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Today the wind is in my favor. I untie the boat and sit down. The off shore wind pushes me out into the lake so I do not need to help with the oars. I hitch my life jacket and pull out the outboard motor choke. One pull and its idling. I zip up my raincoat to keep out the cool air when I run up lake.

Five years back I changed my opener lake. I was called a quitter for not coming back on my tenth trip to the old lake. I was just moving out of the rookie pile when I jumped ship, and set sail on a new course, even if it was an established route. They still cajole me to come back and I appreciate the invite but I can’t take the intensity of all the after hours frivolity. Those guys’ fish seriously, I do too, but they play even harder. I get up to early and they stay up to late, so life and I, made the change.

My new crew has no problem with an easier pace. We catch our fish if all goes well. Then when the fishing is done we relax our backsides into some soothing. Camp chores just get done without all the fuss. I notice with my new bunch, their more of a “what are we going to do” consensus, than, “you do this, or you do that, mentality”.

Were all older, we know what to do, and we don’t mind doing it. Less correction, and less direction. In our own way we sacrifice all that years ago rough housing for house keeping senior style. We joke and jab verbally with our gray haired wisdom instead of log tosses or arm wrestling matches for whose top dog off the water.

We don’t hurry to put the tents up almost good enough. It’s slower, but done once. Dinner, takes its time. I have eaten my share of hurried burned potatoes or semi cooked walleye sushi. I like that the cocktail hour lasts an hour now instead of until the last dogs hung. Funny thing I’m not hung over anymore either. You get a bit older; you get a bit more content. We do what we can do, and that’s enough.

I can wake up when I want and start the coffee. I stretch me right into the morning. Kinks get worked out from my cot and not from leg wrestle mania or campfire high jump at midnight. I wake with some aches, but there not last night fresh.

With a steaming mug in my hand and everyone else still snoozing I’m alone but not lonely. I fill my thermos and grab a muffin for a fisherman’s breakfast. Too much food to early, makes for long brunch and a short lunch.

With my motor started they will know its me who couldn’t wait to get on the water. That part of me will never grow up I hope. I may be a typical baby boomer with an onset of ageless angling, but I feel like I’m hitting my stride. I don’t know if life caught up to me, or versy vise’a, the timing feels good and the winds at my back. I motor away quietly, if there sleeping, I’m gonna let them get there rest, besides, why wake the competition.

The trout whisperer

Karl "Trout Whisperer" Seckinger is a respected JustNorth author and outdoor adventurer. His guide service, DuNord Guide Service, and the trout waters that he fishes in the Superior National Forest, are some of the most tightly guarded secrets among Trout enthusiasts in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Contact Karl at 218 - 525 - 0442 or write to him at:

DuNord Guide Service - 6999 Culbertson Road, Two Harbors, Minnesota 55616

Learn more about DuNord Guide Service in the JustNorth MarketPlace.