The streams in Northeast Iowa are cool, clear and a must for trout fishermen. And what better time to get away than the summer of 2020 when it’s ideal to be in the middle of nowhere than in the city and around lots of people. In many ways, I wish we could start 2020 fresh without certain events in my life, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The new normal is seeing friends, family, and those at the grocery store in masks. I’m in an “older” group so my wife and I have been extremely careful when going in public. So when deciding how to social distance with kids and friends we turned to the great outdoors. There’s nothing better than trout fishing.

Relaxing, quiet, and refreshing

What this year has done is to teach me patience and appreciation for those close to me. But it also has given me a renewed appreciation for our state and county parks, rivers, and streams.

My wife and I took this opportunity to travel to northeast Iowa with family and friends, where we stayed in cabins, cooked over an open fire, relaxed, and of course, fished for trout. Just imagine how it felt when we were mostly out in the middle of nowhere, without masks, breathing the fresh air, and walking the winding streams catching trout. It was amazing!

Except for cows in the pasture, we were the only ones fishing this stretch of stream. My son and I had fished it the previous couple of weeks and cought a lot of trout. Most of the time we catch and release, but we do keep a few for dinner. When we went back with our friends, we fished the same stream and had equally as good luck. And it was my friend Tim’s first time trout fishing. I’m glad the trout were biting that day.

After a day of fishing, what could be better than fresh trout, cold drinks, S’mores and good conversation by the fire pit. We are all looking forward to doing this again, soon.

It’s a bit of normalcy in an otherwise unknown world right now.

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