Steelhead 2012!!!

I took they boys on their first steelhead fishing trip to Challis, Idaho. I was a little concerned about how the boys would deal with the trip. Steelheading is a tough trip. Huge, powerful river, long days of casting, cold water and weather and most of the time, few fish. I planned a few other activities in case the boys didn't dig this tough fishing.

The boys were awesome! I was amazed to see Thomas and Carter hang out and cast standing in crotch-deep, icy water--in the middle of a blizzard... Well, it did help that they were casting to 3 feet long fish! What a hoot. I'm proud of my little men.

Carter's First Steelhead!!!

Carter did what few experienced flyfishermen have done--landed a huge steelhead on a fly rod. He even did it in the middle of a blizzard! What a stud! I'm afraid I have a fisherman on my hands now...

Here's a post I put on my Mom and Dad's site for their hunting club, Muddy Road Outfitters. I figured it went along with this blog's theme. J

Cisco Fishing!

January in cold country seems a bit of a mental prison. My boys have so much pent-up energy and nowhere to direct it--except on each other and the furniture. So when the annual cisco run at Bear Lake hits about 3 weeks into the month, we explode. Daily calls to the Fish and Game's hotline build the excitement. Weather and cold be darned; no ice on the lake, so what? We're headin' out!

We finally rolled out about 6:15 to a snowy morning. Logan Canyon really slowed us down. One car had slid into the river that morning and one had launched off a 20 foot embankment. But we were determined! We pressed forward and made it to Cisco Beach--more like boulder field--and pulled on our waders like the hundred other idiots that converged on the scene.

Tom moved up to dad's old waders and dad's brand new wading boots--how did they work T-Bone?

Carter's first experience in waders. I'm afraid we've got a fisherman on our hands. Caleb was waderless, but since we didn't see a single fish the whole day, I think he had the right idea.

I need a longer arm to take self photos...

Warmed back up and headed out for another adventure. Tom threw us over for his cousin Ashlie.

So off we went to the Sinks for some serious sledding...and snowboarding but the good board is still buried somewhere in our yard, so the equipment was a bit lacking. We had about 2 feet of new Utah powder to play in and nobody to really share it with.

Here's Carter after a nice run...

Jeff, sporting the Sno-Dome. I hear it's all the rage at Sundance this year...

Ashlie closely inspecting the powder...

The Crew...

Caleb makes the trek to the top of Everest.

I said Everest, didn't I?

Now we're just about ready to make some new "Freshies." Hold your breath...

The end result of two feet of powder and some sweet gravity... No animals were harmed in this production...

Tom and Carts before their last run and some sweet turns...


Sweet!

Just in case you thought I didn't partake...normally I like powdered doughnuts, but I'm on a diet...

Finishing the day with far too much junk food. Time to feed cows, we better get home.

Tom's honker he "horsed" with Grandpa

The Boys and I with some 2010 frosty honkers.

Youth Waterfowl Hunt/Waterfowl Opener

I'm kinda behind this week, so I'm just going to post photos of a couple of recent hunts. I took Caleb and Carter on their first official hunt on the youth water fowl hunt in September (Tom came too) and the waterfowl opener in October.

There were lot's of birds on the youth hunt. Kids shot lots of shells and had great oppotunities to take ducks and geese, but we didn't get to eat any birds--my definition of a perfect waterfowl hunt.

The waterfowl opener was as quiet a opening day as I have ever seen. We did have some ducks swim into our decoys and the boys counted to 3 and blazed away. 5 shots later the ducks were still flying and we were all giggling. Altogether a fun time.