First Catch x 2

We decided to try the fishing thing again this past Saturday, and had MUCH better luck than the previous attempt! We got our Tonto Rec Pass (at a gas station on the way TO the lake....can't buy them AT the lake or anywhere NEAR it!) and headed up to Saguaro Lake again. This time, there was a bike relay going on, so they had shut down the road all morning. So we had to take a detour....and ended up fishing at the Salt River instead of dealing with more road detours/pilot cars/etc towards the lake. We stopped at a turnout/campground/hiking path/fishing area at Coon Bluff along the Salt River. We hiked down a little bit to get to the spot that we wanted, passing tent campers, rock-climbers and repellers, and obnoxious teenagers swimming. Matt was our "guide". He had planned from moment ONE that Ashlyn and Kristen would catch their first fish today. So he got Ashlyn all setup, and started getting Kristen's pole setup, when Ashlyn got her first bite....about 15 minutes into fishing (if that, really). She reeled it in, happy as could be! AWESOME! 

Ashlyn's first fish (yellow bass)

Then we got her fish all hooked up in the water, and re-wormed her hook and let her go again. Finished getting Kristen's setup, and into the water hers went too. Matt was getting his pole all setup (mind you, these were ALL new poles, etc.) when Kristen got a bite. Once reeled in (what a PAIN in the BOOTY when you're left-handed and trying to reel it in with a right-handed reel!), we couldn't quite tell what it was....so once Matt got the hook removed from it's bone, he tossed it back (no biggie).

Matt getting the hook out of Kristen's first fish (unknown species)

By the end of the day (about 2 hours fishing total), Ashlyn had caught two Yellow Bass, Kristen had caught two Yellow Bass and an unknown, and Matt had caught an unknown as well. Sierra was whining the ENTIRE time (NO JOKE). So we finished up, packed up our 4 yellow bass, and .... took a swim????  Yep. The little girls were roasting (it was 90 degrees out), and so Matt took a swim with them in the river. He was a bit chilly, but the girls LOVED it and didn't want to get out. But we had to get some lunch eaten and so we headed back up towards the car, crossing the river one last time. We ate some lunch at the car, loaded up, and headed home for the day.

Can you guess what we had for dinner that night???  Yup....yellow bass. It was tasty. Everyone liked it. Even the dogs and the cat.   :)