Fish tales

Opening weekend of fishing season had its ups and downs - not necessarily on the waves. The season opened on most local lakes Saturday, but the weather did not cooperate. Sunday we had blue skies, calm waters an eager crew.Most of our crew were rookies. There were several nibbles on the lines which they didn't realized, but they learned quickly from their missed opportunities.Finally, Bailey got the first (and only) serious bite of the day. He was busy yelling "fish on" and trying to reel his line in with the rod still in the holder, ignoring Capt. Rick's instructions. Bailey reminds me so much of my brother at that age! You know, the age when excitement rules and rules only interfere with experiencing the excitement.

Bailey really didn't want to touch the fish. It took several minutes for him to get a grip on the fish without it squirting out from his hands and landing in the lawn.

Rikard on the other hand never misses an opportunity to show off a catch - even if it isn't his!

And, we introduced Stubby to the boating life. She took to the water well and even tried to jump overboard a couple times to catch nearby geese, ducks or loons. Stubby's a natural, amidst the chaos of Rick setting three kids up to fish and me learning the operate the new electric motor, she managed to eat an old-fashioned donut (traditional fishing food for this family) and drink the remains of my coffee.

Fishing

It was a fishing trip like so many others. It started out, not quite at the crack of dawn with us borrowing dad's boat for a day on the reservoir. Oh, what Ricky would do to have a simple little fishing boat!The reservoir beckoned to us. The setting was beautiful, clear blue skies, calm waters and just a slight breeze.


While getting the gear ready we watched one bald eagle chashing other birds away from its nesting area and a juvenile osprey learning to dive for fish. We got a picture of the nest. The osprey is perched in the trees to the left of the nest, but very difficult to see.It was an idylic setting compared to the miles of fast running river we had driven along. The river was packed with boats anchored near the shores in hopes of catching a Chinook salmon.

Our desired prey were more elusive. Kokanee are fickle fish and can elude trolling fishers like no other. But, we were determined. And, after about 45 minutes of trolling along the southern end of the reservoir, we got a bite!

Rick grabbed the pole and reeled for all he was worth. Rikard was at his side, ready to help in case of emergency. It was the first catch of the day and everyone was excited. The kids knew we needed to bring this one into the boat as quickly as possible to let the line back out again to catch more. We celebrated our first victory of the day.

Little did we know it was the last. The rest of the day was spent...

telling Rikard not to touch the pole like that, or like that, or like that... convincing Keeli that the fish finder wasn't the same as daddy's Playstation...

finding alternative entertainment for the kids since the fish didn't want to play... Keeli was exhausted by early afternoon and took a nap... and Capt. Holestine lounged on the foredeck... Maybe our luck will be better this weekend.