Spring fishin'

Yesterday we finally got lucky with the weather and we were able to make it out on the boat fishing.  There was a little hiccup in the morning when we thought that the motor on the boat wouldn't start, but Clint called his Dad who helped get the issue resolved.  (aren't parent's great?!?!?!)  Then we were off and rolling.  Dane was SO EXCITED he could hardly stand it.  I wasn't sure how Kimber would do.  Last year on the boat she was really little and just rode in the pack or sling.  In general we think she may be a little more timid than her brother.  He was into everything at about 100 mph at this age and we really had to get after him to teach him "no".  She is so responsive to "no" and likes to watch for a bit before jumping in.  But, I should have given her more credit cause she did great.

The weather was pretty sunny with rainclouds hanging around the mountains.  We did get sprinkled on a couple times and we left just as it started sleeting.  However, the sun peeked back out each time and warmed us up.  Below is a picture of me and the kids when we were headed out.  Dane is getting big enough that the life jacket fits pretty good, and with him being so mobile and excited he wore his the whole time.  Kimber's life jacket...  well not so much.  If you can see in this picture she isn't even really capable of moving her head.  I imagine if she went into the water it would make her float, but it is so darn uncomfortable for her.  So, since she is little and can't climb or get over the edge yet, I took it off of her once we started trolling.  We were all pretty happy and excited to be out though!

 The fish were biting pretty well, but it totally came in spurts.  We would catch 2 or 3 fish in a row and then it would be dead for a while.  I must admit it gets a little chaotic at times with two kiddos underfoot (Kimber literally holding on to our pant legs).  But, Clint is seriously amazing!  I have noticed that he is so patient with all of us.  He is a pretty diehard sportsman and will work hard to try and make sure we are successful at whatever we are doing.  He takes really good care of us and has become such a patient teacher with the Dane (and me)!  Dane is really getting the whole reeling concept.  We mostly fish with bait casters when we are trolling and the trout that we were catching were pretty nice sized, but despite all this he even reeled one partway in all by himself.  (without us holding the rod)  He did say afterward that it was "really heavy"!  Here he is reeling like a big boy!

 Worms are a constant source of entertainment when we are fishing. 

 Clint and Dane with a nice rainbow trout.

 I feel like we caught an awesome moment in this picture!

 Here I am with a nice trout...  Kimber is sound asleep on my back at this point!

It was so much fun that it was hard not to go back out again today!  But, with gas prices so high we thought we would stick closer to home.  Clint is at Brock's soccer game and we got some other good things done around the house/garage.  Clint and Dane got all of the fish (we caught 8 or 9 that were pretty nice sized fish) cut up and in a marinade so tomorrow they will go in the smoker and we will have yummy smoked trout!  We hope everyone else had a nice weekend!