Summer in McCall

My Handyman and I spent a week in McCall.. The drive is a tad bit over 2 hours North of Boise.  Here are a few great things to see there if you ever visit.  More reasons that I love Idaho..

Payette Lake

Flowers on the Golf Course

Rapid River Fish Hatchery Salmon

Goose Lake

Wild Fire Smoke (on our way down from Goose Lake)

Pretty little Fawn

 

Enjoy!!

You’re a Keeper

How many of you like to fish?   I’ve loved to fish practically since birth…     My Dad especially loved it…   He rubbed off on most of us kids.    My cousin and I were looking through family photo albums a few years ago and were laughing about all of the fish pictures.  On almost every page were pictures of fish.  A string of fish, a table of fish,  someone holding a fish… etc…    She asked me if I thought she was weird for having them.  I said :Are you kidding? I have stacks of fish pictures, too.”  

I purchased this stamp set ‘Keeper’ by Artistic Outpost quite awhile ago.  I finally had the opportunity to ink it up.  I water colored the image using Twinkling H20’s.

I love these stamps that look like old photo imprints.  I used to fly fish quite a bit with my kids when they were younger.  There is nothing more fun and exciting than catching a wild trout on a fly rod.  My Handyman is a Lake/Reservoir fisherman…  so I haven’t been for years.  I prefer the high mountain rivers and creeks.  I just may have to take it up again..

 

Products used:   K@Co – Lifes journey. Artistic Outpost – Keeper. CTMH – Desert Sand, Olive. Distress Ink – Vintage Photo.  Twine. Copper Brads. Twinkling H20’s.

 

Be Creative!

 

A Quick Reminder….

My Dad taught me how to fish as soon as I was old enough to stand up and hold a pole.   I have many fond memories of him getting off work and gathering all of us kids and taking us to the nearest fishing hole for the evening.
When my kids were young,  their dad and I took them camping and fishing….  ALOT!    They  had so much fun….  everything from creeks, to lakes, to beaver ponds.   Scissorbella was quite the fly fisherman….  
How soon I forgot….
Three year olds have NO TIME or patience to sit and hold a fishing pole..    
…except of course if there is already a fish on the hook; then they are ready and more than willing to reel it in.
I took Carter to a new little stocked trout pond about a mile from the house Saturday evening.  Quite honestly….  I’m quite surprised I got these two photo’s of him…


Carters Dad, Punk Snowboarder, still loves to fish… and he’s taken Carter a few times.   My middle Daughter,  Rockstar Chick,  loves to fish.  She carries her pole and tackle box in her trunk at all times.  You never know when you might want to stop by the river on your way home from work.. Now that Scissorbella is married.. I think she’ll be going a little more often..
Give a Man a fish and you
feed him for a day.   Teach
a Man to fish and you’ll
feed him for a lifetime.

Fly Fishing

Scissorbella loved to fly fish when she was a young girl, and she was very good at it.. Look at that concentration with her little tongue sticking out!! (she still does this) She's fishing up at Stanley Creek in the Sawtooth Mountains.

Check out more Watery Wednesday posts, HERE.

EnJOY!

Reflections

Watery Wednesday:

I haven’t been to this beautiful spot for a couple of years! I took this photo while fishing in a little aluminum boat on Wallowa Lake near Joseph Oregon. Its not that far from home! I need to plan a weekend camping .

EnJoy!

The Big One!

Well.. We had a fabulous weekend camping... We caught 100's of Crappie. The water was really high and the fish were not quite big enough to keep. We had alot of fun though. Our Friends, Skip and Teresa met us there and camped in the space next to us. It was alot of fun sitting around the camp fire in the evenings and visiting. We even roasted Strawberry marshmallows!

The first afternoon there, we were fishing Brownlee Reservoir on the Oregon side. We had been catching Crappie all day long. My Handyman decided it was time to try for catfish again. The bait sat in the water for about 45 minutes.. His pole started shaking and the bells started dinging. We knew it was a big one! He was so excited. HOLY SH__! He was yellng; over and over! I think its a sturgeon! I told him his 12 pound test line would have snapped pretty quick if it were . His adrenaline was really pumping. It took about 15 minutes to get the Monster to shore. I had to use the net and the fish was over twice as long as the net. We were guessing probably 15-20 pounds. An old timer next to us said he guessed about 7 pounds. It was a fighter. We crammed it into the cooler we had. It was curled like a horseshoe inside. We continued to fish for a while longer but not another bite.







On our way back to camp, we stopped at the local bait shop slash beauty shop slash liquior store. LOL! Small town! The guy had a fish scale so he came out and weighed it for us. 26 pounds and 6 ounces! It measured 37 1/2 inches long! He said he hadn't seen a Flathead that large for quite a while. Too bad we were a week early for the Memorial Day Catfish Derby!

Does he look a little Giddy with that big ole grin on his face??







Aren't they ugly? They remind me of prehistoric sea creatures! They sure do taste good though.



EnJOY!
Michelle

CJ Strike

Saturday My Handyman and I went fishing! We loaded all the gear in the truck and headed South East to CJ Strike Reservoir.



If you didn't already know. South West Idaho is desert. Dry, Dusty, Hot, Sagebrush Desert! And I live right in the middle of it. Even though Idaho is about 2/3 Mountains and a sportsman's paradise; Most residents live in the desert! I never realized it was the desert until I was a middle aged adult and headed to the lush greenness of the Midwest for a hot humid summer experience! To me the desert was like the documentaries I watched on TV; Africa, with huge Sand Dunes and sand pounding winds. Elephants traveling through the sand storms desperately in search of a tiny drop of water to keep them alive.



We have several large rivers flowing through our state. The largest is the Snake River. There are several dams along the river which create reservoirs. Man made lakes. The dams produce power for us. Idaho power sells over 50% of the power produced here to California.





Its Spring and the water temperatures are rising. Crappie are nesting and its the time to catch them. We started out a little late so got in on the tail end of the action but we managed to catch about 15 and brought a nice stringer home. There was this huge dead trash fish - AKA CARP laying down wind of us.... ICKY!



My Handyman cleaned and filleted them before I could take a picture. Nothing better than a fresh fish feed! The snake river has huge sturgeon. CJ strike is a popular place to fish for them. They're several hundred pounds. They're a protected species and can't be taken out of the water.






EnJOY!
Michelle

Happy Weekend!

Gone Fishing

Swan Falls

Here are more pictures as promised. When you leave Kuna south on Swan Falls Road you're in the middle of the hot barren desert. About 15 mile south you reach Initial Point . Established in 1867, a US Geological Survey brass marker on the top of this prominent lava butte is the starting survey point in the State of Idaho. Further South you enter the Birds of Prey Conservation area at Dedication Point.

If you take Kuna Caves road west.. You can explore a huge underground cave, which is basically a huge air bubble from the lava flows, underground. The Bureau of Land Management discourage the public from exploring them. But the locals all know where the Kuna Caves are.

About 23 Miles south of Kuna you reach the Snake River Canyon. You drive down a windy road and enter a park to view the dam. There is a small park for picnicing and fishing. If you head West you can drive down a dirt road along the river, entering further into the Canyon. You can catch Bass, Rainbow Trout, and Catfish in the river. There is also Sturgeon but they are protected and cannot be taken out of the river.

These pictures were taken at the top of the canyon and while we were picnicing in the park.

Enjoy!

More camping

I took several pictures while we were at Brownlee. The reservoir was about 25 feet low. You can tell by the water line along the edge. There is a railroad that runs freight across the river. My Handyman is a flat lander from Minnesota. He is amazed that the free range cattle walk along the hillside. Every time we see them he's afraid they're going to tip over and roll down the hill. I about die laughing hearing him talk about it. There were Whistle Pigs running everywhere! I zoomed in and snapped one. Sunflowers were blooming everywhere.
Train

Cows

Crappie

Campfire

Whistlepig

Crappie

Camping and fishing was a huge success.. Once we got the camper unhitched and level and was all settled in, My Handyman and I started relaxing. We went to Brownlee Reservoir and stayed at Farewell Bend State Park. Gotta love full hook-ups! Especially when you're in the desert and the weekend was around 100 degree's every day! It was HOT HOT HOT!!! We cussed under our breath; but once we hit the river every afternoon and was sitting in the shade, a cooler full of water, and a slight breeze was blowing; with our poles in the water we were just fine. I caught a 22 inch Catfish and a 16 inch Bass. Late afternoon the Crappie started biting. Every cast we were catching something, nearly 100 fish each day. We were having so much fun! We kept only the large ones. A few were over 2 pounds. It was a full moon so we were able to see the bobber until about 10 pm. I slept like a baby every night.. Much better than sitting in the cubicle each day or doing chores at home! We're planning a fish fry over the weekend.