Well, with young man Brady now in my life, I've been taking a break from the fishing and hunting scenes. It's nice to take a break, actually. However, I'm feeling the sting of my two week hiatus. Seems all my fishing buddies are starting to "rub it in". These two shots popped up in my email a couple days ago. My fishing buddy, Wayne Smith, has been out on 
early ice around the Twin Cities and seems he's found the fish. These guys came on small jigging spoons and tip-ups. 'Tis the early season, as long as you can find safe ice. The key there? 4 inches or more of good 
ice. I'd be wearing Arctic Armor too. That gear is a lifesaver if you happen to find bad ice. A few more pictures popped up in my inbox this morning. My good friend Steve Hemkens over at Orvis just returned with a bit of a suntan and chip on his shoulder...for good 
reason too. Being the eternal bachelor, he accepted a short-notice trip down to the Bayou to wander the Biloxi Marsh, not far from the city of New Orleans. With Redfish on the brain, Steve found himself under warm, sunny skies, wandering glass-calm flats, sight fishing Reds. Turns out he hooked a couple of monster fish. Bulls. Geez, the biggest must have been 25 lbs. Steve says they were biting on essentially any fly Steve would throw 
their way. That's the way we like fishing. Meantime, I'm back to baby Brady and the bottle feeding. I hope to be on the ice two or three days from now. Please cross your fingers for me. I'm tired of folks rubbin' it in.