I walked outside this afternoon and I thought I heard the sound of a Canada goose honking. Maybe there were two. Maybe just wishful thinking, but the sound of geese honking is a sure sign spring is nearly here.
These were not the only sure signs of spring today. In my mailbox today was both the Outdoor Canada Annual Fishing issue and the Cabelas Spring and Summer catalog. How much more can I stand? I still have 2 feet of snow in my yard and the ice on the lake was still 3-1/2 feet thick this weekend. The only open water will be a couple mile stretch on the river, so if there are geese here, they are roosting on the river.
Our last two springs have been late, very late. Spring snow goose hunting last year barely got started until May 1st. Then the birds were in a hurry to pass through, although the 2nd week of May was full of limit shoots. With the late melt, many lakes still had too much ice on them to launch a boat for opening fishing weekend.
Spring comes in waves here in central Saskatchewan. Sometime we get this warm spell in early March and then winter returns for another month (see 2013, 2014). The experts say that this year is a return to normal so let’s hope they are right and we can get the spring snow goose hunt finished and then launch the fishing boats for some pre-spawn pike and walleye.