Family Time

Anyone that's been hanging around here probably knows how much we like to involve family in our outdoor pursuits. With that in mind Delvonie and I decided a little family fishing trip was in order to a nearby reservoir complete with a picnic lunch. I have to be careful when we do trips like this because I can make it way too intense. Trying to keep things relaxed I let everyone sleep in and didn't rush to get loaded up. Del was a little frustrated with my apparent lack of motivation, but I knew that everyone would have a more enjoyable time if I wasn't too pushy. 

When we arrived at the reservoir the lack of people around the shoreline was a welcomed sight. Not that I mind when others are out enjoying our public lands, just that I enjoy them a lot more when I'm not in a crowd. We picked a good spot and started getting set-up. Del and I got straight to fishing while the boys elected to mess around the shore. Not wanting to complicate the fishing, I decided to throw a lure with my spinning rod while Del went with her standard Power Bait. I know some people look down on bait fishing, but Del likes to relax while fishing and using bait allows her to do that. 

The Jake's Spin-A-Lure brought the first fish to hand, a little rainbow, but Del's bait was definitely the hot ticket as she pulled in a couple of rainbows of her own. Catching a few got the kids interested so Atley got his pole out and, with a little help from Mom, got rigged up. The wind was pretty bad, but it wasn't cold so we kept fishing. Got a couple on a fly behind a casting bubble in between unhooking Del and Atley's fish. Caden wasn't having too much luck so I let him reel one of mine in. That got the skunk off and then he managed one on his own. The way Atley tells it, once he started catching up to Mom's number of fish caught we decided it was time to go (Del out-fished us all, as usual).

I talked Del into a stop on the way home to check on one of my favorite little streams. The water was low and clear with the fish definitely on their guard but I managed one really nice cutt before meeting back up with Del where she sat watching a little waterfall. Dapping a fly finally enticed a fish to eat after a few minutes and the big girl worked me over before I could get her to the net. Enough is enough and it was past time to go home, but it sure was nice to get out with the family. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder