The opening weekend of the trout lakes state wide is the biggest celebration of fishing of the year. The weather cooperated and so did the fish in most cases. I traveled to several lakes on opening day again this year, and what impressed me most was not the quantity of the anglers that turned out or the quality of the fish that were caught. What got my attention more was the tradition of fishing on this particular day. I talked to a local angler that was making his 58th annual trip to Alta Lake. Another angler mentioned that their visit to Blue Lake was going to be his wife’s 44th. She had been fishing the opening day at this lake almost as long as she has been alive. When I visited the cleaning station at Jameson Lake a woman was happy to pose with her biggest fish. It was the biggest one she had caught in her 25 years of annual trips to Jameson and was proud that she was going to win the five dollars in the family pool. I saw the same group that I see every year at Blue Lake that is having breakfast at the same time each year as I arrive. The tradition of gathering with family and friends to share the joy of fishing is alive and well. I hope it continues to decades to come.