I'mmmm Baaaack!!!

[Big Sky]

Took a little hiatus from the site, but now we are back and hard after the fishing. Had a dang head cold that slowed me down for a couple weeks, but it's gone now. My oldest daughter recently returned home from serving a mission for our church, and I haven't seen her for 19 months. She will be leaving for college within a few days so we tried to make the most of the few weeks I have her home before she leaves again. It was a really productive couple of days and a ton of fun. Even if the fishing hadn't been good, spending time with her is priceless to me.

First up she caught this jumbo perch. Note that her elbows are bent and not stretched all the way out toward the camera. This really is a nice fish!

We only fished in the morning as we both had other obligations in the afternoon, but it was a very good morning.

Then just this past Saturday we headed out for a little open water on the Missouri River to try our luck. On her first cast my daughter hooked this really pretty colored rainbow.

The fishing gods smiled on me a little as well. This is about as pretty and clean as a rainbow trout can look. She was pretty girthy for a river fish.

Not to be outdone my daughter landed this over sized mountain whitefish. That makes to bigger than usual whitefish from this same area, as I caught a pretty big one there back around Thanksgiving. All in all it was a couple of really fun days. I didn't post photos of all the fish we caught, but there are enough here to represent the good time we had. I love my daughter and I love Montana!!!

 

[dcopas78]

It is nice to see you getting to spend some time with your daughter. A mission trip is one of the greatest ways to honor Christ, IMO. Those are all ice fish, glad to see you doing well and enjoying your time with family. Best of luck on your next trip out.

 

[ewludwig]

Really cool post. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JLDemo]

Glad to hear you had a good time with your family and bonus grip n' grin pics! All marabou jigs?

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Very nice!

 

[Addicting]

Parenting done right! Congrats on the successful memories you are continually building with your family.

 

[fulldraw]

Great pics . Nice to see a Dad and his daughter having some quality time together. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JohnCushman]

Looks like a great time!

 

[mdhunter]

Fish fear you (and your family, lol). Nice post!

 

[Big Sky]

Feels good to be back here and posting again. Hopefully the worst of the nasty harsh below zero temps are done and I can get out and fish more...maybe even call in a coyote or two as well. Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement, it does brighten one's day for sure!

JLDemo, no marabou jigs this time. We did use small panfish type jigs for the perch though.

dcopas78, I couldn't agree more in regards to serving a mission. Regardless of whether one believes in God or not, spending a couple years right after graduating from high school to live as Christ-like possible is a pretty positive way to live your life. At least I'd rather see young people trying to make the world a better place, rather than seeing how much alcohol, drugs, and riotous living they can survive those first few years after graduating. Then again maybe it's just me that feels that way, but as a high school teacher it is a more than a little taxing to see and hear about all the really stupid things our graduates do those first couple years out of school. For the record, quite a few don't survive, and I am more than a little worn out of reading about them in the obituaries.

 

[Big Fin]

Like, Like, Like!

 

[Straight Arrow]

Welcome back! Nicely done to "catch" up.

 

[stillkickin]

Awesome, great photos to boot!

 

[Big Sky]

Creating memories with your kids is a wonderful thing. The photos just help keep those memories alive indefinitely, especially after the mind fails to keep some of the details. I hope to get out again this weekend, but I probably won't have any kids in tow as it looks like they have busy schedules. That is okay, I like having kids that make good productive use of their time.

 

[dcopas78]

I know what you mean Big Sky. My wife is a 6th grade science teacher and many of her former students have, unfortunately, not led the best adult lives. I don't envy teachers at all. In fact, I don't know of any group of people that work harder and aren't recognized enough for it. And then they have to read about children they have tried to help get through school going down the wrong path after graduation. It's a rough job, and it frequently breaks my wife's heart. It's always great to see young people working toward their future.

 

[Festus]

Awesome memories!! Congrats Big Sky!
And she thought you were just fishing...

 

[What Map]

Great thread. thanks for posting it up, Big Sky. I read every one of your posts and love the pictures. You motivate me to get out and wet a line.