Hungry Catfish

The miserable weather we've had to start the summer  left little enthusiasm for big fishing plans for the weekend.
I ended up headin' back home to western Kansas to take it easy for a few days.

It didn't take long on Saturday to realize that I'm not very good at just relaxing.  I needed to go find some fish.  My buddy said his farm pond would be dry by the end of the summer if they didn't get some rain, but right now the fish in there were easy to catch.

I didn't mind easy pickin's, and within 15 minutes I was flailing the fly rod back and forth trying to turn over an articulated streamer in 30 mph sustained winds.

We didn't stay long at the pasture puddle, as there wasn't really any enjoyment to be had.  But we did manage to pick up a few hungry channel cat before calling it quits and heading the 2 1/2 miles down the road to the local waterin' hole.

The extended forecast doesn't look much better.  It's a good thing I'm leaving for Montana after work on Friday....HeeeeHaw!.

Rachel's First Carp with a Fly Rod

I've been trying to get my fiance into fly fishing for carp this Summer.  We've been out quite a few times, but haven't had the best conditions or cooperative fish.  The conditions today weren't the best either with the wind blowing about 25 mph.  But Rachel finally got to dance with a Kansas Bonefish at John Redmond Reservoir on this 17th day of June, 2012.  I'm fairly certain I was more excited than she was as you can probably tell from the poor quality audio in the video.  

After paddling the kayaks into the wind back to the Carp Ride, it was time we headed to the nearest town to do what this trip was really about.

Buy a sweet moped affectionately named Gertrude by her previous owner.  It's a 1983 Suzuki F50 with all the bells and whistles, and, quoting the craigslist ad "legit racing tires"!  This is to serve as my new shuttle vehicle for future floats down lazy rivers.  No more paddling upriver or upwind!

It was quite the day.