Gone Fishing

Last night we cooked up a trout that we caught in the fall. We remembered catching it on a crisp October morning at Trillium Lake. The air was cold, but the coffee and tamales were hot (shout out to Mt. Hood Coffee Roasters). The road into the lake would soon close for the winter season, so we took our kids and their friends for one last fishing trip. The fish were biting, and soon our 7-year-old daughter Maxine hooked a lunker. It was 18 inches long, our biggest catch of the year. I helped her reel it in and Tony netted it. This was the fish we ate last night. Grilled on the farm with snow melting around us. A reminder that spring is here, and fishing season is right around the corner.

Gear-Up and Get Out!

When go fishing with our kids, we keep it simple. We don’t buy fancy tackle. We use lead-free sinkers to protect the wildlife. And often we reuse swivels, lures, and hooks we find on the shore. We bring home handfuls of tangled monofilament, cleaning up quite a bit of trash wherever we go. Treasure hunting, stewardship, and fishing go hand-in-hand.

Fishing challenged?

The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) is here to help. They have free fishing events all over Oregon where they provide tackle and gear. It’s a great way to get started. Also, ODFW is stocks many of our lakes and ponds. A couple top fishing spots in our area are:

  • Commonwealth Lake: This pond is located in a Beaverton park is stocked with trout several times in spring and has bass and panfish year-round.
  • St Louis Fish Ponds: Near Woodburn, these ponds are stocked with trout spring and fall. You can also find warm water fish like largemouth bass, bluegill, and crappie through the summer.
  • Trillium Lake: This is our family favorite because we can also float around the lake. And, since we’re 25 minutes east of Sandy, we’re halfway there. It’s a beautiful mountain lake, so it’s good for trout fishing throughout the summer.

You can also send your child to our Trackers Mariners Camp where they spend five days fishing, boating, and honing their crawdad hunting & eating skills. By the end of the week they will be able to teach you how to fish.

Catching -Up!

On a not-fishing note, next week on March 24 at 8-9 AM, I will be meeting Trackers parents at Rose City Coffee (another woman-owned business I love to support). If you’re nearby and want to join us, come get a drink and chat with me and other like-minded friends about raising Trackers Kids. Or we can talk about the biggest fish we ever caught.