The Miracle Kids Have Landed at Lake Kirkwood

It seems like a good day to visit Lake Kirkwood.  It helps that it was on the list of California Department of Fish & Wildlife trout stocking for the week of July 7th.

View from da "Spot"

View from da "Spot"

View from da "Spot"

View from da "Spot"

View from da "Spot"

JU, Mrs. M., Miracle Kids, and Cousin left Sac at 0630 hours.  We arrived at the Lake at 0830.  The words about the trout stocking was out.  The Lake was crowded with fishermen.  Not wanting to hike, JU went to the nearest point from the van to the lake, which was the main boat ramp.  JU cast out his line perpendicular to the main boat ramp and immediately two lines were cast over his from right to left.  JU reeled up his line and commanded the troops to hike to the "honey hole," the best ever spot to fish at Lake Kirkwood.  Meanwhile, Miss Z2daThird was zzz-ing away in the van.

The team picked up and hiked to the "honey hole."  Darn, there were already two fishermen there.  JU continued along the Lake until there were no fisherman near by.  Miss Mystic setup the first rod, while JU double back to help the rest of the team hike to the spot.  On the way back, the two fishermen were not at the "honey hole" anymore.  What's up with that?  JU was too lazy to move the rest of the equipment, so he continued on the fetch the rest of the team.  By the time he made it back, Miss Mystic said, "I just missed one."  JU  then setup three more fishing poles for the team; thus, there were a total of four fishing poles out.  All were baited with orange power balls.  The action was NON-STOP with (Click on the link to see a video of Mrs. M. and Master Fisherman with a double hookup!) double and sometimes triple hookups!  JU had to pack away one pole so the action could be more manageable.  What a great problem to have :-)

Mrs. M. with fish on!

During all the action, JU hiked back to the van to fetch water.  JU ran into the fishermen that abandon the "honey hole."  Talking with them, JU found out that they were a father/son team that camped at Lake Kirkwood for the past 5 days.  They said during that time, they've only caught 5 fish.  As a matter of fact, they've only caught one for the day.  Bob, the dad, asked JU, "How did you guys do?  I saw you passed us."  JU said the kids already caught 12.  It was around 1000 hours.  Bill said his son Tom (16 years old) only caught one so far.  JU promised to set them up as soon as he delivered the water to the troops.   In the van,  JU told Miss Z2daThird to find the team on the left side of the Lake when she arises.

JU managed to lug the entire cooler to the spot.  With Mrs. M. and the kids content, JU came back and talked with Bob and Tom.  It turned out that Bob was 73 years old camping and fishing with his adopted son Tom.  Bob had been married 53 years with two children of his own and two adopted kids.  JU tied the line for Tom and gave him some orange power balls and green power balls.  JU told them one limit of five trout could be caught using and reusing the same two balls.  Then JU went back to fish some more.

Back at the spot, JU decided it was time just to kick back and enjoy the show.  Fishing is quite a team sport.  Do you know, it takes thee individuals to remove the hook from a trout?  One to hold the fish (Master Fisheman, 8 years old), one to hold the line (Cousin, 10 years old), and one to remove the hook (The Monk, 13 years old).  Everyone landed trout except for Miss Zzz.  She decided to join us around 1130 hours.

Takes 3 to remove a hook :-)

Enjoying the show.

Click on this link to see me in action!

Finally around noon, the kids decided that they had enough excitement for one day.  They wanted to go home.  The total count was 26 rainbow trout!!!

Another successful fishing trip.

Basket of 26 trout!

On the way out, we ran into Bob and Tom.  Tom exclaimed excitedly, "I caught four more.  The trout won't let go of the bait you gave me!"  Tom had caught one all day before JU setup his rig and  gave him some power balls.  Another satisfied fisherman!

We got home around 1600 hours.  We invited gramps over for a fish fry.  Mrs. M. did her magic.  The fish were delicious.  All we had to do was pull out the middle bones and ate the rest.  Even MT (four years-old) ate one by herself!  JU had decided that for 10 incher trout, this was the best way to prepare and enjoy them, even better than smoked trout.

Featuring New Member of Team United, Inc., Speedy Fisherman!

Cousin had never caught a fish in his life.  Thus while fishing with Master Fisherman and the Monk at Lake Kirkwood, he was very sluggish.  He could not tell if the fish was biting.  He could not set the hook, that is, until he was bitten by a radioactive mosquito.  His blood was injected with an amazing serum that enabled him to learn tasks at an accelerated rate.  Not only was he able to recognize a fish bite, he set the hook at an amazing speed.  He is now known as Speedy Fisherman!  “How many fish did you catch today?”  “I caught five!” ;-)  See how fast he learns?

Introducing: Speedy!

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