A Busy Day at the Lake
Summer fishing finally started with a run up to Deer Creek Reservoir where the fishing report indicated good trout fishing. I went with Mike R and three of his boys. The weather was great, the lake was as smooth as in the picture all morning. and the fishing wasn't bad either, with two and more fish on at the same time. We all came home with a catch of nice fat trout, one of which became Sunday dinner for Marolynn and I.

The Sturgeon Trip
When Marolynn went up to Oregon a few weeks ago, she took some pictures of my Lake Powell fishing trip to show to our friend Jan who is another fishing nut. She got right on the phone and invited me to come up and fish for sturgeon. I got my fishing buddy Mike R. to come along, so this last weekend we made the 880 mile trip to Astoria, Oregon; went fishing the next day; and drove back home the next.

It was a guided trip just back from the mouth of the Columbia river - the guide was just terrific. Sturgeon season is only 4 weeks long, ending on June 26 and the keeper limit is one fish between 41 and 54 inches in length. Everyone caught sturgeon and we each went home with with a fish which we had filleted at the dock. I found out how hard sturgeon fight when I hooked onto an 'oversized' six-footer which when it saw the boat after being reeled mostly in, took off in a straight line toward the ocean. The guide tightened the drag about as far as it would go and the fish just kept peeling more line off of the reel. Finally the fish turned abruptly and popped the hook which we didn't mind because I couldn't have kept him anyway. We got an idea of its size when it jumped two or three times after being hooked.

Mike R. with the biggest fish he has caught so far.

















My 53-inch, 44# fish, maintaining the adage that "uncle Paul catches the biggest fish"

To some people, fishing is just a love affair.

The gang with the keepers. Left to right, Mike R, Jan, Jan's friend Prudy, and uncle Paul.

Back of the Mountain
We decided to make a short trip up Provo canyon and take a look at the back of the mountains facing toward the house. There's a lot more snow on the mountains than last year at this time, but the warm weather has it melting fast. Timpanogos peak was shrouded in clouds blowing off the snow.

We drove up a side canyon that brought us to vacation cabins and small farms and finally a girl scout camp where the road ended in back of Provo mountain. Last time I was there was more than 40 years ago when I'd drive up that canyon to take Fall pictures in the days of color slides. Not a lot has changed except a couple of more recently constructed parks with picnic areas for day-use. We'll mark this area down for fall pictures when all of the lowland maples turn a vivid red.

Summer Takes Hold
After the coldest May in 57 years and a cool first week in June, days are warming up and they are predicting a high of 90 in Salt Lake tomorrow. It still seems strange to see white peaks in June. By this time in Albuquerque, snow in the mountains was long gone and the very last snow patches were to be seen in the mountains above Santa Fe.

The American Fork river across the street is running high and muddy with the melting mountain snowpack and will do so for a couple of more weeks. The Alpine loop around the back of Mt. Tipanogos hasn't been plowed out yet, but I'm hoping that they do that soon.