I would venture to guess that not too many people would be familiar with the "suckerfests" that often are held this time of the year.

They take place when the snows start to melt and the tributaries feeding larger creeks and rivers are running full of fresh, cold water.

The term suckerfest was coined to describe a fishing event for anglers anxious to get outdoors and catch some fish.

Being early in the year, this event basically is a warm-up for the trout season that follows

The main species being sought is the white sucker and the redhorse sucker. There are more than 18 different species of these suckers, ut we don't know the differences between them, except one is basically white and the other is bronze to reddish-orange in color.

The white sucker is the most common and can grow up to 24 inches long. These suckers are relatively easy to capture and a favorite of early spring anglers. A few of the men on this trip swore they were excellent table fare and some used them for making a fish cake for pan-frying.

Most of us just caught and released the fish as a gesture of fellowship and good natured camaraderie.

It was a special event if an angler landed one of the redhorse suckers, which we call redtails because of their fin coloration. These fish usually are good fighters and appear to be larger than their cousins.

When one of these fish was hooked on our latest trip, a great deal of whooping and hollering went on to announce that the fight was on.

Suckers really have a taste for freshly dug redworms, the plain garden variety that anyone can dig up in a compost pile. Suckers do not care for a nightcrawler or other bait, and will turn up their lips to these offerings!

On this day, the fellows had brought some firewood and homemade hot sausage to cook on an open fire. I don't think that anyone could have come up with a better plan than having good friends, sucker fishing, a campfire and hot sausage cooking on long forks.

We liked to throw in a few challenges to each other to see who would catch the first, biggest and most fish. The guys who kept the fish would bring along a big mesh sack to hold them.

The fishing was good, the sandwiches were great and I was enjoying the fire.

I was really proud of my new pair of outdoors boots that were highly insulated and waterproofed.

In fact, earlier in the week, I applied a new coat of silicone waterproofing to the leather and I watched water roll off them with a smug contentment.

As I stood by the fire I was satisfied to watch the guys and cheer and jeer their efforts from afar. One of the fellows turned around to respond to me, and, with a grin, he started to laugh.

He said, "Hey Jay, I hate to tell you this but your wonder boots are on fire!"

I looked down in disbelief as the toe of my right boot was indeed on fire. The silicone waterproofing had gone up in flames and the insulation not only kept out the cold, but it also kept out the heat.

I immediately headed for the water and submerged my foot to put out the flames. The feeling of wetness seeped into my new boot and I knew then that it was a bad omen.

A quick survey of the boot showed a brown circle of singed leather where it was on fire.

At least I wasn't singed, but that boot would leak the rest of its days with me as a reminder of who the sucker was on a most memorable spring suckerfest celebration.

Jay E. Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.