One thing I always liked about the hairy little Hobbits of Tolkien's books is their attitude towards those things that make life worth living.

If a hearty breakfast is good, why stop there. Life is short, so why not enjoy a second breakfast later in the morning. If an after lunch siesta is worth taking, surely a second nap before dinner also makes sense.

As for me, if one opening day is fun, then logic dictates a second opening day has to be even more fun, right? July 1st on Georgetown Lake is just such a day. On that day the east shore spawning closure is lifted and some of the best fishing areas on my favorite lake are once again available to enjoy.

This year Second Opener will be my third trip to the lake to fish. But no matter whether it is my first or third trip to lake, Second Opener is usually the best day of fishing on Georgetown. The big question we face each year is where should we fish first. Should we jet over to the bay to catch a bunch of small, but feisty, rainbows, or should we compete with the bank fisherman trying to dredge an oversized spawner from the springs upwelling near the pump station. Maybe we should hit the reed beds for deep-fighting brook trout.

This year was pretty typical. Shooter, Jim and I hit the boat launch about 6 a.m., early enough to beat the majority of the fisherman to some of the better fishing spots. This year we hit the bay first. Our plan was to give the trout living in the shallow water of the bay some early morning exercise before the graphite wand crowd showed up. The last few years by mid-morning the bay has been so full of string throwers in their toy boats that it is darn near impossible to toss a Panther Martin without hitting something with an Orvis label.

Jim and I don't like to waste time, and he made his first cast as I steered the into a tree-lined cove near the mouth of the bay. His lure hit the water, and bang, he had his first fish on. Jim was on fire. He landed six rainbows on his first seven casts. Even taking time to let Shooter inspect and approve each fish prior to releasing them back into the lake, Jim had his first 20 fish before 7 a.m.

It took me a little longer to get going, and even then I had to haul out one of my father-in-law's irreplaceable semi-antique Roostertails to keep my fish count close to Jim's. I did, however, hook a special fish about an hour after we started fishing. On my first cast after relocating the boat upwind to start another drift, a fish nailed my lure with a solid smack I felt all the way up to my shoulder. As soon as I set the hook, the trout immediately dove down into some weeds. It took a little extra time to untangle it, wear it down, and bring it to my net. But as I lifted the 15-inch big-bellied brookie out of the net, I decided the extra time and effort had been well spent.

By 10 a.m. we had, on average, boated three dozen fish each; although to be strictly factual I had only caught 21. Jim was responsible for the other 51 fish, but you have to remember it is my boat so I get partial credit on his fish count. By then the bay was starting to fill with other fishermen, so we decided to fish our way out and try our luck somewhere else. While doing so, we each added a couple of more fish to our count.

The pump station already had three boats, four float tubes, two one-man catarafts, and seven bank fishermen working around it, so we decided to motor to the reed beds. About 50 yards upwind of the reeds, I shifted the outboard into neutral and hit the kill button.

It didn't take Jim long to return to his morning form and it less than 20 minutes he had added another seven fish to this count. He decided five dozen rainbows was a good day's work and put his rod aside for the day. I still wanted to fish. When you try and mix things up it is only natural that it would take a little longer to meet one's fish limit. Working the edges of the big reed bed I was able to add two more brook trout to my bag. I also managed to boat enough rainbows to give us a total catch of 90 fish.

Jim and I agreed, with Shooter, of course, that 90 fish was enough to justify both taking a day's vacation and paying the $80 gas bill for the drive over from Helena. So, we packed up our rods and headed back to the launch. For me at least, Second Opener had once again proved that some things in life are worth doing again and again and again.