Well, there's always ice fishing, too. But a distressing number of Loveland Fishing Club's finest tend to spend our winters huddled around the television set watching Harold Ensley or Homer Circle reruns. If you have a subject you'd like us to cover this winter, let me know, lovelandfishing@gmail.com Otherwise, consider this the first of a series of past columns published on this blog over the past two decades. Some names may be unfamiliar, or bring back recollections of members past. If you need a briefing, ask an old timer.
At this Friday's club breakfast, while reminiscing about great old trips of the past, a member with a good memory pointed out that most of our most unforgettable club events don't seem to involve the catching of a lot of fish. I simply note that no one likes a smart ass.
To start this conversation going, following is an article originally posted on March 1, 2011: the first of our ongoing speculations on "Who's Loveland's Toughest Angler?" If you have a new candidate to suggest, drop me line. Bill
The legendary Loveland Fishing Club is comprised of fisher men and women with a median age well into the '70s, maxing out at just over 90, with a tendency to test ourselves against the elements. With March winds howling, it's time once again to ponder, "Who's Loveland's toughest angler?"
My own claim to the title of toughest came during a February journey to the Sandhills of northwest Nebraska, where I'd forgotten my heaviest coat but bravely kept whimpering to a minimum on a day where the temperature never rose above zero. Others arguably have a more legitimate claim.
There's Shirley Smillie, for example, who just celebrated 80, who kind of stunned everyone a few seasons ago when she turned out for a legendary minus-23 degree ice fishing trip to Lake Grandby, followed by an equally memorable midsummer catfishing trip to Kansas a few weeks after a lengthy hospital stay for heart problems. Followed in turn by her hauling in a 45- or so pound spoonbill catfish on an early spring outing to eastern Oklahoma.
