Fall Fishing

We finally made it to Strawberry Resevoir last weekend for the big turnover. We were scheduled for two weekends ago, but it was too cold and snowy for us. Good thing we waited because the weather was perfect on Saturday...blue skies and sunny. Float tubing is always an adventure. In times past, I've had mini-panic attacks if I get too far from shore or if I see something in the water (underwater trees, gross moss, etc) or if I let my mind wander about what is in the lake. I know, I'm a wimp. But much to my delight and surprise, I was able to have a pleasant and calm time out on the lake this time. We even went further out than Josh usually goes!

There were lots of people fishing that morning and we saw some big fish come out of the lake. I'm proud to say that I caught the first trout of the day!!! I was off by myself at that time, so I was screaming across the lake to Josh, asking "What do I do now?" I haven't caught a fish in over a year, so I was a little rusty. Poor Josh started kicking as hard and fast as he could to get

over to me and help but he had a long way to go. (Sorry for that babe!) I pulled in the fish and landed him in my lap by myself. As soon as he got in my lap, the line slacked and the hook came out of his mouth...I'm thankful I didn't have to pull it out because I didn't have forceps. But then the guy started flopping around (as fish do out of water) and I couldn't get a grip on him. Needless to say, he flopped right back into the water before Josh made it over and before I could hold it up for a picture. Bummer. I think it was about 18 inches and a Rainbow. It was a gorgeous fish, too bad I'm the only who got a look at it.

Josh caught the next fish, a 20 inch Cutthroat trout. That was a fun fight to watch. We each had a couple more bites and some that were caught but got away. Then 30 minutes before we were suppose to leave, Josh's dad caught 3 cutthroats in a row!!! They were all good sized too. He definitely had the right fly on. I think it was a dark olive woolly bugger.

Then the merciless wind started. It was a hard and long kick back to shore. I'm grateful to my tug-boat husband for helping me get back to dry land. All things considered, it was an awesome trip.