Gone Fishin'

Every spring in Montrose the Fish and Game Department holds a free fish day.  Anyone and everyone is invited to come to Chipeta Lake, license or no, and try their luck.  Every child who comes is given a fishing pole to keep along with up to 4 fish.  So on Saturday, May 5th we did just that.  Jesse had to work so Evelyn and I went with our friends, the Jacksons: Jaron, Crystal, and their sons Bo and Jesse.. 

The first and only time I have ever been fishing was in Hell's Canyon at a family reunion.  Although I didn't actually fish.  My uncle told us that anyone who wanted to fish would have to put the worm on the hook themselves...and I'm sure you'll be shocked to know I couldn't do it.  So I didn't catch anything nor did I touch a fishing rod.  I just looked at the worms for a while trying to build up the guts to do it, then went and found something more interesting and less gross to do.  This time Jaron was kind enough to put all of my worms on for me and Evelyn and I had a very productive day.

As you can see she isn't to fond of worms either.  She kept dumping the worms out of the cup and screaming when she looked down.  It was pretty comical. 

We stayed for a little over two hours and between the six of us we caught six fish; five of which we kept.  Most of them were trout and Evelyn and I caught two of them!  And when I say "we" I mean I reeled them in with her on my hip! (Not as easy as it sounds)

On our way home we stopped by the hospital to show off our catch and Jesse played impressed really well.  I was excited until he told me "no, the fish could not wait until he got home to be cleaned".

So lots of first for me today...first time I went fishing, first time I caught a fish, first time I got my hook stuck in the reeds, first time I touched a fish, first time I cleaned a fish...yuck!

I called Jesse once I was ready, to tell me what to do...He assured me that it was easy and needless to say I ended up calling Rachel to talk to Travis (who was unavailable) and Charlotte who I found out has never actually cleaned a fish either...So I did what anyone else would do and turned to the internet.  Where I found many helpful and very detailed videos showing me step by step how to clean a fish. 

So here is my proof! It was a very productive nap time and super easy! And lets just say thank heavens for whoever invented rubber gloves.  Without them these fish would have been fertilizer! 

These little buddies are currently sitting in our freezer waiting for a good recipe...and I can't wait to try them!

(Interesting side note for the Christensens...When Jaron found out that I was from Fruitland, he wondered if I knew Grandpa Higley and of course I do...Grandpa Higley is Jaron's actual Grandpa and the Condies are his counsins...it's a stinking small world and I swear the more people I meet the smaller it gets!)