The Livin Is Easy

Summertime and the livin is easy
Fish are jumpin and the cotton is high

After hearing all about my nephew's fishing outing, Arizona coaxed and cajoled my grandpa to take him fishing at the lucky family fishing spot, Old Reliable. Every time a member of my family has been fishing in this particular spot, fish have been caught...hence the name, Old Reliable. Arizona was like a kid in a candy store! When I went in to wake him up on the morning of our fishing outing, he popped right out of bed and said, "It's not hard to wake up when you know you're going fishing!" So, we went and picked up the "experts" (my grandparents) and headed up the McKenzie River. It was mere minutes after we reached our destination and his hook was baited that Arizona caught the first fish of the day, and boy howdy was he excited!

The view from Old Reliable...it was a beautiful overcast day, in about the mid 60's...perfect fishing weather!

The fishing guys!

My sexy man!

First fish of the day!

My grandpa and I caught the next four fish...mostly it was my grandpa. I did the only parts I like, which are casting and reeling it in! I left the baiting of the hook and the killing of the fish up to the expert. He made me put my finger in the gills after they were dead so then I could put them on a stick and keep them nice and fresh in the river. It was pretty gross but I acted all smiley and tough for the pictures sake...but really this is how I felt about it...

but man alive I sure had a grand ol' time reeling those suckers in! I wish I had a video of the first fish I caught because i am sure it was a pretty hysterical sight to behold. I felt the tug on my line and start to reel 'er in. As I'm reeling, my feet slip on the rocks and I lose my balance and almost land right on my rear end in the river...as my feet started slipping, my arms went high above my head and the fish was flopping all over the place, about that time, my grandpa who was ever so patiently sitting on a cushion with his back facing me, reached over his head and grabbed my fishing line and the fish, and pulls it over his head, he lets out a yell and I let out a bit of a shriek and after a few seconds of commotion, I regain my footing and the fish is dead and on my finger, seemingly in a matter of seconds. Our second fish of the day was a bit of an escape artist. I reeled it in and had grabbed the line, and just as my grandpa was about to grab the fish (remember, I don't do the de-hooking/killing part) it flopped right onto the rocks and with another tremendous flop, landed right in a little pool in the middle of the rocks we were on. So, my dad hiked back up to the car to get the net, which he discovered we had left in my granparents' garage. Now, the whole time he was gone, I kept my eye on that fish and it seemed there was no way for him to get back to the river. My dad started to fashion a net out of a plastic bag, and just as we were about ready to use it, I looked again and the fish was gone! He found a way out and lived to swim another day. I was actually pretty happy that we didn't have to kill him, any fish that smart deserves to live! We caught two more fish and then I hiked over to the spot Arizona was fishing from so he could use the pole I had been using because the reel on his was a little messed up.

My grandma is the best cheerleader around!

Arizona had sweet success as soon as we switched poles! He walked over to me to give me the camera and as he was heading back out to his spot on the edge of the rocks, he totally slipped and fell in the river. Don't worry, I asked him if he was okay before I started laughing, and all he could say was, "My phone! My phone! Get my phone out of my pocket!" So there I was cracking up and trying to pull his phone out of his pocket while he was sitting in a few feet of freezing snow run-off river water. Man, some fisher people we are!

Can you see how wet he was?! When I asked Arizona if he was ready to go after he fell in the river he said, "Heck no, I'm going to catch another one now that I'm all wet!" And he did just that!

It was after this fish that we decided it was time to head to Ike's for some pizza (another family tradition.) My dad called over to me from my first fishing spot and asked me if I had gotten my stick with my fish on it. I told him I hadn't and that it was safely under a rock right off the spot where he was landing. Alas, apparently it wasn't safe enough because the fish were gone!

I have a theory on the mystery of the disappearing fish. There was a group of kayakers that came rowing by and decided to have a little meeting right by where my fish were staying fresh and cool. my theory is this, I think that as they paddled away, the waves from their oars caused the rock under which my stick o' fish rested, to shift and the fish were carried away down stream. I was a little disappointed that now we didn't have a fish for everyone to eat...and even more disappointed that we couldn't get a picture of us with all of the fish...but I got over it pretty quickly when I thought about the wonderful time we had with my dad and grandparents out in the wilds of Oregon.


We headed to Ike's for our post fishing meal and had some of the best pizza around! Arizona was pretty chilly in all his wet clothes and with the air conditioning blowing on him, so we tried to eat quickly. Mmmm...my mouth is watering just thinking about how delicious this pizza was! All in all it was a great day! And I want to give a huge thanks to my grandparents (two of the hippest people in Oregon) and my awesome Dad for the wonderful day, we had a blast! Don't worry, the story of the bear is coming in the next installment...in the meantime here is a video of Arizona catching the last fish of the day.