The Bucket List

I've been super fortunate to have some amazing outdoor adventures over the years.  But, on a long cabin fever day of January, I came up with 3 future goals.  I figured if I wrote about them that would make them real.  

At first pass, I concluded this list was extremely random;  one from the Caribbean, one in the western backcountry, and one in the freshwater rivers.  But, as I thought through it some more, I eventually put it all together.  If there was one common thread between all three, it is that they are really difficult to do.  Sure, there are bigger, badder, more dangerous and extreme things out there, but these three are just difficult to actually achieve.  Now, it makes total sense.  

Maybe these goals will evolve over time.  Maybe I will add more.  But for now, this is the short bucket list:

1. Permit on the Fly

Approximately 10 years ago on our Honeymoon in Belize, I decided to chase permit and my life would not be the same. My wife and I had spent the week catching bonefish, snook, and baby tarpon.  We were high-fiving and having a blast.  On the last day, the conditions were right and our guide asked if we want to go after permit.  I just happened to have the 10 wt Sage my Dad built us for our honeymoon, so after a few confidence building bonefish, we went to chase tailing permit.  I had plenty of legit chances on tailing permit, but in many instances I fell apart.  When the pressure was on the line and you had one legit shot to make that cast, I flubbed.  I did make a couple nice leads and i thought i did every thing right, but at the last minute, the permit refused.  I walked away empty, humbled and changed forever.   This permit sickness had entered my head and I will be going back.  

2. DIY Elk Bowhunt

Let's be clear about one thing...the chances of seeing a bull like this picture I found online on a DIY OTC hunt in Colorado or Idaho are slim to none.  But, I want to experience an extreme back country adventure and if i can couple that with a raghorn bull or cow to fill the freezer, then i will be stoked.  I want to completely immerse into the Rocky Mountains and experience waking up in the vast back country to the sound of distant bugles.  And I want to chase him with a bow.   No exceptions.

3. Musky on the Fly

In the latest addition of 'things-i-like-to-do' because they are incredibly hard, I would like to add the 'fish of a thousand casts'.  I don't know what has drawn me to this toothy predator fish, but the idea of watching a 4 foot river monster eating a fly I spent the last hour tying just cranks my tractor.  I have every thing needed to fly fish for musky...I just need to convince one of my friends to forego the treestand for a day in the fall to chase the esox and maybe hook into one fish all day.  

2016 Cicada Fly Fishing Bonanza

I have honestly waited for this hatch to happen for the past 8 years.    Ever since the buzzing in my ears stopped from the epic 2008 hatch in central PA, I was researching the next southwestern PA emergence.  I was fairly certain this would be the year and I had prepared my family and my work that I may fall off the grid when this happened.  The time was finally here.  

We had a couple early outings with no results.  The cicadas where singing, but the fish just didn't know what they were.  But as they became more active and began flying, it didn't take long.  I remember the first brown trout that crushed my big black foam fly and I looked at my buddy and just smiled.  It had begun.  And from that point forward, it was fly fishing nirvana over the next 2.5 weeks.  It turned out to be everything I expected and binge fishing at its finest.

I can't explain how strange this is for our trout to eat these size of dry fly bugs.  We don't get the epic salmonfly hatches or hopper fishing that the western states get.  On these waters, midges, BWOs and small caddis are the mainstay.  And catching a good brown on anything than a big streamer can be difficult, or just plain lucky.  But, to see the way these fish reacted to this new floating, fluttering filet mignon was awesome.  

Without a doubt, the big browns stole the show.  The rainbows ate the cicadas but many times they would nip at it, nudge it with their nose, and just flat out pussyfoot around.  Many rainbows I missed never really tried to eat it (at least that is what I tell myself).  The browns were completely different, a different species, a predator.  At times when the fly hit the water, it was an instantaneous explosion hellbent on not only eating that cicada, but utterly destroying it.  It was awesome.  And if you weren't ready for this to happen the second the fat bug hit the water, then you were most likely surprised when it happened.  And if you were surprised, that most likely resulted in pulling the fly out of the fishes mouth instead of coolly just coming tight to the fish.  And most likely it was the biggest damn fish of the day.  It always happens this way.  To be clear, I didnt catch a 2 foot brown in these couple weeks.  But I missed and lost a couple that will haunt me for the next 17 years.  

Over this time, we learned a ton and found large trout in new waters that we never fished in the past.  In one section of stream the most productive part was the section I used to wade across to get to the 'prime' water. My perception of where these big fish lay was completely flipped in these few weeks.  This will pay dividends in the future and it could take me another decade to figure out what I did in this short time.   

This year, the summer solstice happened on June 21 and the cicadas seemed to end with the setting of the new moon.  They didn't just disappear that night, but the volume of the cicada song and activity dramatically decreased.  It was an obvious and strange milestone.  

In the end, I am almost glad that this hatch only happens once every 17 years.  Most people have no idea fish even eat cicadas and an even smaller percentage figure out when and where this is happening.  By the time the 'word' actually gets out, its almost about over.   For those that fish, the fishing is almost too easy.  It's a welcome change to for the seasoned angler, but if it was always this easy more people would be flyfishing, and that same seasoned angler would find another hobby that was a more difficult.

In 17 years, I will be 53 and my kids will be 19 and 20. Somehow, this is exciting and depressing at the same time.   I pray we're all still here and the trout waters that I know are still here.  It sounds crazy, but a lot can happen in 17 years.   

Cicada Fly Fishing on the Jackson River, VA

For the wife's birthday, we took a float down the Jackson River tailwater in Virginia.   The Brood V cicadas were just starting so we wanted to see if we could drum a few fish up to the surface.  On the Jackson tailwater, this would be a feat as fish just don't rise.  

As soon as we started off the cicadas were rocking.  We went into a good run of chutes and fast water and Spence missed a couple browns and had a toad of a brown on within the first ¼ mile.  She ended up catching a standard sized wild rainbow that was already pretty full of cicadas.

At this point, I was giddy, as I thought the whole float would be like this.  But the cicadas were only in the first mile of water we floated and only around the fast water.  Half way through the float the cicadas were a distant memory.  I reluctantly rigged up a double nymph rig and Spence eventually started catching them again.  All small rainbows.  No browns nymphing for sure.  But the rainbows were plenty and wild and lots of fun.  

Instead of a birthday card, the kids and I made a Stanley Cup out of juice bottle and containers and tin foil.  While we were gone the kiddos took it up a notch and decorated Lord Stanley a bit.  I like the upgrade.  Now the Penguins need to just close out the Cup versus San Jose tonight on home ice!

Rolling Rock Creek

My buddy hooked it up and got us a pass on to Rolling Rock Creek in Laughlintown, PA for the day.  This creek sits within the exclusive Rolling Rock Farms, which is part of the Mellon family estate.   In my opinion, this part of southwestern Pennsylvania is some of the most scenic and historic in the entire country.  Normally, I don't spot-burn with these details and location, but anyone can fish this stream for the right price.  And while we're typically not the pay-to-fish type (unless it’s on DePuy's in Paradise Valley, Montana), this was great opportunity to fish a beautiful stream that I had only heard about growing up a few miles away.  And it was free.  

The stream has had some significant overhauls to the structure, mostly identifiable by all the downed trees creating plunge pools every hundred yards or so.  Actually, the entire stream was manicured and the well established trails were labeled with signs more akin to a golf course than a stream.  There was no brush-beating through jagger patches and branches that impeded casting were simply non-existent.  The deep plunge pools in the stream allowed many sizable fish to be stocked and sustained.  Of course its not normal to have hundreds of 15-16” brook trout in a stream this size, but again it is what it is.  Rather than overthink it, we got some Rolling Rock beers and fried chicken and had a hell of a fun afternoon.  We caught fish on nymphs and a Cahill hatch started and fish fell to a size 14 Cahill Usual pattern. 

But when we switched to large articulated streamers, we started banging the big ones.  The big brooks were aggressive and every cast had a couple solid fish in pursuit.  At this point, nothing under 16” ate the big stuff.  And the trip was capped off with a big Tiger trout. Only my second Tiger trout I ever caught.  We were going to stay to the evening hatch, which was supposed to be great.  But we had our fill and there was some playoff Penguins hockey to get back to on the home front.  Let’s go Pens!

2016 Brood V Cicadas - Fly Tying

I haven't really had much time to tie flies lately.  Fortunately, my buffer stock from years of pre-kids tying is still going pretty strong.  But the Brood V cicada hatch has me in a complete tizzy and I can't think about anything else.  

Bust out the foam and deer hair!

2016 Brood V Cicadas!!!

I will admit, I am a bona fide cicada junky.  2008, Brood XIV, emergence in central PA did that to me.  It started at the tail end of the drake hatch on Penns Creek and after chasing wild trout into the middle of the night on coffin fly spinner falls.  I was nymphing a run the next day and watched a guy nailing big trout on what looked like a huge dry fly.   When I passed him he said fish were starting to take the cicadas, though only the first ones had began emerging.  He was an old timer and said it would only get better.  He was right.  

I scurried back to my tent and mobile tying station and whipped together the ugliest looking foam mutation onto a size 5 Alec Jackson Spey hook (which was the largest hook I had on me).  Guess what?  I spent the next two days catching some of the largest and smartest wild trout in the stream...in the middle of the day.  

the old man was right, it only got better and after spending a month of pure fly fishing joy, I was forever changed

I've been waiting for Brood V since 2008 and hoping that it would hit Western PA.  You can imagine my delight when I started seeing the tell tale 1/4" holes drilled out of the ground, ready for the big emergence!  

Return to Penns Creek

For many years, a camping retreat to Penns was an annual event for the family.  As I got into fly fishing, I would go every year and try to hit the Green Drake hatch.  I went with my girlfriend, who eventually became my wife, along with our first born (our Lab Cooper :)  I got my Dad into fly fishing late in his journey and we took many trips to Penns, even when he was battling through the end stages of cancer.  The periodic cicada hatch of 2008 (Brood XIV) on Penns Creek will go down in history for me as one of the best outdoor events of my life with my wife, Father, and many friends. 

Penns Creek is a special place and I hold it close to my heart.  It’s crazy then its been a couple years since I have been out here, but with a few munchkins all in diapers, it is explainable.  I was glad to make this trip happen again and spend a night out here.  Penns is 3.5 hours from me, so its not really a day trip and anyone that knows me, knows I don’t like to be rushed.  

There were a few noticeable differences with the new trestle and tunnel renovations.  The improvements are nice to see, but I liked it the old way.  I liked the raw, wet, cool dark feel of the old tunnel, the dripping water and knowing there were probably thousands of bats above, watching me.  Of course there was the chance of a rock tumbling from the cavernous ceiling, but I figured if that happened, I probably deserved it for some reason of another.  Every time I walked through the heart of that stone mountain I felt I was leaving all worries behind and renewing my soul.  I didn't quite get the same feeling walking through the new steel tunnel, but I am sure I am in the minority camp on this one.  

The one thing that didn't change was the wild brown trout were still the prettiest fish in the state.  Something special about these trout.  They never disappoint.

Virginia Fly Fishing Report

Our family spent the long extended Easter weekend in Hot Springs, Virginia. And with a few extra sets of hands, I was able to do more fishing in four days than I did most of last summer. With the windows down in the mini van, music rocking and a mini-cooler of iced down beer, these Virginia trout were in trouble.

Lower Jackson River below Lake Moomaw - Tailwater

I've fished this tailwater more than a few times now and every time I wade out, I think "I should be in my drift boat".  Not that I am not happy to just be fishing,...but its a big, strong river more easily covered with a boat.  More importantly, there isn't many places to actually even fish this river with the Posted waters and that 'King's Grant / Crown Grant' access law which basically says the landowner owns the bottom of the river.  I've seen some landowners go as far as getting custom designed POSTED signs to state 'no wading or anchoring on their stream bed.  It's so ridiculous, I get angry typing about it.  The wild rainbows are plentiful and tailwater strong and the big browns are just plain elusive (as usual).  I saw a few blue quills emerging in the afternoon, but nothing working the surface.  All I can say is, I cant wait to bring my boat.

Upper Jackson River above Lake MooMaw - freestone

I've fished the Upper Jackson before in the special regulations areas and have done OK.  This time I explore the open waters in Hidden Valley and surrounded by the bait / hardware crowd.  It was a pretty section of stream, but  I dint see one fish caught (including myself) and I was convinced it was 'fished out'.  At least, that is what I will tell myself.   

Back Creek

Back Creek is tailwater absolutely loaded with 13-16" rainbows.  Before getting too excited, this is a man made stream and the rainbows were stocked.  Whereas the Lower Jackson was a tailwater, all the fish - both rainbows and browns - are wild.  These Back Creek trout were squishy pellet heads and an 8" wild Jackson trout would pull it around the stream. The one thing it had going for it was it was relatively remote and had plenty of casting room.  So, if I want to take the kids one day and get them on fish, I may return.

Wild rainbow stream

On Easter Sunday, I went hiking with Hunter in the backpack, my 3 wt and a parachute Adams.  We found a little stream full of wild rainbows.  if you can stream bust me from the pictures, more power to you.  We caught a handful of 5-9" wild rainbows and Hunter just squealed with joy each fish we caught that he wanted to touch (including the minnows).  It was such as nice afternoon Easter hike.

Wild Virginia Rainbows

Spence and I took the afternoon to spend together the best way we know how - which is hiking up through a mountain stream fishing dry flies to wild rainbows.  There is not many other places I know of with wild rainbows, so this stream is very special.  In addition, it has one of the coolest, most picturesque streams I've fished.  

I knew the trip was going to be special when we walked to the first big plunge pool and scared a bear from taking an afternoon drink right out of the place I wanted to fish!   

Wild rainbow fishing (think brookies) is exactly what you want when you dont fish as much as you want.  The fish were not selective and happily ate a decently presented dry fly.  No match the hatch, techinical Euro nymphing, micro drag, etc, etc.  Just happy hungry trout in a beautiful setting.  Stealth and an accurate cast was all you needed.  We only took one little 3 wt and I found it more fun watching Spence fish then I did myself.  Plus its loads of fun busting on each other after missing a fish, which happens often when the little 4" fish tried eating a bug that is bigger then his mouth.  

Later the at evening, my father-in-law and I took Jack back to the bottom of this creek that held some stocked trout. I had a more difficult time catching a trout that clearly had no idea what I was trying to pass off as food, but alas I triumphed.  And a happy 3 year old was the winner!

Happy Anniversary Float

For our 8th anniversary, I asked my wife what she wanted to do for the special day.   And without hesitation, she said "I want to float the river"...

...And I fell in love all over again...

With two year old twins and a one year old, we have floated the river together once in the past 3 years.  So with Grandma babysitting, we felt like we were back out in Montana again.

It was an odd morning, with a mysterious layer off dense fog that hovered about 10 feet above the river.  This created pretty challenging conditions as lines were impossible to run in the rapids and big rocks had a tendency to sneak up real fast.  We did pretty well on one specific fly that the fish couldn't resist.  

We took our time and had a really nice stream side lunch as the fog lifted and the day was really starting to shape up...until the skies started to darken.   This particular valley is notorious for summer storms to sweep in out of nowhere and I have paddled through a bad storm before.  It really sucked.  Trying to avoid this, I picked up the pace, but it was of no use.  With still another 1-2  miles left the first thunderclap roared over our heads.  After a few more, I made my way to the bank to wait it out.  The problem with waiting it out was daylight was quickly falling and the only thing worse then paddling the last rapid sets in a lightning storm, was paddling the last set of rapids, in a lightning storm, in the dark.  So as the last two fishing guides drifted by on the river, I figured we had to go for it.  Being last guy out is not always fun.  

My wife, God bless her, was a great sport.  I think I definitely was more nervous than her as the lighting lit up all around us floating liking ducklings down the river.  And just when I thought it couldn't get much worse, that damn fog settled in again for the last 3/4 mile. I didn't even think fog could exist in the rain, during a storm, but I'll be damned  if it didn't just pile onto the current situation.   Stupid.  Needles to say, things weren't going well.  

As we paddled the last 500 yards into the take out, the rain conveniently stopped and the storm began to lift.  It felt like a mockery.  But somehow once we made it to shore, it was an easy thing to almost laugh off.  With no rain jackets, we were completely soaked to the bone and the boat had about 4" of water in the bottom.  Spencer just shook her head  and laughed.  I've seen that exact same expression a few times before..and it probably wont be the last.

So Happy Anniversary, sweetie.  I'm just glad this wasn't "my" idea.  

Chasing the Grannom hatch ...

Years ago I walked blindly into one of the best hatches I've ever encountered with the Grannom Caddis.  It was so good I drove the 3 hours the next day again with my wife so she could see it first hand.

Since that year, I've been chasing this hatch and trying to recreate the insanity that happens on a few mid-April mornings.  The challenge is that the hatch is really short-lived and a 3-5 day cycle.  Being 3 hours away + work + Easter + weather + blah + blah = a bunch of recent swing and misses on hitting this hatch.  But not this year,...I was convinced the timing was PERFECT.

I met my good friend for a two day mini-trip to a central PA limestone stream.  We fished the mornings and camped and drank beer in the evening.  A pretty good plan for sure.  I'll skip to the punchline...we never hit the Grannoms.  I saw a few emerge and I thought it was going to be on like Donkey Kong, but it just never happened.  It was a cloudy day and what did happen (once I abandoned nymphing the high water) was one of my best streamer days.  The wild browns were absolutely pounding the streamer and it was so much fun.  

The next day was a blue bird day and after I acknowledged this bug was a no show again, I switched back to my same exact streamer set up.  Conventional wisdom says streamer fishing isn't nearly as hot on a sunny day and conventional wisdom was right again.  I didn't even get one chase.  I reluctantly went back to dredging the bottom with some HEAVY nymphs and managed a couple to salvage my pride.  

Virginia Brookie Fishing

Spent the afternoon tossing dry flies to eager little brookies in Virginia while visiting the family.  I saw Blue Quills and a few Quill Gordons.  Happiness is spring time mayflies and a hike with my good loyal dog, Cooper. 

Y River Fix

I've been chomping at the bit to get on the Yough, but been just a little busy with the new baby.  With some reinforcements at the home front, I was finally able to get a float under my belt with my father-in-law and Cooper.  We landed a few trout, but this was mostly just a cruise down the scenic river gorge.  We hit the Memorial Day weekend rubber hatch, so we had a few rafts bumping us on the way down, but that is just part of the drill at this point.  Probably best to avoid these high traffic days if you can.

Lunch break!

Grannom Caddis on the Little J

I met my good friend Tom on the Little J for the famed grannom caddis hatch.  For many reasons, this is probably my favorite hatch.  I'll never forget my first experience walking right into this hatch and not having a clue what was going on.  It was insane!  The tough part of this hatch is timing it right.  Its a relatively short hatch and one can easily miss it.  This day, the bugs were not at peak levels, but were pretty dang good. 

It was a cold morning (27 degrees) and the grannoms didn't start emerging until around 10 am.  By 10:30 am, the run above me looked like popcorn was popping out of the water with these bugs emerging.  What a cool sight to see!  There wasn't a ton of dry action so I stayed sub-surface and absolutely had a field day.  It was almost every cast at one point.  I could watch the trout feeding in the current and it was a bona fide feeding frenzy on the helpless caddis pupa.

It was really a nice day to be on the water.  There weren't many people and it felt like we had the stream to ourselves.  We ventured upstream and checked out some new water that I had not fished ever before.  We fished a solid 6 hours and had a couple cold Dales Pale Ale waiting for us at the truck.  I look forward to this hatch again next year.

The train trestles add to the character

Tom took this picture at lunch while I was casting to a rising trout.  The big trout was right where you expect him to be ... right in front of the big flat rock (@ 11 o'clock).  I made a nice cast and started feeding fly line until the cdc & elk hair caddis drifted carelessly into his feeding lane.  Without hesitating he sucked it down.  At this point, I had what felt like about 30 feet of slack line I need to bring tight, and needless to say, he was gone...

Escape to the Little Juniata

Funny thing happens when you aren't able to fish as much as you always have in years past....you appreciate it more.  You appreciate just taking the first step in the water and making that first cast.  Of course, it always nice when you catch and fish and you can tell yourself, 'you still got it'  haha.  But its a pretty nice place to be in when all you care about is just being right there and enjoying.

Water was ~700 CFS.  Greenish perfect tint.  Caught couple on heavy nymphs.  stones, vladi.

An ode to Spring and Blue Wing Olives

"Several years ago, I set aside a certain category for those things that reach so deeply and so successfully into first principles, that one's trust in them is absolute. Among them are brown trout, the Grateful Dead, and Blue Wing Olives."

Ted Leeson, The Habits of Rivers, 1994

There is nothing more therapeutic to get one through the cabin fever months than to tie up some blue wings at the vice and daydream about watching a wild brown sip new duns on a cloudy afternoon.

Here's the latest batch that will find a home on the end of my tippet this spring.

Nymphs:

Hot spot

BH Flashback

Mercury Baetis

As close as it gets...

Emergers / Duns

BWO Emerger

BWO RS2

BWO CDC Dun

BWO Cripple

BWO SS Biot Emerger

BWO SS Sparkle Emerger

Spinners

Rusty Hackle Spinner

Spinner

Yellow Creek winter outing

Weekend getaway at Bedford Springs resort and I made it out to Yellow. Couldn't believe how much of this limestone stream was frozen over, but was able to coax a couple little brown trout to eat a nymph and kick off the 2014 season.   Peaceful little winter fishing outing.

Twins 1st Fall Camping Trip - Penns Creek

We've been wanting to take the twins camping as babies and finally decided to take them on a whim to one of my favorite places on the planet - Penns Creek. 

It was a lot to throw together late Friday night for a one night camping trip, but I'm really glad we pulled it off once before they turned 1 (in less than a week!)

I could write a whole page on the page on how special Penns Creek is to us, so needless to say, it was extremely important to bring Jack and Clara and get them right in the water!

We got there Saturday afternoon, set camp up and a little hike in their new baby backpacks - a major upgrade to those Bjorn chest things.  The twins did just great and love everything about camping including romping around in the tent with Mama and chilling outside and trying to eat leaves and play with pine needles that fell into their pack and play.

Baby friendly camp site

Saturday night was not exactly how I drew up in my head.  Part of the reason we decided on going was the 0% chance of rain and stellar October weather we had.  I should know that in this valley anything goes...so as I was getting the campfire going, a major thunderstorm rolled in.  Picture Spencer in the tent with two hysterical babies while I ran around organizing camp in the pitch dark with a head lamp, grilling steaks and potatoes in the downpour while getting soaked to the bone. It was a pretty stressful hour, but the thunderstorm rolled out and the babies finally fell asleep.  Mom made her S'Mores and I drank an IPA - we had survived.

Sunday was an amazingly beautiful fall day.  At one point on the stream I found myself completely lost in just watching the leaves fall and was filled with so much joy.  I've been going to Penns for years now, but this was my first time in the fall and first time with the twins. 

Tressel bridge just wide enough for a double stroller

Fly fishing with Jack on my back

Passed out after a long hike and fishing trip

Me and my little girl

Yough Tailrace float

Spence, Cooper and I hit an afternoon float on the upper tailrace section of the Yough.  We had been hit by some heavy rains and I knew even if the CFS was good, the middle would be chocolate milk.  I was excited to see the dam release at 1200 CFS when I checked in the morning, but they abruptly turned it down to 600 CFS and every wade fisherman in the tri-county area was there.  Needless to say we avoided the main runs and hit some new ones.  The fishing was pretty slow, but we managed to boat some cookie cutter  12" bows.  No middle Yough fatties, but a good option to fish when everything else wasn't fishing.

Cooper staying cool with some water retrieves

Clear Yough water meets the muddy Cassleman below Confluence while a train rolls on

Browns on the Yough

Spencer's sister, Meg, was in town and we decided to do a Yough River float while Grandma watched the twins for the day.  Meg had fished with us before in Montana,...but was she ready for the Madison of the East ...the famed Yough??

Meg on a foggy Yough morning

We put in at the dam and the release was at 600 CFS and 750 CFS at Confluence which = low and skinny and going to be a bumpy ride.  We didn't spend too much time up top and made our way into the long middle Yough float on this 85 degree day in June.   Most of the day was spent just cruising and enjoying the sun.  Somehow these girls possess the innate ability to sit back, relax and not be casting and fishing the entire length of the float.  I cant comprehend it, but I can appreciate it. 

I have yet to see a prettier river

Picking a line

With summer flows, the fishing seemed to be better early in the day and later in the evenings.  There weren't many bugs out today and nymphing was the ticket.  This time last year, the dry fly fishing was just nuts on this river and this year, its been rather slow comparatively.  Of course you'll see the killer whales rising to no-see-ums in a Henry's Fork style flat pool, but those fish are TOUGH!  I want the trout that explodes for an Elk Hair Caddis or sucks down a big Slate Drake just for the hell of it.  Where are those dumb Yough trout??

Watch that spikey dorsal fin!

I will say, these southern gals can fish!  Everyone caught fish on this trip ... everyone, but me.  haha.  Granted, I did the rowing, but I did fish a few runs when we anchored up and I still threw a goose egg.  But I was so super stoked that both Meg and Spence caught fish, that I didn't even care.  Meg even caught Mr. Bronzeback which left her with a puncture in her hand from his spikey top fin.  Hey, at least it wasn't a hook in her head this time (still sorry bout that one.)

We finished out the day with a couple cold beers after the trip (and out of the park.)   We could have used a bit more turkey on the lunch sandwiches, but we survived.  It was a great day and super fun float.