berries and kids and dogs and fish

I took the family camping and managed to catch fish each time I tried- twice with the fam after swimming (20 minutes after swimming the hole, catching fish in it), and one dawn mission this morning. I already had two cups of coffee before anyone was up so might as well fish.

This little guy went for his first swim and then two more. Makes ya tired.


Here are places I caught small, gorgeous coastal cutts. They didn’t feel like posing. The water was as pretty as the trout.



The kids went nuts picking berries. Bears were loading up and active in the area, too. Caution. The berry crop was very in. Some shrubs were just outrageously loaded. Blue and red hucks, thimbleberries and dewberries and more.

 

[DimeBrite]

Foraging for wild berries while fishing is the best! We have some great varieties in western Washington.
During my July summer steelheading days I paused frequently to hunt down patches of wild blackberries. I even found a long abandoned patch of pioneer strawberries that were so tasty.

 

[SurfnFish]

cute BT, have never seen one taking the plunge

 

[Matt B]

cute BT, have never seen one taking the plunge

This is our second Boston and they don’t seem to like making swimming a habit but we’ll see. The elder one was a fan of wading up to his belly when hot and that’s it. This one went back in twice but I couldn’t tell for sure if he kept (stupidly) slipping down the rocks or doing it on purpose or what. Love the lil guy but not sure he was the brightest pup of the litter.

 

[Wade Rivers]

Those are some nice plump berries!

 

[Coach Potter]

I’m pretty sure I was a black bear in my previous life…mountain berries of any kind will stop me in my tracks.

 

[Matt B]

Those are some nice plump berries!

We went back this weekend and they were just as plump, maybe plumper with the rain last week, and much, much tastier overall. Lots more ripe trailing blackberry so that was a bonus. There are so many berries I think everyone actually got a little tired of them! Huckleberry bushes drooping over from the weight of the fruit…

 

[Coach Potter]

I love everything about huckleberries…the flavor, the terrain they grow in, the fact that they can’t be grown commercially…huckleberries are the mountains!

 

[Matt B]

I mentioned we were back this past weekend. This time we had a big group, a multi family semi chaotic blast. Here is a screen grab of my kid (middle name “Rivers”) taking the plunge into a wave train.


I caught more fish and snorkeled and saw one of the ones we usually don’t catch—a 17-18” beauty that lives at the bottom of a popular swimmin’ hole—not this one but one nearby. I also gave a couple kids some fly casting and fishing lessons and got them hooked up; one kid landed his first ever fish and followed me around the rest of the weekend. I think it’s gonna stick with him.