It’s the first cold morning of the season. The pines that line the long, dirt road sulk beneath a heavy blanket of October snow. We park at the rim of the canyon and rig up.

“Bye Murph! We love you girl!”

Those were the last words I heard from some of the most important people in my life as I walked out of the fly shop where I worked in Colorado.

Spring has sprung. Daylight savings, warm temperatures, buggy afternoons, happy fish and spring training for the Rockies all point to the unofficial start of spring. For the majority of the winter months anglers have been imprisoned to busy tail-waters and frustrated by frozen guides, but the thaw has started and season has begun!