The Brute

Vermont trout fishing season opened on Saturday, April 9. It was not a big day for me. I did not spend the preceding weeks preparing my equipment. I lost no sleep the night before. I did not get up early. I did not have an elaborate plan for where to go and when to go there. I considered not going at all. The reason behind all these negatives is one more negative: over the past ten years, opening days (which in my childhood meant the beginning of spring and over which I lost lots of sleep indeed) have been duds. I mean I took few, or no, trout. And for me (unlike for those of my fellow sportsmen I read about) the excitement of trout fishing remains closely bound up with the actual taking of trout.

This heretical admission leads me to go all the way and confess that I am no longer a fanatic and never have been an expert trout fisherman. I am, however, not without credentials in the sport. I have practiced it all my life, I am competent in most legal methods, and I do it (judging always by yield) rather better than most. (This is not really very difficult: five years ago a survey showed that one legal trout, a small one, was creeled every 3.2 hours on the Batten Kill.)

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Thomas Vargish

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Vermont trout fishing season opened on Saturday, April 9. It was not a big day for me. I did not spend the preceding weeks preparing my equipment. I lost no sleep the night before. I did not get up early. I did not have an elaborate plan for where to go and when to go there. I considered not going at all. The reason behind all these negatives is one more negative: over the past ten years, opening days (which in my childhood meant the beginning of spring and over which I lost lots of sleep indeed) have been duds. I mean I took few, or no, trout. And for me (unlike for those of my fellow sportsmen I read about) the excitement of trout fishing remains closely bound up with the actual taking of trout.

This heretical admission leads me to go all the way and confess that I am no longer a fanatic and never have been an expert trout fisherman. I am, however, not without credentials in the sport. I have practiced it all my life, I am competent in most legal methods, and I do it (judging always by yield) rather better than most. (This is not really very difficult: five years ago a survey showed that one legal trout, a small one, was creeled every 3.2 hours on the Batten Kill.)