Any scientist will tell me it’s a bunch of bologna, but I’m a believer in the “autumn equinox storm”. My definition is: a storm that provides a deluge of rain, strong wind and leaves us with much cooler temperatures permanently till next spring. It’s the true and noticeable shift from summertime to wintertime. Yeah, I’m aware that the official fall equinox was on September 23rd this year (when the sun crossed the equator), but summer weather continued right up until the other day.
In my eyes, early today this season changing storm arrived. Temperatures plummeted from the upper 50°s to upper 30°s between 1 and 2 am. Then a mighty east wind sent heavy rain pouring down our windowpanes. When I got up this morning and stuck my head out the front door, our neighborhood smelled of smoke from numerous first woodstove lightings since spring. This annual weather phenomenon gets me fired up and despite my workload, I had to go fishing!
I couldn’t just drop my work plans like I usually do. That’s only when I’m on my own personal work schedule. My day began with an interview with the sports writer for the Sawyer County Record, Frank Zufall. I’m not trying to work for the local paper, Frank is doing a story about me that will publish in the near future. So it wasn’t till 1 pm Bob Butler and I loaded up his boat and took off.
Due to the horizontal rain and cold temperature this was no marathon float. We put in on a nearby weedy slough where we’ve heard there are muskellunge and went for it. Bob generously rowed all afternoon (so much for me staying warm) while I chucked my new Winston Air Max 9-weight and the Man Bear Pig. Actually, if you’re casting like you mean it – you can stay warm too.
I’ll give you the short, during our first hour the northerns were hungry. I moved five aggressive fish. I think all but one were pike. One was definitely suspect and looked like about a 30” musky. I lost him on the third strip. But I landed two of the pike so it was a fun afternoon. Thank goodness my new Simms Windstopper and rain jacket worked 100%.
I got home around 6 PM. Now it’s almost 9 and I’m still cold to the bones. Such cold is the final ingredient that proves today was the “autumn equinox storm”. Fall fishing should be excellent from here on out and I’m getting the feeling my work will be piling up!