New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

The calm before the storms and plenty of fish to catch

Tuesday 02/04/2014

Sounds like we have the storm of the winter barreling down on us tonight with maybe even a bigger one in store for Monday. Looks like I picked the wrong week to head south. Well it was cold last week but not in the Mayan Riveara Mexico. My wife and I made off for the week with two other couples we have been traveling with for years. And what great luck we had weather wise. When we arrived at the resort it had been raining that day and for another hour upon our arrival. Then six days of sun and 80's ended with a cloudy day coming as we headed to the airport. We got to our gate at the terminal and could see it pouring outside! You just can't beat good luck. My serendipitous life just seems to work out that way.

Us men are all ardent fishermen and we did manage to sneak away for a day of fishing off the Yucatan Peninsula just south of Cancun. It was sunny calm and the fish were biting pretty good. All three of us boated several fish. We decided to keep a red snapper for our lunch. Soon after docking our captain had the fish filleted and we walked the 70 feet to the little restaurant at docks end where the captain disappeared into the kitchen with our catch. Not fifteen minutes later he delivered a huge platter of the most delicious fish I have ever had. Yes life is good.

We got home around 1:30 am Saturday morning and by 10 am that morning I had caught my first bass of the day while ice fishing. My son caught the biggest bass I have ever seen come through the ice that morning as well. I'd say close top six pounds. Yes we are a fishing family.

I went down to Manchester yesterday for an errand. I'm always surprised at how quickly winter disappears as I drive south of Epsom. Especially the field in Hooksett by the town library. What used to be Mount St. Mary's College. The field was bare of snow. Now that is maybe 12 or 13 miles from my house and more like ten miles south as the crow flies. Every spring, spring seems to come a couple weeks earlier just that fewer miles south. Not that spring is here yet. But just the same that short distance really seems to be a big difference when it comes to snow.

I'm seeing turkeys about and we had deer tracks on the pond we were ice fishing yesterday where the deer was walking at ice edge browsing on the red maples along the shore line. Not mush of a winter so far for our deer. If we don't get walloped too bad in the next few days it looks like our deer will have another banner winter. And it really is deep snow doing into late March and April that knocks our numbers down. But so far so good. Funny how a deer hunter "thinks deer" year round. Deer hunting just seems to make you pay attention to nature and your environment all the time. Sure mountain bikers and hikers may enjoy these same woods as us but I have no doubt in my mind that they don't understand the woods like us. Oh to be a hunter.