Spring: A Time Of Change

Spring: A Time Of Change

Let's face it winter can be challenging. Shorter days, colder nights, and a solitude that lingers on into spring. We are faced with a small routine going back and forth to our jobs and doing the minimal outdoors. As we try and keep ourselves with whatever indoor work we can to keep occupied and out of the mental disorder that accompanies the long winters in Illinois. This last winter was mild and allowed a little better weather to get out now and again, I guess we should be blessed. The winter still takes a toll on family gatherings and our ability to get together. With flu's, travel barriers, and other winter doldrums it seems we see those we love even less in the winter.

It cannot be all bad and winter is coming to a close as spring starts to bring change into our lives. Rebirth and growth reviving the spirits we all but lost during the winter. Better days, sunshine, longer days, and fresh warm winds start to usher in a new beginning. Not all the days in spring are nice, but it sure shows us the darkness is coming to an end. The river starts to change in marvelous ways even on the not so hot days of the year. Ducks, Geese, Pelicans, and an array of other bird species begin to pile back in to the river valley. The Ducks start to show their beautiful spring colors and the geese start to fight and fuss over mates. The entire river ecosystem begins to come alive.

To celebrate spring the Masters Walleye Circuit comes to Spring Valley, Illinois to put on a nationally recognized fishing tournament for Walleye and Sauger getting ready to spawn on the Illinois River. I believe there were 95 boats fishing this river with almost 800 fish caught during tournament time. This tribute to the beginning of spring shows how the Illinois River hosts some of the best walleye and sauger fishing in the Midwest. These fish start their pre-spawn journeys long before winter is over to head north and spawn in the first part of spring. This can be a tough time to fish with rising and falling river levels, windy weather, and ever changing weather patterns. This tournament reminds me that winter is leaving and spring is in our near future.

The ducks begin to reappear all along the river with their new and beautiful color patterns preparing to pick out a mate and make nests for their up coming young. Toads, frogs, Turtles, and snakes begin to emerge from the sediment and wintering holes to begin their year out from hibernation. Yesterday I happened to find my first toad come out from the sediment in the river, still slow and cold from his winter under the sand. I have already seen several turtles swimming in the river signaling that winter is losing the battle against spring. The catfish are starting to move in searching for food and I have been able to catch quite a few on rod and reel these last few weeks.

Spring is almost fully here and the green is starting to return on the landscape bringing new life to the earth. A brightening of emotions comes with this renewal of spring and the days ahead do not seem as dreary as those that have passed. I am reminded of how temporary things are in life and how to let worries and loneliness fall away like winter into spring. I will be happy when the weather calms and the days get longer allowing more time to be out on the river and embrace the new beginning spring has in store. Less days spent inside thinking about things that do not matter and more time playing, working, and exploring the Illinois River. I hope winter hasn't got you down and if so, I urge you to get out slowly, take walks, view the beauty coming to life this spring and regain your love for the natural world.

Go fishing, hiking, camping, and make some new memories this spring season. I know I will be making a whole lot of memories this year and have a ton of plans to write about all of it, even if no one will read it I just enjoy writing. So I hope this inspires you to go out and have your own rebirth from a long hard winter. I know it has affected me in many ways, I am now looking to move out of that darkness into the light that is spring. Be safe, be a good steward, and I hope to meet you out on the water!