More Fishing - This Time with the Little Girls

We worked the team pretty hard on Saturday, and so for the last few hours of the day decided to do some more fishing.

The little girls have been pining to come along, and are always disappointed when they are left behind... so, this time they got to come along.

They were so excited they chattered non-stop all the way to the lake! We let them ride in the back of the truck with the others...

The weather was beautiful at the lake, with alot of people there.

Fishing was pretty slow, though.

The boys took float tubes, while Dad fished the bank with the girls.





Shazam! Fish-on.

These little girls can really fish! The boys hadn't done a thing when we got our first 3 fish. Lots of laughs and giggles.

Dad couldn't keep bait on the hooks fast enough.




The boys started hooking fish, too. The warmer weather made the cold water easier to take.

Besides, once the fish started to bite, they forgot all about the water.





After we had 5 nice fish drug-up on the bank, the fishing slowed down a bit.

Never mind - the girls found lots of seaweed and mud to play with.

It gave the boys a chance to get a few more fish, and catch up.




It was a fun outing and the girls were pretty happy to be included.

A few more years and they will be serious fishing machines.

They didn't mind having to carry all the fish back to the truck, either.

Working Through "The Broken"

Saturday we were hoping to do a hike, but by noon, clouds were building and threatened rain.

And then the waterpump 'blew' in the pickup. The lawnmower drive belt shredded. The "check engine" light on the Suburban lit up. We are still getting through this year's time of "The Broken".




Most of the yard was already mowed when the mower died, and since the truck pulls the boat, it was priority to fix.

It was great having help pull the shroud and fan assembly. The oldest boy has been using the truck as 'his', so he was eager to help with the pump.




The old pump has been leaking for a while, and squealling sometimes, so it wasn't a big surprise when it died.

You can see here how the belt is also starting to wear, and needed replacement.




It took a while to get the lugs and some of the hardware off the old, corroded pump because the new pump didn't have it already.

The old pump is only about 7 years old... and about 12,000 miles, but we've been working the 454 pretty hard.





Shiny and new, the new pump dropped in smooth.

Getting the new belt on required both pair of hands. Overall, the repair went well, and it was great having help and company for the work.

Its easier talking to teenage boys when they are working on a truck engine.

First Time Float Tubers

These two boys have been itchin' to get their float tubes out, so we loaded up after school on Friday and hit-the-lake.

They've been watching the older boys catch fish from tubes for years ,and now it was their turn!





It took a whilte getting into waders and stumbling around with fins, but soon they were settled in and kicking.

Nice and comfortable.

I showed them where and how, but they were more interested in covering alot of water. Can't really blame them.



The usual spot paid off well - we got 8 and lost another 6 or 7 in about 45 minutes.

Pretty average fish. Water still cold, but the lake was quiet and the wind was not bad.





Thunderclouds kicked up, so we got off the water, and the boys managed to catch another one from the bank.

They got alittle wet and chilled, but had smiles fixed on their faces.

Free Software - Watch The Salmon Window on Your Desktop

We've all realized this spring that we spend WAY too much time watching salmon... chasing salmon... even talking about salmon.

So, we kicked around ideas on how to get even MORE salmon. We came up with this simple application that downloads images of salmon moving over Bonneville Dam, and displays those images on our computer's desktop.

Now, we can watch the fish all the time!




It is expecially great if you have multiple monitors - you can do real work on one, and watch a silver pig swim by on the other!

Features are simple - tell it how often to refresh the image, and if you want it to save those images.

The saved images are fun to watch in a time-lapse video during those times when you aren't connected to the internet...


The app was simple to create, but in testing it, I realized how unreliable the internet and the Bonneville camera are. Many times the image isn't received properly.

I've added a bunch of error and image checking that helps ensure good images are received, but it still isn't as robust as I'd like.

Still... when its working, its fun!

Our usual fileshare server is down - if you'd like a copy of the application, shoot us an email and we'll send it along. Just be warned - this much salmon is NOT good for you and we can't be responsible for feeding the addiction.

Enjoy!

Firing Up the Float Tubes for Trout

The boys were eager to get out on the water and fish.

Our favorite trout pond was stocked a week or so ago... so we loaded up the truck and made the dash.

The girls really wanted to go, too. Not enough float tubes, though.




Learning to get the waders on came natural for this dude.

He was pretty excited to fly his new float tube.







He got the hang of it really quick, too.

The fishing was fast-n-furious. We hit the water about 5pm, and for the first hour, we had fish-on at every cast! All of us lost alot of fish, too.

The boys kicked around the lake and did ok, but it seemed most of the trout were concentrated in one spot. The old guy was content to float and catch fish.

Even after loosing 10-15 fish, we still ended up with 16 to take home. Pretty good haul!

The water was really cold, still, and all of the waders have small leaks, so when the bite got slow, we were all ready to leave, too!

It was a great way to end a great day.

Garden 2010 - The Planting

Saturday's window of drier weather was just the chance we needed to get the garden in and alot of other yardwork done.

We were up early. Lots to do.

This year's garden had much fewer weeds and grass in the beginning. Hopefully it is a good omen!



The new spring tradition is to empty out all of last year's crab bait, and plow it into the garden.

We still had 2 buckets of old salmon heads, tuna carcasses, eggs, smelt, and old herring.

Not to worry - we'll have all summer to stockup on crab bait for this fall. Soon the shad will be running, and we'll catch more salmon...

The old backhoe also needed some TLC after the long winter. Good luck trying to see through those windows!






Seems the kids have been busy sticking sticks into the float block...


Hmmm... kids seem to have too much time on their hands...




A friend brought over his tractor and did a quick job of tilling up the soil.

The crabbait was still too frozen, so we tilled it in later.






While he was working the garden, the tractor *discovered* the kid's long-lost treasurebox!

Two years ago, a couple of the younger ones buried a box of 'treasure'. They even made a map to find it again.... but after 2 years and at least 30 different holes dug looking for it, they threw the map away!



The backhoe cleaned up quickly. We used a leaf blower to remove the leaves and spiders from the inside...

The battery charged for 2 hours...

And 'Galloping Gerdie' fired right up!




There was some work to do replacing hay in the laying boxes, and cleanup of the chicken coop.








Even the little dude wanted to help with the work...

... only if he got to use the 'power tools', though.







He couldn't get the blower fired up, so we gave him a hammer.

He was happy with that...

With all the help, we got most of the garden planted in no time.

Except someone pounded stakes everywhere throughout the garden...


The most fun was chopping up the 'fertilizer'.









One boy is working on his Gardening Merit Badge, so he planted pieces of smelt along his row of corn.


Mmmm... sweet corn!

Besides the garden, we also mowed and trimmed the yard. Everyone pitched in and worked so fast, we were done by early afternoon!

So... now what do we do? Lets go fishing!

Empty-Handed After Another Pass at Spring Salmon

We had a brief window to hit Multnomah Channel for salmon again this week - just a couple of hours in the early AM.

The herring were blue, and the water was flat.

Alot of boats out in the channel!




Alot of wildlife, too.

This old dolphin had a nested pair of geese... with family!

Our first downhill troll, the pair got very upset, and clearly wanted to leave. The mother pushed out the first chick - about a 15' fall!

She then flew down, and the two adults 'coaxed' the rest of the chicks to jump. Welcome to the cold world of water!


Here they are working to get the rest of them down. Once the first few jumped, the rest were very eager to get down, too.

We did have 3 take-downs, but only one stuck to the fish. That one came off after a few head-shakes.

Then it was off to other things.

Another Hunter's Safety Completed - x2

Two of the boys needed their hunter's safety to start hunting in the future.

The new process is pretty good. One can either complete a on-line course for $15, or get a free workbook to complete.

A field day and test are required also, for $10.



We went out to Sauvie's Island on Saturday, and had a pretty good time of it.

The boys demonstrated safely crossing a fence.

They also used a 'zone of fire'.




Another station let them make decisions on when to shoot, and when not to shoot.

When they did shoot, they were scored on where they hit. Some good anatomy and shot placement learning, here.





A third station let them practice shooting, and they got several shots at skeet.

This seemed to be the most fun.

Here, the volunteer instructor demonstrated what a shotgun can do to a jug of water.



Some of the boys took a few shots to 'dial in' the skeet shooting.

All of the participants eventually hit the skeet.







The test took about 30 minutes, on average.

Everyone passed.

The boys were VERY relieved to be done with this. The workbook took them about a month to complete, and they were sweating the test.

Good job, boys!

On the way back we explored the island a bit more.

The new bridge is really nice.


It is alittle tough to spit off, but we practiced a while and got the hang of it.



The river and trollers were looking good.

We could even see Portland through the weather.

The instructors were great with the younger students.

Glad this round is done. Time to go huntin'.

A Couple Quick Passes in Multnomah Channel for Salmon

We had time in the morning to try a few passes at the end of Multnomah Channel in St Helens, OR for spring salmon.

The downtown marina was quiet and flat.

The river is closed now below Bonneville for salmon fishing... but the channel and Willamette are still open...



The Columbia River looked vacant and empty after last week's traffic.

Mount St Helens is not yet breaking out from the night's fog.

There were about 2 dozen boats trolling inside the Channel.




We made one downhill pass, and then ...

bam...Bam... BANG! Fish On!

Look familiar?

He hooked a red-hot spring salmon.

The geese were honking, and we were scrambling.

Finally, the fish was in the net.

And it had a fin. Wild fish - gotta let it go.

It was a big one, too - 18 or 20 lbs. Isn't that always the case?

We did a quick release, and went to repeat the process.

We made 4 more passes, and had 2 other big takedowns... but nothing stuck.

We only saw 2 other fish caught, before we had to leave by 9:30.

We did take some time to checkout a sinking boathouse in the Channel.

It was a really nice house at one time - shame it is sinking.

Nice big boat area.

Really had some nice potential... until it took on water, that is.

All in all, a great morning in the Pacific NorthWest. Spring is in the air, trees are in bloom, and fish running in the rivers.