Tomorrow morning before the sun is up, the Director and Sparrow are heading north.  It seems a bit early, but the signs are everywhere.  My dad has always told me, just as his dad told him, that when the lilacs are blooming, the smallies will be on their beds.  We usually don't see this till the end of May, but this year everything seems to be early.  Another sign?  The pine tree pollen.   I know it seems a bit wierd, but have your allergies been particularly bad this year?  A doctor friend of mine said he hasn't seen this many allergie problems for twenty years - I believe it.  My house is surrounded by pines and everything is coated in a yellow powder.  Up north, this was always a good sign that the time was right.  It wasn't uncommon to see long stretches of shoreline with a thick skim of pine pollen sloshing up on every log and rock.  Yep, blooming lilacs and pine pollen - these are the signs I look for every year.

We will be tossing tube baits tipped with Little Tease Skirts - man they look good this way.  I just don't use any plastic now without a Little Tease Skirt.  I see there was a cool walleye fishing article in the latest In- Fisherman on using the Little Tease Skirts.  They are definitely killers for many species and it's nice to see fisherman experimenting with them.  I really think the possibilities are endless.   No doubt we will also be tossing some top water baits - the red and white medium sized Torpedoes are our favorites.  We've nicknamed them the blushing albino frogs.  The key with these it seems, is to reel in a few cranks, stop, twitch a few times, repeat.  Expect some explosive strikes but you've got to feel them.  Instincts say to set the hook immediately, but often this results in a miss.  Spawning smallies often times are just knocking the lure away from their nest and not taking it in their mouth.  With self control a bass will hit a top water lure a couple times if you leave it alone, but set the hook too soon and they seem to get smart really fast and will rarely hit a top water that has to be cast back to the spot. 

I'm also a big fly fisherman.  I love tying my own flies, but have been disappointed at the availability of the accessories around Wausau to get the job done.  I was able to find enough supplies in my box to get a few poppers and streamers made up for tomorrow.  Catching smallies on a flyrod is the ultimate experience - at least in my opinion.  I come from a long line of fly fisherman so I guess it is in my blood.

I'll give a full report of our trip and let everyone know if the signs are true this year, but I don't think I'll be disappointed.  Blooming lilacs and pine pollen have never let me down.