LSC Lecturer and UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health science writer Susan Lampert Smith reminisces about her late father John Lampert (pictured below at left) and a 65 year tradition for the opening of fishing season.

“When “Trout Opener” began, they were young men fresh out of World War II. One summer during college, they thought they’d get rich raising cucumbers in the sandy soil. Instead, they took to drinking and fishing and telling stories. And a tradition was born – one that’s lasted more than 6 decades.

My dad was one of the original founders. From that callow young pickle farmer, he grew up to be a lawyer and a judge in his everyday life. But on that one weekend of May he became “the chief,” a grizzled teller of stories and baker of potent beans with bacon. Over the years, the Trout Opener ranks grew to include sons and new members, recruited for an interest in trout fishing and a tolerance for the kind of jokes that could never be told in polite company.”

Read more from Inside UW-Madison here.