Magic Day

"Let's get going, Rich," Dad urged. "We want to get to the creek before 5 a.m.," he said on the opening day of trout season when I was about 10 years old. (I'm 72 now.) "The fish bite best for the first hour."

Though it was dark when we arrived, quite a few anglers had already staked out spots along the creek. Dad and I walked downstream, found a pool, and rigged up. We had dug our worms prior to the season and had stored them in a container filled with Buss Bedding, which kept them healthy. At 5, we plunked our baits into the pool. I don't remember if this was one of the mornings when we caug...