Fly Fishing Trip - July 11, 2009

Aaron, Ryan, and myself took a fly fishing trip with Brad Turner on the Pere Marquette River on Saturday, July 11. We started the trip at 3:00 PM and got off the river at 2:00 AM. We had great weather for the trip during the day - sunny and 70's (could maybe argue we would have caught more fish during the day if there was some cloud cover but as you will see from the pictures below, it didn't seem to matter), but it got rather chilly at night - high 40's. Needless to say this was by far the best guided trip I have been on. We got into some fish, I and I'm sure the other guys learned a ton about the river, and it was just a good adventure with some of my good friends.

We started the trip with Aaron and Ryan nymph fishing and I started throwing a hopper and dropper (grass hopper pattern with a nymph below). Aaron is definitely the master of nymph fishing as he landed 8 fish using this method - not any real size to the fish but he definitely had the concept down, it's just a matter of putting in the time to get the big one. Ryan had a number of hookups with the nymph fishing as well but couldn't get them to hand. He had some hookups as well using a BWO (blue winged olive) but couldn't get hooked up with any of those either. Both guys casting improved as the trip progressed, that's for sure. I turned a few fish with the hopper - dropper pattern to start the trip but didn't get anything hooked up until we came to Alligator Alley. This will forever be one of my favorite runs of the PM as I landed my first two 20" trout here. The first was a 20" brown and the second was a 20" rainbow. Both of these fish came on a "Amy's Ant" hopper pattern and Brad (our guide) was nice enough to give me the fly to be officially retired. The fly is now a permanent fixture in my fly fishing hat... Here are the pics of the first two bruisers:

We fished a few more spots, had some dinner (grilled chicken breast, rice, and a salad), and then began the waiting game until night fall. Once it was good and dark, we started our mousing adventure down the river. Brown trout feed mainly at night and believe it or not, mice are something they won't pass up. Mice will be cruising around the shore of the river and occasionally, they will fall in and that's when Mr. Brown Trout gets aggressive and has them for a late night snack. Since Ryan struck out during the day, he was the first at bat. He turned a few fish that didn't get hooked up and then it finally happened for him.

Aaron was up next, and if I recall, he caught this dandy on his first few attempts.

Then it was my turn, and I got this brute. My third 20" trout for the day!

Ryan was up next again and unfortunately, didn't hook up again despite rolling a number of fish. The guide made 2 or 3 casts at the very end of the trip and ended up getting this nice brown. In total I think we rolled 12 fish mousing and landed 4 - the guys with 3 and the guide with 1.

It was definitely an awesome trip on the river. It only fed my addiction to fly fishing even more and I can't wait to get back out on the PM. If you see Joani, you should tell her I really need my own drift boat so I can take my friends (and her and Riley) out on our own.

By the way, the only problem we encountered during the trip was at the end of it. Aaron and I did not bring our phones with us on the trip and we had some emails and voicemails from Joani and Rachael. Apparently wives don't expect fishing trips to last until 2:00 in the morning. Well, I guess they know now! Or we'll just bring our phones next time...

So it's been a while...

So yeah, some big things happened since our last post. I shot an 8 point buck on November 14, 2008 with my bow. When I let the arrow fly, it hit a branch at the last second and instead of hitting the deer's vitals, the arrow dug in right in front of the back legs. I ended up sneaking out of the woods at dark (I made the shot at about 5:15 PM and had 10 - 12 deer around me until dark) and after making a few phone calls to Timmy, Uncle Paul, Ryan, Eric, and Mike Drost (yeah, I wanted a few opinions on what to do), I decided to leave the buck until morning. Needless to say I was not happy about leaving my first buck in the woods over night and even less happy about the bad shot placement - I practiced all winter, spring, summer, and early fall so I could make the perfect shot when the time came and was very disappointed that I didn't see that stupid branch. Timmy and I got to the blind the morning of November 15, 2008 at about 6:00 AM with our guns as it was gun opener and let me tell you, I couldn't wait until good light to start tracking my buck. At about 7:30 AM, Timmy and I left the blind to start tracking - I think Tim was just as excited as I was. We found blood immediately where I had taken the shot and followed a good blood trail through the woods (after I shot the deer, it only ran a step or two and then walked off out of sight). We lost the trail for a little while by a little creek that was running through the woods (normally this woods is dry but with all the rain this fall, there was a lot of water around the area) but once we settled down we found the blood trail once again. We ended up finding the buck probably about 125 yards from my treestand. The arrow was still in the deer's hind quarters and I must have hit the main artery back there because of the good blood trail. This buck is very special to me not only because it's my first but also because I shot it on my Grandpa & Grandma Kooiker's farm in Hamilton, MI. I used to hunt a lot in high school on other farms in Hamilton and would always stop by my grandparents to say hi. I never had much success then but my grandparents always liked hearing my stories. My Grandma passed away earlier this year and my Grandpa is at a nursing home so they weren't around to see the deer I shot on their farm but I know they are very much proud of me. Once I get the mount back from the taxidermist, I'll be sure to stop by my Grandpa and show him the buck that was running around his farm.

Tim also shot a 6 point on my Grandparent's farm later in the gun season. To say this buck was beat up is an understatement. It looked like the deer was hit by a car and had a club for a back leg. It's antlers were also rubbed down quite far. Tim did the right thing by shooting this deer to end it's misery. He made a 145 yard shot with my Uncle Paul's Browning A-Bolt shot gun and dropped the buck in it's tracks. That is an awesome shot with a shot gun. I wish I would have been there with Timmy but I was hunting with friends in Manistee, MI. Congrats Tim!

Timmy and I are now hunting for does on the Berens farm and my Grandparents farm. I am hunting with my new Thompson/Center Encore muzzleloader and Tim is back to bow hunting. I hope to shoot one doe with my muzzleloader and one more with my bow. I'll keep everyone updated on our luck.

Here are some pictures of my deer:

Oh yeah, we also got married on November 1! It was an absolutely beautiful day and I couldn't be happier to now have Joani as my wife. We spent the honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and had a great time. We'll have to put a post up about that to fill in more of the details, I was just excited to post my deer :) I will leave you with my favorite photo (thus far) from the wedding. This is a great shot of Joani during Timmy's best man speech. She is absolutely beautiful. Great pic Ashley!

Our New Family Member

So as many of you already know- yesterday was the big day- Riley came home! I went to pick her up in Clare with my mom, and she was great from the instant I took her into my arms. She only whimpered once on the way home, and it definitely had more to do with not being able to see out the window than it did her being lonely. It took her a little while to adjust to the house, but this morning she's acting like she runs the place (and let's be honest- she probably will if she doesn't already!) She had lots of visitors yesterday- both sets of grandparents, Uncle Tim & Aunt Audrey, and a few of our friends. She was great through the night and only had to be taken outside once, so we're hoping it only continues to get better. We have already had so much fun playing with her and figuring out her 'Riley-isms', I can only imagine how much fun it will be once she's fully acclimated to her new family! Here are some pictures of our little peanut as well our first family photo.

Summer Update

I figured since Jeff took on the task of updating the blog for the many things that have been keeping us busy this summer, my contribution would be pictures to go along with his posts. This is officially the year of the wedding, and we've been to 4 so far- the 2 most recent being E&Y weddings. Much to the dismay of two huge UofM fans, we had yet another wedding where Sparty made a guest appearance (which also means yet another wedding where Jeff led the group in singing The Victors). Here is the E&Y gang at Tim & Beth Barrie's wedding in East Lansing.

The next wedding was Todd & Megan's at Windmill Island in Holland, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! Here is the E&Y gang outside with Todd.

Jeff & I have another wedding this weekend- my cousin Jenny's, and we're very much looking forward to celebrating & spending some time with my family (I think Jeff is the most excited to see Louis!).

The other big recent event was the bachelorette party of Kim soon-to-be-Guider, one of my good friends from high school. After making a foam cooler full of jell-o shots for the occasion, Natalie and I headed to Chicago on Saturday morning to meet up with Molly & head downtown to spend the evening with Kim and the rest of the girls. We went out for a delicious dinner and spent most of the night cruising around the city in a limo singing Spice Girls and enjoying the cooler of jell-o shots. Here is a pic of the FHC girls and the bride-to-be. It was great to see Kim and celebrate her upcoming wedding- we can't wait for the big day!

Weekend

Just to let all the fans of this blog know, Eric, Ryan, Tim, and I finished second in the campground golf outing this past weekend. We ended up at an ugly +2 (none of us golfed very well) and the winners ended up at +1. We later found out that one of the guys on the winning team not only worked at this golf course but was also a member. We ended up winning $28 with the winners getting $40. After golf we had lunch with the rest of the golfers and then went to The Meat Shack (a butcher shop, get your heads out of the gutter!) to pick up ribs to grill for dinner - our winnings from the golf outing almost paid for the ribs... After 4 hours on the grill, they were done and delicious! It was fun hanging out with Ryan, Eric, and Tim and hopefully they will be up to the trailer again soon. Maybe next time we'll snap some pictures as well. Also, as a FYI, next years golf outing is on August 15 and the group will reassemble to this time win the outing and bragging rights for the following year.

And now, the puppy update. Riley turned 5 weeks old on Friday, July 18. Below is her 5 week picture. Also, if you count five weeks back from July 18, you'll notice that Riley was born on Friday, June 13. Hopefully this doesn't mean she'll be even naughtier than I was originally expecting! Something tells me she'll be able to get away with murder, just look at that puppy face!

Update

So yeah, it's been a long time since our last post. This hasn't been because nothing has been going on it's because too much has been going on. Joani and I have both been putting in a ton of hours at work - Joani is still hanging in there at E&Y and kicking butt along the way and my new job is going very well but some very long hours. We've also had two weddings since our last post (Congrats Tim & Beth and Todd & Meagen!) and have been busy planning our own (ok, Joani has been more busy than I have with the planning). We had our engagement pictures taken last night at Townsend Park and we should be able to see them online sometime this weekend - what can we say, we have a great photographer - Thanks Ashley! We've also spent quite a few weekends up north since our last post. We have been enjoying the trailer and the campground we're staying at. I have a new love for splitting wood for fires (I think it helps me get some stress out) and Joani loves playing with the fire once it gets going. We also had a weekend at the DeWitt's cabin. I loved this place in high school when we went up there all the time and it's great to go back to that place. It truly is one of my favorite places I've ever been. During our weekend there, we went tubing on the Muskegon River, grilled out, show bow and arrow, and played various indoor and outdoor games. We have also been preparing for the new arrival to our family - Riley. Joani will be picking her up in two weeks (August 1). I won't be going along as I have a canoe trip planned with my buddies from E&Y. I can say Riley is already spoiled and we have yet to meet her. And lastly, Joani and I both have fun plans for this weekend as well. Joani will be in Chicago for a bachelorette party for Kim (one of her friends from high school) and I will be heading north with Tim, Ryan, and Eric for a golf outing tomorrow. Yeah, we're golfing in the campground golf outing and I'm sure we're going to get crushed. Those old timers golf every day and this will only be my second trip of the year! Well there you go, you have been updated on what's going on in our lives, I hope you enjoyed it!

Riley Was Born!

Good news from Mio, Michigan - Riley was born on Friday, June 13. If you haven't caught on, Riley is the name of our new schnoodle puppy. It sounds like besides the three females, there were also two males in the litter. We have the first pick of the females and we're told one of them has a white belly and more white on her face than the others (hard to tell from the pics below) so we're thinking we'll pick that one but we'll see, I don't think we have to make a decision quite yet so hopefully we'll get some more pics as the weeks progress. Below are a few pics of all the female puppies from the litter the day they were born. Which one will Riley be???