Travis and Glenda's Engagement Photos

Here. Absolutely fantastic photos by Derek Pearson.

Questionable activity #438

Roger spent the last week on a major whitewater float trip, taking advantage of record water levels on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. The trip started at Marsh Creek off Hwy 21 to Stanley and ended up 200 river miles and 7 days later at Riggins. He said it was BIG, but I think the fact that the only two other groups they saw on the trip had 1) been waiting a week for the snow to melt so someone could come get them and 2) a dead guy with them, tells me it was CRAZY. Some pictures and video here. Not very many pics because he was mostly busy, well, paddling. I think I'll stick with fishing.

Bandon Fishing

The bar at Bandon (the open ocean entry point, not the seedy drinking establishment!) was pretty rough all weekend, so we went up to Charleston to fish in the bay instead.

The bay there was still pretty rough and it was raining, so I don't have any action shots, but we did manage to catch a dozen Black Rockfish and a 23.9" Ling Cod....24" is the minimum which is too bad because they are really good eating. But I do feel vindicated because I got rocked by a Ling the last time I was there and lost him.
Had a good time any way and Jason threw in a bunch of fish from the freezer to make sure the cooler didn't go home empty!! Thanks to Vic, Jan, Jason and Kreg for the good time.

Some Memorial Day photos

A couple of pictures from our trip to Bandon. The weather was hit and miss, so when the sun was out we went to the beach, and when it rained Jan kept the kids busy with art projects and other fun activities.

Meat Me

Ok. Let's get one thing straight. The people here in Kentucky know how to cook meat. A mere 24 hours after warming up at Famous Daves, I hit a sweet shack named Jucy's, just down the road in PeeWee Valley. There, I was served up the absolute most authentic barbeque experience ever documented (by me anyway). This article explains it much better than I ever could. Although I believe the fact that, after a half pound of ribs, a half pound of brisket, slaw and potato salad, I was left with a pile of dirty paper towels and an untouched plastic knife says it all. Photo credits to the Courier-Journal also, so I don't get sued.

BBQ and Bass

What more could a person ask for? This week I was lucky enough to eat at one of my all time favorite barbeque chains, Famous Dave's. This one is in Clarksville, Indiana right next to the 2nd largest Bass Pro Shops in the world. Oh my goodness. I'll check back in at 2a when the bbq-and-credit-debt-induced-heartburn reaches it's full crescendo....

Another overdue album (Shanna's Salmon)

*click here for more pics*

Had time this morning to put up pictures of Shanna's trip to the Lewis river in April 06. She went with Steve and David and had a great time. All three managed to land a nice King over the course of the weekend, so they were pretty excited when they got home. Shanna's was 30" long and weighed 20lbs. I think it was that new Shimano Tekota 500 that sealed the deal..... More than likely it was her good looks and willingness to sit in a small boat for hours on end.

First photo album is up and running (St Lucia).

I discovered jAlbum the other day while looking at somebody else's blog, so I decided to give it the old college try. But then I realized I didn't graduate college, so I decided to just make it work instead. And work it does....this is a very slick publishing tool.
The perfect candidate for a first album is our 10 year wedding anniversary trip to Saint Lucia in May of 2005. Enjoy!!

Now this is getting out of hand!

Another beautiful night on Lake Lowell. Plenty of bucketmouths in the 2lb range to be had on the buzz/frog. Ron dusted off his bass gear and manage to pull in a few (12!) fish. I couldn't tell if he was happier to be catching fish, or happier about the fact that he didn't have to keep 5 little girls from falling out of the boat, like the good old days.
I managed to keep Mia and Coop occupied long enough for Shanna to pick up a rod - and once again....
...she comes up with the Big Fish! Only 2 and a half, but it sure looks big in the picture (and on the end of the line). Usually it's the other way around!! Either way, we all had fun and look forward to a return trip ASAP. I could get used to this....hope the kids don't mind living on Panda Express, Jalepeno Chips and Bug Spray.

Good looking Toyota FJ Cruiser

Compliments of Joel. Keep on dreaming there Mr. Lego Car...
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=456425

Monumental fish situation..

This weekend proved to be a monumental fish situation. On Friday night, Shanna and I went down to Duck Valley and fished Mountain View with Damon and Annie. The rainbows were biting big time (purple leech fly and PowerBait tipper) within a few minutes of sunrise, and Shanna proceeds to land two fish over 20" in the first hour. In the next five hours we caught and released over 30 fish, most of which were great fighters in the 14" - 18" range. Trolling three rods, we had two instances when two fish were on at one time, and one instance all three of us were bringing in fish at the same time!

This was all before lunch time....Shanna and I decide to take advantage of the kids being at grandma's, so we drove home and took the boat to Lake Lowell. After a little Panda Express break on the water, I found that skimming the rubber frog over the lily pads raised quite a ruckus in the form of a couple of minor keepers, then a fine 3.5lb largemouth. So after a crash course in casting reels, heavy rods and setting the hook like you mean it, Shanna proceeds to horse in a nice 3lb fish to top off a beautiful day!!

Post Numero Uno

Check, check. Anybody in here?