The Big Catch

Last week Jon and I both came down with a serious case of fish-itis. We didn't want to pass our symptoms on so we called in "sick" to work (co-workers - I didn't really call in sick). We don't usually go fishing in the middle of the week but our nephew, Garrett, was in town and he has been anticipating using his new fishing pole for months now. This would be his first fishing trip. We thought the perfect setting for his experience would be Moosehorn Lake, a scenic, bean-shaped lake in the Uinta Mountains. So we packed our gear up and headed for the mountains.

I spent the drive up in the back seat taking commands (cute ones) from a 2 year old. I galloped a horse to the lake for water, cleaned a cow that never seemed to be clean enough, and tried to draw the perfectly sized Garrett stick figure. This was quite a task - too large - and it was daddy, too small - and it was a baby.

I of course caught the biggest fish of the day. This was no surprise to me. Jon usually makes the excuse that he can't compete because he spends the whole time baiting my hook and removing the fish. This is true but he had plenty of time to fish today when I wasn't. I still caught the biggest and prettiest fish.

Garrett's programmed defense mechanism is to cover his ears when he is scared. This was a common pose throughout the day. Whenever the fish started jerking on the pole or flopping around he would stand silently covering his ears. How cute.

Jon and I struck gold when we had bites on both of our poles simultaneously. We didn't get a better picture because we had to seek shelter since it started hailing about 30 seconds after this picture was taken.

This picture captures Jon's sadness that is was raining. I took shelter under some trees (later dubbed the "Tiger's Den") while Jon got the fish off the poles. Kevin and Garrett ran to the car. Jon and I later joined them for a delightful car picnic. Then Lindsay and Richard arrived. After it stopped raining we decided that we could probably get another hour in before the next storm cell came.

Lindsay hanging out with Garrett in the "Tigers Dan". Do you like Garrett's new fashion statement. He is wearing Grandpa's pants to keep warm. The Uintas get pretty cold even in the summer time.

Jon doing one of his favorite things.

The trip was a success. We caught 14 fish and Garrett had a blast. We donated all of the fish to Jon's old scout master, Jake. He loves when we go fishing.