Strawberry Reservoir...We're Baaaack!

One of the things that Doug wanted to do while he was visiting Utah was to make a trip up to Strawberry Reservoir. YEAH! I love that place!!!

The boys spent some time getting their poles ready the night before. We planned to leave early, early in the morning. His other brothers were not in town yet so it was only Doug, Howie, and myself that went this day.

It was another beautiful morning on the lake. Much, much warmer than a few weeks ago when we went with April and Shawn. Doug was our captain of the boat for the day. I am glad because I hate to drive these small boats. I always end up steering it all crazy! BUT...Get me behind the wheel of any "Normal" boat and LOOK OUT! I know how to handle those. It's just these rinky-dinky ones that I struggle with. My son in law, Shawn knows how spastic I am with these small fishing boats!!! (funny story from Oklahoma)

I think Howie had a bite before we actually really even got started. Just a minute or so after the anchor went in he was laughing that he had a bite! WHAT.....ALREADY? I am suppose to catch the FIRST fish of the day. Five bucks for Howie!

He was all SMILES!

It was a really good day of fishing. Howie was catching the majority of the fish that day. Every other minute we heard him "gigglin" and asking someone to get the net. He was HOT! We ALL ended up catching quite a few.

Doug had a LUNKER but it broke his line and got away.

BUMMER!

After we switched to our spot by the "crooked Tree"

Doug was able to bring some more in the boat.

That was a hot spot for him.

There were just schools of fish over there (by the crooked tree) and it was fun to watch them swim right under us. I wanted to grab the net and just swoop some more up into the boat. I was ROASTING at this point and I felt like I was getting heat stroke so I decided to jump in the water to cool off. It kind of creeped me out getting in with all of those fish swimming around my toes! While I was taking a swim, Howie caught another fish. Doug thought it would be funny to have me reel the fish in while I was out in the water. As Howie went to hand me the pole, his fish got away. That would have been a different experience to reel the fish in while taking a swim. Oh well! Darn fish!

I love this picture because it shows how quiet and calm the day was. The water was like GLASS! Strawberry Reservoir typically gets really windy in the afternoon but today it was nice and calm and very HOT! Water like this makes me wish I had brought my wake board. I LOVE to ski on glass!

It was nice to see these two brothers spending time together and catching up on old times. Wish Doug lived closer to our family so that we could have more fun times together. He is a GREAT guy!

Howie had a big lunker on his line and it actually snapped his pole in half! Well that would be a good fishing story but it was actually just a giant SNAG. Luckily Doug had another pole that he brought with him that Howie could use.

We could only keep the fish if they were under 18 inches long or over 22. Here is a cut throat which I caught and it was barely over 22. Yeah we can keep him!

At this point Howie had caught the "first fish" and the "most fish" so I decided to catch the "BIGGEST Fish". It was fun to pull this fish in.

I had one which I know was a MONSTER fish and after dragging him in for a while and having Howie move the boat to try to bring him in....I LOST IT! I was pretty bummed out because it was seriously HUGE!. Howie had caught one at the same time as I did and Doug was helping him "land it". I started asking for help. I seriously could not reel it in any longer. My pole was bent almost in half and the fish was swimming side to side. I have done a lot of fishing and I only remember one other time that I felt a fish that big on the other end of my pole.

I also won the prize for bringing in the SLIMIEST, GROSSEST, fish. As we were trading spots on the lake we decided to troll a little on the way over. I caught a fish and as I reeled it in and reached over to pick it up out of the water I felt this slippery, slimy fish skin. WHAT WAS IT!!!! Okay, Doug informed me that it was a CHUB. He told me that it was a trash fish. (I assume like a carp- not sure) I have never seen one before and he said that we couldn't put it back in the lake alive so he preceeded to stomp on his head till it died. YUCK! Not too long after I caught that one, I caught ANOTHER!!! GROSS! Doug and I had quite the debate as to if I could actually count them in my numbers of fish caught for the day. Let me ask you what you think! Here is my argument...A chub has fins, gills, swims in the water....RIGHT? It looks like a fish....It acts like a fish.....it eats like a fish.....IT IS A FISH! Well, he told me that they don't count so WHATEVER!! :) :) :) :) I think they did! I think Doug was on a roll when we switched places. I think he was hoping to catch MORE so that he could win the prize for catching the "most fish" but Howie out fished us all. There was no catching him that day. By the way.... I taught Howie all he knows about fishing. Ha ha ha ha! He is becoming a wonderful fisherman.

Well it was time to head back.

We had a GREAT time with you Doug!

And to my Fisherman....a few words of advice....

YOU HAD BETTER LET ME WIN NEXT TIME!

As we were cleaning the fish I noticed that mine may have been the FATTEST but Howie's was LONGER than mine.

My fish is at the top of the screen and Howie's is just below it. Howie is a good sport. He told me that I could be the winner of the "biggest fish" award. He knows how to make a wife happy. If you ask me it was a clean sweep. Howie took the prize for everything fishing today. The first, the biggest, and the most! We'll have to have a re-match! Anyone up for a fishing trip?!?

FISH FRY HERE WE COME!