Winterizing the boat...

I finally was able to get the time to winterize the boat. I put a fuel stabilizer in the gas tank and ran it through the motor while I fogged the engine. I also checked the gear oil. I tarped it all off and stored it in a garage. Hopefully it fires right up for the first fishing trip in the spring. I was hoping to take the boat out one more time, but I just couldn't find the time when the weather was cooperating. Caleb still talks about going fishing, so I can't wait to take him again.

Ward Turkey Shoot...

My ward had a "Turkey Shoot" last Saturday. It was a competition of Shotgun, Rifle and Pistol shooting. A new guy in the ward named Mark and I were a team and we took second place. I got stuck in a shoot out playing "Annie Oakley" with the Elders Quorum President, he finally beat me. I think I shot over two boxes of shells playing "Annie Oakley"- it was really fun. I need to get Lori to go shooting with me some time. Our babysitter fell through so she volunteered to stay home, so I could go shooting. Such a nice wife :)

Sharp-Tailed Grouse

I got to go bird hunting one last time thanks to Chris, my boss. He let me a couple of guys take off from work a little early to go. We went to Clarkston on some land that the Bagley Brothers had hunted before. We had two dogs with us that helped out. The dogs were acting really birdie when we saw two sharp-tailed grouse get up and fly. In Utah the sharp-tailed grouse has its own special permit to hunt of which none of us had tags for. At the base of the mountain in an open field we kicked up about 30-40 more sharp-tailed grouse. We saw a couple of hen pheasants, but no roosters. We came across another covey of about 35 sharp-tailed grouse not too far from the truck. It was fun to get out and see some birds even though we didn't shoot anything.

Utah Pheasant Hunting

Opening day of pheasant hunting season in Utah... Finally, I am back to bird hunting. Obviously its a lot like hunting birds in Iowa, except you don't see as many out here. So when I saw this one, I shot it pretty quick. I went all day and it was the first rooster that got up and flew. Caleb thought the tail feathers were pretty cool. The season only goes until the 16th of Nov. so I am hoping to go a couple of more times before its over. It's great exercise!

Pricey Porcupine Pics!

Well, here they are. Bart didn't want to forget about his camping trip with Vern and Griffin so he went ahead and paid the astronomical amount to salvage these pics off of his broken SD card. If you ask me, they were worth it. The area was beautiful and they all had a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy!

USU Campus

Devils Slide- Ogden, Utah Canyon

Pistols we shot while out shooting.

Top left: AMT .380 (I ended up buying this one from Chris. He bought the new Ruger LCP, of which I can't afford, so the AMT was a good option for me). Top Right: Ruger LCP .380 Bottom Left: Ruger 357 Bottom Right: Ruger Mark II .22

All of them were fun to shoot. I still might get a Ruger LCP down the road to carry, just because it is so light.

Shooting with Chris and Mom.

Beautiful Iowa Scenery

Last weekend my Sister and I traveled back to Iowa for my Grandpa- George Yount's funeral. It was a beautiful service. It was good to see all of my family again. Amanda, Maliah, and Alyssa and I left Wednesday at 5:30 pm from Utah and we arrived in Epworth, Iowa at 2:00 pm on Thursday. We attended George's wake and prayer service that night. What I remember most about George is that he was always kind to everyone especially his wife. I also remember him showing us slide shows of pictures him and Arlene took from their adventures in life. It was like watching mini-movie series. I really enjoyed them and it really helped me get to know them. Friday was George's funeral and afterwards was a luncheon at the church. Amanda, Brittney and Deanne sang at the funeral and the local war veterans gave a salute at his gravesite for George's years of service in the military. It was good to see Chris's side of the family- I haven't seen most of them in years. My Mom's side of the family came as well and it was good to see them too. Saturday we had to leave already. Chris, Mom and I managed to sneak in a few minutes and go shooting. We had a homemade pizza lunch at Brittney's, stopped and vistited Arlene and then we headed to Cedar Falls, Iowa to go to Ashley Caley's wedding. It was a very nice wedding and reception. It was a convenient way to get to visit my Dad and his side of the family all in one shot. We wished we could have stayed longer but I had to be back to work and school on monday. We even managed to sneak in a visit to Grandpa and Grandma Terry before we left at 8:30 pm to head back to Iowa. We arrived back in Logan, Utah on Sunday in the afternoon. It was a good visit that went pretty quickly. I'm hoping my family and I will be able to visit at Christmas time.

Porcupine Camping Adventure...

A couple of weeks ago I went camping with my Father-in-law, Vern and my Brother-in-law, Griffin. It was a blast! I hadn't been camping in about 3 years. We had a nice campsite up by some water falls and it was tucked back in a canyon. We had a campfire, grilled out, played guitar, star gazed, played cards, went fishing, shooting, cliff jumping, hiking and explored a cave on the side of the mountain. We had great pictures, we took about 50 or so. However, my Memory Stick lost its formating! I took it into a recovery place and it cost me $50 bucks for them to look at it! They were able to recover all of the data but it would cost $275 to get the pics and videos! I talked him down to $200, but we still don't have the money to do it. I wish you could see the pics and videos of all the fun we had. Maybe down the road, after they drop the price some more to get me my lost data.

Below are some posts of fishing gear I can get at discount. Rods $40, Vest $32, Chest waders $125. J.D., Brad, Dave or anyone else let me know if you want me to get you anything.

Chest Waders

Rivendell 4 ply chest waders, waterproof zipper, reinforced knees & seat, hand warmers, rock gaurds, etc.

6 Wt Fly Rod

Rivendell 6 Wt. Fly Rod, Medium-Fast Action, 9'0", Graphite, Titanium Tip

4 PC Ultra Light

Rivendell, 4 PC Ultra Light, 5'6", graphite, with case

Fishing Vest

26 pocket. Made of Supplex. 1 waterproof pocket.

Fishing Buddies

4th of July Weekend Fishing.

Sorry I left the good digital camera at home,

so you get phone pics.

Fishing on Mantua Lake

Aunika caught the first fish.
Max did such a good job on the boat!
Kalia caught the biggest fish.
Ewww.. It was too slimey.
Bart and Max chillin' in the shade.Caleb eyeing the water...

We got to take our nieces Kalia and Aunika fishing this weekend and they both caught their first fish. Caleb even caught his first fish! (Bart held the rod and Caleb reeled it in.) He was repulsed by the fish and wouldn't touch it. :) We had a little picnic on the beach afterwards. Caleb wouldn't go out and play in the water until he saw a cute little two year old girl by us and he followed her in. What does that mean?? We mostly caught bluegill and Kalia caught a bass. It was really fun.

Saturday Afternoon Fishing with the Matas

I didn't go fishing two weeks ago, instead I spent some time with my family and cleaned out the garage. I didn't plan on going this last week since we had the Osmond family reunion, but Lori said I did a good job helping out and she didn't care if I went fishing since the kids were napping. So I decided to go to Newton Resevoir again and invite the Matas this time. We had fun, despite the hot weather. The picture above is my niece, Malia. She really didn't fish- she mostly wanted to swim, which she did off the side of the boat. She was pretty good for not having a whole lot to do. I'm glad we had the bimini top to keep the sun off her.

I recently installed some side bumbers on my trailer which made it really nice to launch the boat myself-no more drifting off center in the wind or waves. I had a blunder though launching it myself this trip-I forgot to put the drain plug in! You wouldn't think water could come into a 1 inch hole so fast, but it does! Rather than fumble trying to put in the drain plug and bilge the water out, I just motored back up on the trailer and pulled it out. It took a while for it to drain out. I had already motored ashore and was about to park the truck before I noticed the floor was getting wet. I don't think I will make the same mistake again.

I was glad to have the Matas come. It is nice to be able to invite others along to go fishing. Newton was extremely crowded with skiers and wakeboarders, so we just stayed in my favorite cove. We caught a few little crappie and I had a nice bass on from a maribou jig tipped with a crawler. I was too lazy to get the net out though and I snapped the line trying to pull it in. Serves me right. I think if I go fishing again soon I will go to Mantua or Pineview resevoir, just to try a new place. Hope to post another outdoor adventure again soon.

The biggest perch of the batch!

The picture doesn't do the size of this perch justice:)

Newton Sardines!

Newton Reservoir didn't leave us skunked but the size of the fish were lacking! We had fun though!

Naming of the boat. Meet "Gene".

The boat we got is a 1996 Crestliner Fishhawk 16sc, so it is a 16 footer. It has a 40 horse Mercury that is oil injected, a foot control trolling motor, a marine radio, fishfinder, steering counsel, and a bimini top. When I saw it, I immediately wanted to get it and Lori agreed as well(she was just happy that it wasn't a motorcycle). It had enough room for the family, priced right and deep enough that Caleb wasn't going to fall out. Lori said it should be named, "Bart's Indulgence", but I think it should be named "Generation" for the next generation of fishermen we are raising. Or we could call it "Gene", short for generation. Lori said she is going to call her "Genie", because it is granting my wishes. Either way, I'm glad we have it. I think I'm going to stick with "Gene" short for Generation. The name is actually inspired by a man who paddled past us in the back waters while fishing. He said, "I see you're raising the next generation of great fishermen". So meet "Gene".

Also Caleb's first fishing trip.

Caleb got to hold his first fishing pole- I let him use my ice fishing pole. He wanted to cast and real it in right away. A couple of times Caleb wanted to lean over the edge of the boat to the point of falling in. Lori was good about catching him and explaining that he would fall in and get wet. I wanted to just let him fall in and learn the hard way, good thing for moms. We couldn't have asked for a better day though. It was a lot of fun.

First Family Outing on the Boat.

Caleb was so excited when we told him we were going out on the boat in the morning, he exclaimed, "Wow!" and huried to get ready. He had a big grin on his face when we left the dock too, saying "We go so fast!" Max was pretty good and slept for a good portion. His little infant life vest smooshed his cheeks but he didn't fuss at all. Lori did the bulk of the work by keeping them happy. She really appreciated the bimini top, so everyone could stay out of the sun.

Another Newton Reservoir Bass