Memorial Day Fishing

Yesterday (Sunday) we took our first trip out to Apple Creek this season, very appropriate for the Memorial Day weekend in honor of Joe's dad. After over an inch of warm rain the day before, the river was dark and high, and plenty of mosquitoes and flies came out. The first hole was as finicky as ever, but beautiful. The weather was gorgeous. Downstream after missing a pretty good-size fish and kicking myself, I caught this 14" beauty. My first keeper Brown of the season. (Disclaimer: the fish appears bigger than it was)

Our pasty lunch at our usual spot on the river was very enjoyable. 

Just as I drew a conclusion that we couldn't prove there was a fish at our lunch spot, Joe pulled this huge Brown. Much larger than my fish, probably 20 inches. Since we already had plenty of fish to cook, Joe let this one go back in water. (This fish was bigger than it appears.)

Apple blossoms had just started to open, almost overnight. It seemed the green was getting greener by the minute.

Joe grilled up his steelhead from the day before and my trout for dinner. It turned to be a good weekend fishing and catching! 

Joe's Steelhead

We hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day weekend. Ours is almost like a normal weekend. I only have Sunday off. And the weather is not so stable. Still, today Joe went fishing earlier and brought home this beautiful 24" steelhead. Just in time to drive home in the heavy rain with dime-sized hail. 
I had meant to post about our last Sunday fishing trip... the highlight of which was the cheerful yellow marsh marigold in full bloom. 

Besides I caught more fish than Joe that day, though all too small to keep. The only picture worthy fish this season was my skinny 9" rainbow... until Joe's steelhead from today. Really hoping to venture out to Apple Creek tomorrow. We must pray to Weather God before we pray our Fish God.

Mother's Day

Last Sunday, Mother's Day, we had plenty of time to go fishing before taking Joe's mom out for BBQ rib dinner. It turned very warm and sunny. Bloodroots were in bloom, and so were some trout lilies. 

Although I donated a lure quite early on this trip, I actually saw a fish chase after my spinner. A good size fish, about 15", not a steelhead (lake run). I changed my lures several times, but no luck. Still, I was very excited.
Later I almost lost another lure. I was able to walk across gingerly to retrieve it from the other side and to snap this picture from a different perspective. 

Good thing we made our way back just in time for a shower before Mother's Day dinner outing. Phew.

Our Anniversary Week

Every wedding anniversary turns to be special in many ways. This year, we must say, was quite different. We didn't get out of the UP, had my brother for the whole time, and even slept on an air mattress in the basement (while in Ironwood). But nonetheless, we started another year with many good memories.

We had a great view of the sun rising from our air mattress, something we don't usually catch.

Sunday, the day after our anniversary, having seen off my brother at the airport, we took a quick fishing trip. The weather was too nice to stay indoors. 

Water was pretty high and fast as expected. No fish, either. Hopefully in another week or two.

It was just nice to enjoy the things we love near us. Joe enjoyed his cigar in the sun, while Kayo sat and listened to the bubbling water, surrounded by trees. Later that evening we went to see the new Avenger movie to finish our anniversary week/ vacation. 

Golden Week

We had a week vacation near home with my brother Yoshi visiting from Japan. The Golden Week is when a bunch of national holidays so close to each other becomes a week or so long of time off. The weather jumped from winter to almost summer. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We managed to eat and drink as many varieties as possible between our walks and sightseeing. Our first stop was the Blackrocks where we sat outdoor to enjoy beer and bento snacks.

The warm weather (a couple of days reaching almost 80!) called for yakitori. A quick change of plans, oh so happily. 

We took a quick trip to Ironwood to meet with our friend Tak also from Japan. When we weren't eating, we checked out a few waterfalls and the lakeshore. With the snowmelt, all the falls were quite impressive. 

On our way back from Ironwood we took a little sidetrack to try a couple of new places. We had an amazing southern BBQ lunch. Definitely worth driving 1 1/2 hours from us. 

Then we stopped for a few beer at a new brewery also 1 1/2 hours from where we live. They also had amazing Napoli style pizzas, probably as close as we can get to Italy while still in the UP. 

Last day we got to enjoy most of our warm afternoon relaxing at home. It was hard to believe we had all that snow on the ground less than a week ago. Except now everything brown and dirty.

It was Cinco de Mayo, we had a taco dinner at home, mostly to celebrate the warm weather.

My Kahlua cheesecake had aged nicely over the week. A perfect ending to our tasty taco meal as well as Yoshi's stay.