I used to have a long distance relationship with a Dominican girl that lived in New Jersey. After about a year, we came to a point in the relationship where it was apparent that for the things to progress, one of us would have to make a geographic move to be closer to the other. Unfortunately she was unable to relocate due to the shared custody of a child with a former spouse. In one of my more colorful "filter-less" moments, I informed her that there was no way I was relocating to New Jersey where for 4-6 months out the year it was what I would consider to be a "frigid hell". She was a lovely person, but there's no amount of "lovely" that can take the place of a borderline tropical climate where you can fly fish for Redfish in shorts in January.....needless to say I am NOT married to a Dominican girl from New Jersey.

  Last week a colleague of mine who resides on a golf course just outside of Minneapolis Minnesota called me to let me know they had almost eight inches of snow in 2 days. Of course, living in South Texas, this is not something I can relate to at all. But, it does appear winter has come early for us this year as well. It was 37 degrees Fahrenheit at my house this morning (3 Celsius), which is ABNORMALLY cold for us this time of year.

  The good part about an early winter is that deer hunting season starts this weekend, and it will actually feel like DEER SEASON for once. Most years in South Texas, we deer hunt the early part of the season in shorts and a T-Shirt and are constantly fighting mosquitoes. The bad part about early cold snaps like the one we're experiencing is that aside from throwing the fishing into a temporary lull, I'll find myself on firewood detail for the next several days. Fortunately, this will be the first year in quite a few where I have a dedicated shop for all things tackle craft, and yes it is heated!

  I feel the same way about cold weather as I feel about going to the Circus. It's something I enjoy once a year for a VERY short period of time, then I want it to be over so I can go back to normal. My above-mentioned colleague in Minnesota continues to put the sales pitch on me about how much "fun" ice fishing is, and what a "blast" snowmobiling is. Yeah, well in the words of Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction "Sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie but I wouldn't know because I'm not gonna eat it"

  I called Captain Freddy Lynch this afternoon to book another charter for mid-November, and when I inquired how the fishing had been he responded "Good up until this cold snap hit, but who knows what the hell they're going to be doing for the next several days". It'll be interesting to see what mother nature holds for us in the next few weeks, but after watching 4 hurricanes hit the gulf coast states this year, along with wildfires on the west coast, not to mention a worldwide pandemic. And on top of all that..... EDDIE VAN HALEN DIED. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if on my next trip down to the Laguna Madre, that the Four Horseman Of The Apocalypse had taken up residence in my favorite fishin' spot.

Hope you're all staying safe and healthy,

Andy