Tantalizing More than Trout

Not long ago I pulled a few choice lures from my trout boxes to shoot photos for a story sidebar. I should have returned them to their place right away because they've been sitting atop my filing cabinet, tantalizing me, ever since. Each time I walk past them, my mind heads for a creek, where at least one of the lures gets nabbed by wild brookie or brown trout.

I'm confident that if I took this little selection to one of several creeks not far from home, good things would happen. However, story deadlines, other commitments and plentiful early-season rain have kept me out of trout waters. And so the baits continue to await their turn and I continue to daydream.

The good news is that I'll be in the North Carolina mountains chasing trout and maybe some walleyes or smallmouths at this time next week. That helps quite a bit, but I wonder if my patience will last that long. I might have to hit a local creek between now and then. Or maybe -- just maybe -- I'll compromise and take this little foursome to the pond, which is closer than the creeks and handier for a quick outing, to see if the bream are starting to act like spring has sprung.