Day after Christmas- Ice Fishing

Manuta Reservoir

5 Rainbow Trout and 2 Bluegill- Not bad for a few hours.
All caught on a pink and white "Toadie" with black spots.

My friend Brad and I got to go ice fishing up at Mantua Reservior for a few hours today. Surprisingly, all of them came out of the same hole- it was a nice little hot spot. We actually caught a 6th Rainbow trout but it was a little smaller than the rest, so we let it go. It was a beautiful day and the ice was 13.5 inches thick- plenty safe. I got to try out my new ice fishing sled- it worked great! I think playing chill radio on Pandora (Internet Radio) through my phone lured the fish in. Brad didn't have to much luck, but he brought me some! Hopefully, he will want to go again. I'm sure he will have better luck next time.

Christmas Eve Duck Hunting

Rooster Pheasant feeding in field.

Pheasants running in field.

Christmas Eve morning my neighbor, Brad Hansen and I woke up at 5:50 to go duck hunting. We were afraid it was going to be too foggy, but it turned out just fine. Around 6:30 we had the canoe all loaded on Cutler Reservoir and were paddling to a new spot. You could hear the ice chunks scrape the canoe as fog rolled across the water. We ended up jumping a lone Canadian Goose on the way to our set up but it was too dark to shoot. With Brad's decoys we were able to set up a nice spread just off a point in the main channel. It wasn't too long before a lone duck came bombing out of the fog and caught us off gaurd. We didn't even get a chance to shoot. You think you would learn but we let it happen once again a few minutes later. I guess you can't eat jerky, talk, and shoot at the same time. We had a flock of Canadian Geese pass by but were unable to call them in (Brad tried real hard-but it isn't easy without a call or goose decoys). After freezing for a couple of hours we walked around the island we were set up on in hopes of jumping one sitting near the shore. Instead as we circled back we jumped a mallard hen out of our own decoys! It was too far away to shoot. It was a beautiful morning, but we packed it up.

We checked out some public access to see if it had any open water and on the way we kicked up about 15 pheasants. It turned out there was open water and we jumped a Golden Eye- it was too far away to shoot, but we took cover. Brad called it back and it circled right over our heads. Brad got off two shots and I shot 3 times and we both missed!

We then went exploring around Newton Reservoir and the eastside of Cutler Reservoir. We came across a field where we saw about 15 pheasants out in a field feeding. We passed by and drove back to get a picture, but most of them had scattered by then. The two pics above are our attempt to get some pics.

Overall, still a fun day and a great day to watch the sun rise over the mountains.

My first fly fishing experience.

My first cast brought in a small brown trout!

I'm hooked for life on fly fishing!

My second fish in 2 hours.

Me finally leaving the river to go home. A great first experience. I went with my neighbor Brad Hansen. Both of us are amateur, but we both caught fish! We even shot my Ruger LCP for fun. It is suprisingly loud in the canyon.

My Halloween Pumpkin

My scary Alpine pumkin for a work party.

Jazz Games

Me at a couple of the Jazz games.

Lori and I in Vegas

Inside the shops at the Venetian.


Me sporting the 80's.
Lori- a thoughtful cowgirl.

Lori and I at the Mirage to see Jay Leno's stand up comedy.

Last summer outing with the family.

Max was too close to me to get a picture. The boys loved it. We could see trout swimming around. I just recently sealed the bottom of the canoe with a no-slip bedliner and it worked great. Caleb wish we could have been fishing. He had a hard time not leaning over the edge of the canoe, so he kept us on our toes.

Hiking in Snow Canyon

A few weeks ago we stayed in St. George for a family reunion and we went hiking in Snow Canyon. It was really beautiful. I didn't think I would like the desert scenery so much, but there really is a lot of plant and animal life. Cubbies wanted to scale some rock faces despite having the proper equipment. He might be an adventuresome fellow when he gets older.

Here is Max. Showing, in sign language, how much more fun he had than everyone else. ;)

Hiking in Wasatch State Park

We had fun hiking this over Memorial Day weekend. I was amazed at how well Cubby did trail running. He had some pretty sweet moves jumping off some rocks.

Fishing on Jordanelle Reservoir

My boat is starting up much better now. It was fun to take the family out fishing. We decided to buy a state park year pass, and I can already tell you it will save us money. The first day of fishing, my family and I headed to a little cove not far from the boat ramp. The weather was looking a little sketchy, so we stayed close. After 30 seconds of getting a pole in the water for Caleb, he caught a Bonneville. We kept catching Bonneville consistently until I started throwing a crawdad rapala and caught this good sized Smallmouth Bass.

Griffin and I went the stretch of the reservoir at full throttle and it still seemed to take forever to get from one end to the other end. I think it was the first time my boat had ever gone for that long that fast. We found some pretty sweet coves that the fish finder showed as HOT, but they proved fruitless, so we headed back to our first little cove and spent the rest of the morning catching Bonneville. We raced a couple of boats, hit some pretty big wakes, and got sprayed a few times.

"Gene"- my boat's first trip out for 2009

After shooting I took Devin from work out on the boat.
The ol' Merc didn't want to fire up right away after being winterized, but it finally did. It ran great after the first initial start. Devin and I did some casting and trolling for Tiger Muskie, but the rain and lightening set in quickly. No luck. But it was fun racing the boat around Newton Reservoir.

Trap Shooting with guys from Alpine

It was fun to get out and shoot. We shot some pistols too. After 3 boxes of shells, I had to quit. I'm glad I did. My shoulder was sore and bruised the next day. My Smith & Wesson 12 gauge was reliable as usual.

Smithfiled Easter Egg Hunt at Mac Park

The hunt is on.
Mad Scramble.

Max not sure what to do.

Max found a piece, so he was done.

Cubby getting lots of candy and Max eating his one piece.

American West Heritage Center

The family at Baby Animal Days.
Caleb afraid of the huge ox.

Max kicking a goat.

Max learning to be soft to goats.

Max before his balloon flew away.

Me and Cubby in the big barn.

Me and my silly boys.

Conference Sunday Drive

A few Mule deer by Smithfield Rock Quarry. They look a little ragged from winter and a bit scrawny as well.

Logan River Walk

Winter is finally over! My Family and I got to go on the Logan River Walk over conference weekend. It was perfect outdoor weather. We have had some good snow storms since then, but it is supposed to be nice again this weekend and upcoming week. Hopefully I will have more regular posts coming with nicer weather. I have the greatest family.