Fishing Time!

Monday we headed up the mountain range to fish.  Mill Pond and Mill Pond creek were our destinations!

The scenery alone was worth the trip!

Mill Pond - Beauty!

Mill Pond Creek - the water fall fishing 'hole' where we caught all our fish.

The older kids meandered off with Granddad to do some fly fishin'.  Fishing for the more serious fisherman at heart.

Jacob across the pond where he caught his first fish
while fly fishing

Jacob was excited as he caught a fish with one of his first casts.  Unfortunately, it got away while he was trying to figure out what to do with it.  His location was far enough from the group to not have a bag or knowledge as to 'what to do next.'

Bethany pulling in a fish.

Bethany, Elijah and Granddad didn't have quite as much luck as Granddad usually has - mostly because the fish were just too small to bother keeping.

Elijah getting a fish.

Back in the pond they went to grow another day.  I'd be willing to venture the kids had a great time anyway.

Granddad measuring the fish to determine if it were
a keeper or not.

Techno-genius and I - with littles in tow -headed to the Mill Pond Creek water fall where we fish almost every year.  It's a wonderful little fishing hole that teams with trout.




The girls - with daddy's help - pulled in 15 fish and tossed back a good 8-10 that were just too small and didn't swallow the hook.  A wonderful time and experience for all.

Pure horror at the thought of holding that fish.

Selah caught the first fish.  Excitement from pulling in her very own fish quickly changed to mortification as Trinity attempted to hand the fish to her for a photo op.  So glad I was staged to capture such a wonderful moment in our adventures.

Charity's proud of her catch.

Still very unsure.

We had to laugh at one point when daddy told Charity to throw her fish back into the stream as it was too small.  She took his words to heart.  Turned, wound up, and threw that fish overhand, with all her might, into the stream.  We could only laugh and hope the little fishy didn't come in contact with a rock on his way in.

Trinity had no fear this year.

Picking flowers was more Selah's speed.

Once again, Trinity was our 'go to girl' for retrieving fish and holding them up for Daddy to take off the hook and of course, for many-a-picture.  This year she was even braver, putting her fingers inside their mouths to 'feel' if they had teeth. She quickly found out, the bigger the fish, the sharper and more obvious the teeth.  :-)

Climbing rocks as boredom w/fishing set in.

Picking flowers, climbing on rocks, and playing in the pond were among some favorites while fishing as well.  Sisterly love was displayed as Trinity and Charity took turns - of their own volition - 'tending' to Selah as she wasn't too interested in fishing after her first catch.

Such a great big sister - keeping Selah occupied.

Selah looks so pretty w/flowers in her hair

Even Mom caught a couple

A mountain thunder storm quickly rolled in; chasing us to our car and down the range back home.

Dad too!

Once home, lunch finished, guess who received a lesson in fish gutting and cleaning?

Yep, that's me pulling out the 'guts' of a fish.  Who'da thunk it?

I managed to clean quite a few
with Granddad's guidance.

Yep, you guessed it.

Yours truly can now clean a fish, gut it, chop it's head off and prep it for freezing.



This weekend I'll cook up those 15 fish - plus the few Granddad and the big kids caught - for Elijah's birthday dinner with Aunt Biff, Granddad, Cousin Bob, and Cousin Jean.  I'm pretty sure we'll add quite a few of the fish Granddad has caught this summer to the mix making a full meal for all of us.  YUM!

Guess that will be the test of my skills.  :-/

Looking at the fish as we cleaned them, it wasn't hard to pick out Granddad's vs. Mom's.  Ha.  Mine were missing fins, skin was ripped.  In short: They Were A Mess!  But, they were clean and prayerfully edible.

I'll let you know when I blog about our fish fry on Sat!  I'll be sure to have the number for pizza on hand.  :-)

Fish anyone?
 It's what's for dinner!