To The Mountains - Part 2

"Vacation, all I ever wanted

Vacation, had to get away..."  --  The GoGos

The next day started off with a quick drive down to the White River.  We rented a boat for four for the day to try to catch Rainbow Trout!  We asked the attendants at the dock if we could swim in the river?  His answer: "The river is too cold.  Heart attack inducing cold."  Well, heck. 

We bought bait and loaded our gear onto the boat.  We were instructed to cast upstream, let the bait sink, and reel in and the trout would hit it. As we headed upstream, it was cool.  How different the weather is just 8 hours north!  It was pleasant. 

There was a nice fog rising from the river. The mountains rose on either side with big bluffs and lots of trees right up to the river bank.  The current was strong, rushing downstream at a 6 mph clip.  The weather couldn't have been nicer.

Russ as the captain of the vessel

We looked above to see a majestic bald eagle fly overhead and land in a tree.  America!  We also saw a fawn eating at the riverside, river otters playing on the bank, and lots of turtles.  Our plan from 8 am to 5 pm involved motoring upstream for 30 minutes, turning the boat sideways, and casting our lines upstream.  The current would push us downstream toward the dock and then we'd repeat the process.

At some point the sun began beating down on us and it got hot.  Russ decided to cast caution to the wind about the heart attack and got in a tube we brought along before we learned that was crazy.  Russ said it was very cold, but refreshing.

We began to catch fish.  Rainbow trout!  Such a beautiful fish...

We all fished and when someone caught a fish, another would put down their rod and grab the net to secure the fish.  Benjamin was particularly adept with the net.  We gave him the moniker than was truly earned.  We called him "Benjamin Net an Yahoo!"

We've caught speckled trout before in south Louisiana and love to eat them, but this was our first opportunity to catch rainbow trout.  What an experience!

Benjamin's rainbow trout

Tricia got an opportunity to drive the boat.  She was a pretty darn good boat captain.  She also packed us lunches and boat snacks.  What a great day we had!

We did a lot of boating upstream, viewing the sights and surroundings and then floating downstream while fishing.  We burned an entire tank of gas.

Oh Captain, my captain.

We laughed and talked and sang and just enjoyed good family time together.  It was a peaceful time.  Well, at least once we got the hang of the current and the boat.  At first it was a little unnerving to be in a river with a brisk current.  We're used to slow moving bayous with next to no current.

At the end of the day, we caught seven nice rainbow trout.  Of course there's always the big one that got away.  Benjamin had two like that.  All in all, we caught enough for supper and made some great family memories in the process.

When we got back to the cabin, Tricia pan-fried the trout in butter and lemon.

Fresh-caught rainbow trout for supper.  It was heavenly!

We even had leftovers!  It wasn't over yet...