Saturday, April 10, 2010

Fishing Tales

Had a great couple of days with my sons this week on the White River near Lakeview, Arkansas, fishing for trout. This area truly provides some of the finest trout fishing in the country and we had a ball.

We stayed at a premier fishing resort, Gaston's, redeeming a gift certificate Wife had given me Christmas of 2008. We hired a guide, which proved to be a good idea, as the nearby dam was generating, making for high water and a pretty fast current.

I think the boys or I could have maneuvered a boat but the one doing the "driving" would have had little fishing time with the current such as it was. With our experienced guide Ron, who is in his 31st year of guiding on the White, the boys and I were able to maximize our fishing time. (Ron was also extremely handy for quickly re-spooling our rods with four-pound test line, efficiently untying our few snarls and knowing the good spots on the river. He was definitely worth his handsome fee).

Older Son truly landed the beauty of the trip with about a 20-inch brown (of course it's gotten bigger since we left the river . . . ). The rainbows we all caught, however, were all nice-sized, beautiful fish. The river was gorgeous with spring in bloom all around, although there was still a definite nip in the air and we had to dress in layers.

Pictured below are Younger son with a nice rainbow he caught, both boys as we stopped for a break one day and, of course, Older Son with his beauty.

Please indulge me here. Even if they are mine, these are some great guys and I am so proud of them. We have a great time together and I never tire of spending time with them. This little trip added another great deposit into the memory bank.


7 comments:

Redlefty said...

Excellent!

My dad is on a fishing trip right now with his best friend -- they've done this once or twice a year for over 20 years now.

Glad you got to fill those priceless memory banks!

quid said...

Great pics! Looks like a great trip, Bob.

quid

Pam said...

Love the pix, Bob! And, yes, you have every reaon to brag and I enjoy reading about your kids!

Kelly said...

Wonderful pictures - sounds like y'all had a great time!

I'm still learning when it comes to fishing. I'm assuming since you were trout fishing you were using fly rods?? My husband bought me one (he sometimes uses a fly rod on our pond for bream), but I've never tried it.

Bob said...

Still learning too, Kelly! And no, we were not fly fishing, just used spinning rods on which, as I said, our guide decided we should use extremely light-weight line. It made a difference too.

I want to try fly fishing someday but have not yet taken the time to learn. As I told the boys, there's just something about being out there on the water amid God's creation that soothes the soul -- catching fish is a nice bonus.

Debby said...

I never get tired of seeing your family enjoying themselves.

Steve H. said...

Great pix...Man, I would love to go fishing there!