Signs of Spring - I think.

Spring time is my second favorite season right behind Autumn.  The official start of spring is over a  week old and yet this week in Connecticut we had snow twice and temps hovering around 40 and snow possible this week.  YIKES!   But don't fret my friends, there are signs everywhere that old man winter is losing his grip.

Ice is still hanging on - barely

The snow is melting away to reveal what I'm pretty sure is my lawn, but after almost 90 inches of snow I forgot what it looks like.  The ice on our rivers and lakes is melting and this open water creates new playgrounds for returning waterfowl.  The days are getting warmer and longer which means after work I can spend time outside without using a flash light.  The only downside to spring is the loads of yard work and outside chores that will most certainly end up on my honey-do list.

The sightings of birds last seen in the fall start to increase as do sightings of plant life in the form of fresh buds on the trees or leaves pushing up from the snow free ground.   I'm not sure if there is just one specific sign of spring that sends me into a frenzy of anticipation but with each new sign I encounter, that anticipation gets harder to ignore and the more anxious I become to see what new life spring is going to provide. 

One of 15 in my yard this past week

For me the first sign of spring is the Maple sugaring season which I reported on in my Sap is really flowing - a sign of spring post.  It also brings the start of open water fishing season as well as the Spring Turkey hunting season which are just two of my favorite spring time passions.  Oh, and I can't forget the Spring Stiped Bass and American Shad runs in many of our Connecticut Rivers that dump into the Long Island Sound.  You would think with all these great opportunities I would be happy and relaxed, but with so many options for spending time outdoors I start to worry that I might miss something.  Fret not my friends I promise to do my best to ignore my chores and house work as to not miss a single opportunity this spring, but please don't tell my wife I said this.


For those that don't fish there is the return of birds and waterfowl from their wintering grounds as they migrate their way back north to their breeding grounds offering up some incredible opportunities for birding and photography.  It usually starts with seeing more geese and ducks, then the robins show up and of course the red winged black birds.  It also seems like our resident birds like the black capped chickadee, titmice and cardinals start to really turn up the volume in their sweet notes as they start to look for mates.  I know many days during the past two weeks where the birds on my feeder outside my bedroom window were so loud that I didn't need an alarm clock.  At first I was frustrated as I still had some sleep time available but then I realized that I couldn't miss this so I just laid there enjoying the sweet sounds.

The culprit responsible for my early awakening

Even if you never leave your back yard you can enjoy the signs of spring as the plants, trees and your grass starts to wake from a long winter rest.  The daffodils in my yard are starting to peek out from the ground.  I noticed plenty of earthworm holes in the yard as well and that probably explains why the 15 robins where hanging around out there


I can't leave out all the reptiles that start to make their presence known as snakes become more visible, peepers start their peeping and the spotted salamanders get ready for their spring migration.  Spotted salamanders make their spring migration to vernal ponds (just a fancy name for a temporary pool of water that offer up breeding habitat for many insects and reptiles) where they will breed and from what I have read it is a site to see a large migration.  I have yet to witness a large salamander migration and this is on my hit list for this spring so if anyone knows of a good viewing spot in Connecticut or surround states please let me know.

No matter what your favorite spring time sign is, it's time to pay attention and be on the lookout because it happens fast and you surely don't want to miss a chance to welcome an old friend home.

Welcome Home Spring.

Finally Some Time on the Stream

The sap was all boiled and bottled, the weather was spring like and my house chores complete, so it was off to fish a local TMA (Trout Management Area) to see if I couldn't get into some open water trout. 

The first stop was my home stomping grounds of the Cole Wilde TMA located on the Willimantic River.  I wasn't sure what condition the river would be in with all the rain last week and the snow melt off so I was prepared for the worst but was pleased with the conditions of the river.  The water was high and it was running fast but much clearer than expected.  I noticed plenty of winter stones fluttering about and scurrying across the rocks but no fish activity.  I was also the only one fishing which was a sign that the preseason stocking hasn't occurred yet.  Oh well, that just meant that I would have to work hard for a fish which was fine with me as I was just excited to be on the water and using my new Greys Streamflex 10' 4wt.

I decided to do some indicator nymphing using a woven stone fly as my anchor fly and a small black Pheasant Tail nymph as a dropper.  Up until this trip I always used a 9 foot rod and I really didn't think that a 10 foot rod would be much of difference but that extra foot really helps with line control when nymphing.  The Streamflex was a pleasure to cast and handled everything I threw so needless to say i am very pleased with the new rod.  I worked over my favorites runs with out a single bump and no sign of fish anywhere.

I knew some of the TMA's had been stocked as I had reports from friends of their "slamming the stockies" outings, but that wasn't the case on the Willi so I packed it up and headed down to another TMA on the Hocknum River.   Once again I was greeted with a pretty open and easy to access stretch of the TMA all to myself so honestly I was expecting the same results as on the Willi.  The water was moving fast and high just like on the Willi, except it was a little cloudy.  I got all rigged up for some nymphing again and worked about a 200 yard stretch of water with not bumps and not a single fish seen.  There were stones fluttering around as well as what I would gather were midges.  As I was working the last stretch of water by my truck a couple of guys stopped to chat and see how things where going.  Turns out they were just on their way back from another TMA where they said it was like opening day.  Loaded with fisherman and fish.  It was the same TMA that I was getting the "slamming the stockies" reports from my buddy so I wasn't surprised.  We chatted for a bit and I decided it was time to head home.

So my first open water trip resulted in a big ZERO as far as fish count goes, but it was great to be back on the streams and to fish my new rod.  The upcoming weather forecast looks more like winter than spring but that's okay because the rivers and streams are open and flowing so the trout fishing will only improve and what more can you ask for.

The Sap is Really Flowing - A Sign of spring

Everyone has their own signs that they look for that tell them that old man winter is losing his grip and spring is around the corner.  For some it could be the first sign of Robins, like the twelve that were in my yard this morning, or your favorite fishing hole showing signs of open water and fish.  For my friend Jim (aka Bubba) it is the sound of sap trickling out of the trees and into his collection pails.  See Bubba has a passion for Maple Syrup but not the store bought kind, but the kind he makes himself every spring.  Every year as the days start to warm while the nights remain cold Bubba starts to get his sugaring gear out of storage and organized in preparation of hitting the outdoors to tap into the hidden treasure that the sugar maples are getting ready to provide.


The process of collecting sap and boiling it down into delicious maple syrup is truly a passion and a labor of love and it takes a commitment that is above and beyond what many of us would go through just to enjoy some of that liquid gold.   The passion and dedication required to produce your own maple syrup is similar to the passion  and dedication to shoot a large buck or harvest an old Tom.  It takes preparation, planning, hard work, commitment and reevaluation of your season oh and good equipment and lots of time.

Bubba repairing a tap and line

For Bubba it starts by gaining access to land that has plenty of sugar maples.  Once that access is gained a scouting mission to find the best trees and a plan to get the sap out of the trees and into collection pails begins along with equipment repairs and cutting and stacking wood that will be used to fuel the evaporator.   There are many different ways to collect the sap from simply taping the tree and hanging a bucket to running a connection of rubber tubing along the trees acting as a collection highway that allows the sap from multiple trees to run into a single collection container.  The later makes the process of collecting the sap quicker and somewhat easier.  Especially when you still have two feet of snow on the ground.

100 gallon holding tank over flowing 

Transferring the sap into the tank on the truck

Once you have the sap collected you now need a place and equipment to boil that sap down into syrup and all this occurs in the "Sugar House".  Bubba's shed is a multi-function facility in that it has many applications such as a meat room during the hunting season where we process all our deer, but for about six weeks during the months of February and March this shed is officially known as the "Sugar House".  The Sugar House is where the sugaring process really takes shape.  The sap is pumped from the containers used to pick up the sap from the field and into a hold tank on the outside of the Sugar House.  From here the sap is feed through a filter and pipe system that is connected to a wood fueled evaporator.  This evaporator is the tool used to boil the sap which removes the water from the sap leaving nothing but pure sweet and Delicious maple syrup.  This boiling process takes some time as it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of pure maple syrup.  I refer this part of the process being similar to watching paint dry, but knowing that the results will taste much better.
 

The evaporator boiling away

Jersey Jim stoking the fire

It take someone with a eagle eye to watch the thermometer

As the boiled sap moves through the different sections of the evaporator it and the water is boiled off the sap will be ready to be "drawn off" which means it is removed from the evaporator into a finishing pan with the temperature of the syrup now being 7.5 degrees above the boiling point of water.  Once the syrup has been transferred into the smaller pan called a finishing pan, the syrup will continue to be cooked and the density checked with a hydrometer until the the sugar maker, Bubba, is satisfied with it and then it is ready to be filtered.   The syrup is now run from the finishing pan and through a filtering machine and then into another finishing pan where it will continue to be heated to a minimum of a 180 degrees for bottling. 

Bubba checking the syrup in the finishing pan

Bubba preparing the syrup for the filter

Liquid gold as it comes out of the filter

This process will be repeated daily until the nightly freeze stops and the sap no longer flows.  For Bubba this means at work for 7am where he works for an 8 hour day and then heads home where he will collect sap and then start the boiling process which many nights will last until almost midnight.  On the weekend Bubba starts this process first thing in the morning and once again it will continue well into the night.  As I said it is truly a labor of love and requires great dedication and a deep passion.

The Finished Product

Finding help can be difficult at times but Bubba's rule is simple, If you want syrup you have to work - no exceptions.  So work we do.  Even the boys from New Jersey get into it and make at least one long weekend trip to the Sugar House where they spend the weekend sugaring.  The one added advantage to the weekend work is the opportunity to cook up a nice big breakfast for everyone helping out which allows us to enjoy the fruits of our labor as well enjoy a bottle of fresh made Connecticut Maple Syrup.

A must have when evaluating your work

A full griddle - Venison sausage, bacon, potatoes

DELICIOUS

If you have never tried pure maple syrup, then I encourage to do so and before balking at the price, think about the passion, dedication and work that goes into making just one gallon of this incredible liquid gold and then pour ever so carefully.

Below are some great links for additional information on sugaring and Maple Syrup.

http://www.ctmaple.org/howto.htm
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/FAQ.htm
http://www.realmaplesyrup.com/how.html
http://www.vermontmaple.org/make-maple-syrup.php