Well, trout season officially opens on the river in about ten days. The last Saturday in April is the traditional opener, but the Cavalry Club is located on the Blue Ribbon “flies only, catch and release” section of the upper river, so that stretch never officially closes in the fall. Still, the boys have always looked to the last Saturday in April as “opening day”, both for the fishing season and for opening of the Club.

Most of the boys usually show up to help get things ready for the season. We’ve got to start up the water pump; get rid of the dead mice and other critters; clean up the winter debris and dead fall; get the electric turned on; light the water heater and fill the propane tank. The last bunch of grouse hunters at the Club in November are supposed to clean up the place and close everything down for winter when they leave, but that doesn’t always get done completely right. So there is usually something out of whack that needs cleaning or fixing. Like someone leaving food in the fridge, that by now is either rotten, exploded or both. Using all the propane, or not draining and putting anti-freeze in the toilet so it freezes and busts a commode.

It’s usually Old Uncle Alphonse who gets up to the Club first, on Wednesday or early Thursday morning. It’s about the only time that you can count on him to do anything useful. He gets the pump going and turns on the propane. He does this only because he needs running water and wants gas for the stove and the space heater. It’s still pretty cold at night in late April on the river. There’s never any split fire wood left from last season, and old Alphonse is usually too lazy, or too tired to split any more for the big iron stove. He’d rather light the space heater and use up what’s left of our cooking propane. By the time the other fellows get there on Friday evening, Alphonse has undone any house cleaning that the boys might have done in November, but at least he’s got the water and heat on, so nobody does much complaining.

The boys get a pretty slow start in getting around to the chores. They usually start in on the bourbon and beer right away and are lounging around the big table catching up on winter stories about deer hunting, Florida fishing and such other adventures when Captain Jim rolls in. Then things get organized with discipline and cavalry precision. It doesn’t take long after that to get everything in order. Bunks made up, groceries put away, toilets scrubbed, bar stocked, and all the porch furniture and canoes brought up from the little cabin. Captain Jim isn’t exactly pushy about any of this, but all the boys know that there won’t be any more booze poured or venison steaks burned until everything is done to his satisfaction. Nobody ever questions the Captain’s authority in this. Except once in a while Old Uncle Alphonse puts up a challenge, but the Captain knows that old Alphonse is just testing the water, so he can usually put old Alphonse back in line with just a steady stare. Other than that, all the boys recognize that the Captain is in overall charge on the most important goings on at the Club.

Since Saturday morning is the “official” opening day, everyone feels obligated to get up by 7:00am and start stringing rods and sorting flies. Most everyone’s fishing bag is just as they packed them up last fall, so there is a lot of digging around in duffels for fly boxes, reels and other essential gear. If anyone bought a new rod over the winter or got one for Christmas from the grand kids, the boys will spend some time criticizing everything about it, from its flex to its finish, until the once proud owner is ready to pack it back up or sell it to the lowest bidder.

The river is still pretty high, fast and stained by winter run-off so none of the boys get too serious about wading, floating or fishing in general. Everyone will slip down the bank to the canoe dock and someone will observe that the water is too fast yet, or too stained, or too high, or the air is too cold to hatch anything. Someone else will agree with these age old observations and everyone will climb back up the old log stairs to the lodge. Having performed this opening day ritual, all the boys are content and satisfied and are ready to start the poker game and get the stew pot going.

            No one thinks much about not catching any fish this morning and, except for a few real serious anglers like the Captain and Old Uncle Alphonse, who will sneak off down to Portage Creek to fool some early Brookies with Woolie Buggers and Skunks, no one will during the whole weekend.  It’s more the principle of the thing that is important, not the doing. Most of the boys have been on the river for opening day since the early fifties. So nowadays, it’s enough just to be here on the last Saturday in April.