April 1 was the opening day of open water fishing season in this part of Maine. That changed a short while ago and we can now fish through the ice until it melts and then in the open water 
right away. This change was of course unrecognized by nature. The ice is still in on most lakes and ponds and with rain last night the streams and rivers are high, cold and the water dirty.
When I am guiding in the summer and fall clients always ask “what do you do in the winter?” thinking that I am simply hanging around and once in a while putting another stick of wood in 
the stove. When I tell them that I also wear the hat of Executive Director of the Maine Professional Guides Association I get a nod that say “that must be easy”.
Wednesday is the first day of spring and to demonstrate that mother nature has a sense of humor we are forecast to have a foot of new snow tomorrow. The temperature this morning was eight degrees. Winter is not giving up easily this year.
Early spring is an awkward time of year in mid coast Maine. The snow is almost gone (until tomorrow that is), the ice on the ponds has gotten too soft to trust and many days are still pretty cold. I noticed yesterday that the daffodils on the lawn are almost an inch high clearly they are thinking that spring is coming.
