Pebblekeeper

We woke up early to head out to the Salmon River Fish Hatchery for Free Fishing Day and it was SOOO worth it.

We were told that many people get there early –we arrived for the 8am-12pm event at around 7:45. The parking was already down the street, and the fishing pond was lined with dads and grandfathers – and a few kids. 🙂

We set up a spot – making room by spreading out two lawn chairs – where the rising sun would be on our backs. We checked in at the Pre-Registration booth – and received a coupon for a free Hotdog/Chips and Soda plus a coupon for a free entry to the community Center for the pool and basketball court. So – right off the bat – it was looking to be a good day. Blue Sky – Warm Breeze. Oh Ya.

The excitement really started when the call of 8 a.m. rang out – and all the lures were cast into the water. The little tiny gal next to us hooked a 23 and a half inch trout on her first cast. It was half of her size! The boys have obtained enough skill that I got to sit back and watch, while they brought in fish after fish. By 8:30 we had landed 8 large trout – and I asked the boys to slow it down – our limit was 10. We wanted to stay until noon for all of the prizes – so they wandered around the lake helping other little kids who came with tired frustrated non fisherman moms. We were putting on hooks, setting worms, bringing in trout, pulling out hooks with our pliers, untangling line – having the time of our lives! Got alot of compliments on how much we knew about fishing – which made me giggle – because just a couple of years ago – I was the mom walking away with tears so I wouldn’t scream at the boys for tangling one more time. :) Helps to have that experience for a larger measure of grace on others!

Every 30-45 minutes the volunteers would walk around calling a name or two for a prize drawing – Nathan won a Fishing Pole with the Works and Jonathan won a $25.00 gift cart to Columbia Outfitters. It wasn’t a pull names til ya win type of deal – so we feel VERY lucky.

We also won the prize of Smallest Fish – 10.5 inches. :) We were tied for smallest and won another fishing pole with the works. The little gal next to us ended up winning Largest Fish – and she won the same prize.

I got to fish at noon – but the fish really weren’t biting – so we came on home around 12:30. We came home with 9 large trout and one small one – we feel very fortunate to have gotten a good biting spot – as many other children only caught 1 fish the whole morning. Very thankful in deed.

Here are some photos for ya!