Train up a child in the way he should fish: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

When Mason turned 6 I took him on a quick fishing trip with his own little spinning rod. I ended up breaking out the fly rod since nothing was taking his spinner. I was fishing for a while and Mason started complaining that he wanted to go home. I really wanted him to reel in a fish so we stayed a while longer as he was eaten by all the mosquitoes. We did land one fish but ever since he's told me he really doesn't like fly fishing. I realized the other day that he didn't understand the difference between "fly fishing" and "fishing while flies(mosquitoes) bite you".

I took him out again Saturday evening. There were no mosquitoes and we caught some nice fish. We both had a great time. I'd hook 'em and walk to the bank and let him reel them in. We caught 4 Rainbows and a Brook Trout.

As we were walking back to the car Mason said "Dad, this is the best day of my whole life". Usually Mason's hyperbole is a little more cryptic. Something like "Dad, this is the best day I never had" is more typical.

On the ride home I was telling him that Brook Trout are my favorite fish to catch because they are so pretty with their spots and orange bellies. He said nonchalantly, "Yeah, my favorite is sharks".

I'm hoping I'll have a bona fide fishing partner soon.

While unpacking all our stuff we came across a little gift from a good friend. They appeared no worse for wear after being in storage for a month and then traveling cross-country in an ABF trailer. Maybe somewhat dehydrated but nothing a little TLC couldn't fix. No odor. Well, maybe a little. Well behaved. Not even a peep out of them until we found them. I'm happy to say that Speds has a new home.

Here are some of the activites that Speds has learned to love in Bozeman.

Going swimming with the family at Bogart Pool.

Here a nice close up of Speds and my calves.

Watching Footloose on the Love Sac.

Speds is learning the art of fly fishing. Here they are on the Gallatin.

Speds LOVES tuna casserole.

We are pleased to have Speds as part of our family. I guess some blessing just come unlooked for.

West is Best

The Spruce Moths have come to the Gallatin River canyon. I went out early this morning in attempt to satisfy the request of one of my faithful blog readers by getting a picture of some fish. This is Storm Castle Mtn. Elev. 7165 at sunrise with the Gallatin running below it. This is one of the many views I see three days a week during my commute. It beats the Schuylkill, no?


I've never fished a Spruce Moth "hatch" and it was awesome. Right on cue just before the sun hit the water the moths started falling out of the pines like snow. The fish went crazy. I caught a couple nice rainbows but only got a picture of this nice little Brown, ,my first Brown since moving back out here. I saw a few heavies gorging themselves just as the light hit the water but I couldn't entice them unfortunately. What a great morning.

The next Carlos Hathcock? (go ahead, google is your friend)

I've been looking at BB guns on every trip we've taken to Wal-Mart in the past year. Since taking the family out for a meal costs the same as a BB gun I decided the kids would starve one meal and we'd have some backyard fun. I'm continuing Mason's firearm education from our back porch with a gun he can shoot a little easier than my .22. Incidentally, Amy thinks she's quite the sharpshooter which is odd since she gave me "the look" everytime I mentioned getting a gun for Mason to shoot.

This is our WT video according to Amy. Shootin' guns frum ar parch haf nekkid. Wer gonna git us sum 'coons next, thats fer darn tootin'.

Coming soon:

Skills, like Napoleon but different.

After moving to our new place I discovered that we have to share our porch with a neighbor. I took it upon myself to take care of it. My long dormant snaring and trapping abilities were awakened by the smell of pines and visions of mountains. The old figure four (google it, you'll see) worked like a charm and now I have a very scared neighbor who still shares my porch with me. We still see him from time to time. He's lucky it was only a cardboard box I had land on him.

Rob Wood wherever you are, I hope I've done you proud.

My Man Mason

I am very proud of my kids. For the most part they are very polite, kind and they do what we ask of them. I had a moment the other day that made me especially proud though. Mason had seen me use my Byrd Cara Cara many times and was always asking for his own knife. I finally got him a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife for Christmas. He uses the various tools on it frequently for little tasks often in ingenious ways. He also frequently misplaces it since he doesn’t always have pockets. A couple days ago he looked at me and said “Dad, I wish my knife had a little clip on it like yours does so I could put it right here” as he pointed to his waistband. Appendix carrying a folding knife is actually very comfortable and handy, you all should try it. Well, my chest swelled and I savored the moment of my son’s first mod. He wanted a pocket clip! On his SAK! We undertook the modification this evening. The results were stellar. We used a clip from a Pilot V5 Roller ball pen, a dremel and some epoxy. Behold Mason’s Mod.