The Fishing Angle

The premier purpose of the trip to Northern New Mexico for Kevin was, of course, finding some fishing opportunities. Having never fished in streams and rivers, he was excited to to try his rod.

As I told you, he and I headed to the Jemez Mountains to fish in the river waters.

Here is Kevin scouting the first location.




While I was tying on my hook, Kevin set out his first cast. What's this!? A bite! The first cast! I jumped up and grabbed my camera.









Needless to say, we let the little guy go back. We were excited, though, that the waters seemed so ripe with young trout. We kept up casting, Kevin using his spinner, and I used the minnows we snagged from Ashley Pond.

Soon, I felt a tug on my line. It surprised me, and I was too late to set the hook before Mr. Trout took off with my minnow. Darn!

Undaunted, we kept casting. And casting. Annnnddd ccccasssssting.

We moved to several pretty spots on the same stream.

We did some fossil hunting before heading to Fenton Lake, where we casted some more. And waited. And cast. And waited.

We headed to one last spot at the Las Conchas trailhead. The fish were really jumping there! A man came by to tell us he had caught three in that pond. So we kept trying.

But the fish. wouldn't. bite.

Trying again at Las Conchas.

As Kevin described it, he caught one on the first cast, and then we spent the rest of the day trying to catch another fish.

Even though we weren't able to bring home dinner, we had a fantastic time together! I was very happy to have the opportunity to fish with him. It is the first time fishing since I was about 12 (excepting, of course, our Alaskan salmon fishing trip).

Proof that Moms can fish (Fenton Lake)

On Saturday, we dropped Kevin off at Embudo for another try, this time on the Rio Grande.


When we returned from Taos to pick him up, we learned that Kevin had caught and released two small bass. No keepers. Darn.

We missed Kevin at the pancake breakfast on Sunday. He had headed from BobBIE's down to the Rio Grande to try again. It was a beautiful hike, but he had no luck again.

So, now he has some experience, and next time he has an opportunity to fish in a freshwater stream, or a big river like the Rio Grande, he'll be ready to catch the Big One!

Ocean Kev

Kevin is in love with the ocean. He loves to surf and fish. Here he is at Campus Point today.

Waiting for the next one. That's Kevin's friend Skylar on the right.

Ready to catch the Big One!

Heading out.

Fisherman Kev

Kevin has been spearfishing recently. He has speared some perch in past outings, and today he came back with a guitarfish.

He barbeques them the day he catches them. This one gave him enough to freeze for later.

Remember, as always, click for a bigger picture!

The Demise of Zen

Mike's betta fish, Zen (aka Spirit Fins), died yesterday.

He was a hearty old soul. A few months ago, while Mike was cleaning out his bowl, Zen nearly met his fate.

Mike had been doing the job over the kitchen sink. Zen, being a frisky young fish, jumped out of the net and into the sink, landing in the garbage disposal. I had small enough hands, so I reached in for him. He flipped around, and then suddenly he was gone! We shined a flashlight into the disposal, but Zen was not to be found!

Then I spied a tiny bit of red fin. It was coming from the hole on the side of the disposal! The hole had a diameter exactly Zen-sized! There was not enough fin to grasp, so we had to think quick.....!

We filled the dishwasher with just a bit of water, then hit "cancel." The dishwasher drained, spitting Zen back into the disposal, where I could grab him--and hold on!

He was no worse for the adventure and lived a happy life for several more months.

May your waters be warm and detergent-free, Zen.