Gone Fishin'

My dad, affectionately known as Captain Gary, started fishing on Lake St. Clair with his Uncle Frank when he was a little boy. He learned how to catch fish and, more importantly, he learned where to find the fish. He has caught more fish than most people dream of. In fact, he won the invitation only Perch Derby so many years in a row that they had to stop inviting him. My sisters and I started fishing with my dad as soon as we were able to hold a fishing pole. By the time we were in middle school, we would've given the guys on Deadliest Catch a run for their money.

The Yatooma's were determined to catch the perch while they were hot and we scheduled an outing. We were all up and at em' sometime before 5am, and out on the lake sometime close to 7(ish).

It was foggy, really foggy. It made it pretty treacherous to travel all the way over to Canada, but the Captain guided us safely to our destination.

Once the fog cleared, the fish started eating.

We started small...

but, the fish got bigger.

Yep, that's two on one line (what we fisher people refer to as a "double header")

Chris really got some monsters. And so did Greg.

Due to the fog, Dad wore this neon shirt to hopefully be seen by other boats that might be lurking in the misty waters. I think it worked.

How many did we catch?

124 KEEPERS

(We threw back about 50 and lost about the same...rookies)

And then we cleaned the fish.

For all you conservationist out there, you may want to cover your eyes for this part.

Everybody helped. Dad, Jeff, Jeffro and I filleted - electric knives= the only way to clean fish. Viky counted. Chris cleared the guts.

Greg took pictures (because he's not allowed to touch knives.)

After the fish and the boat were all cleaned, we went on a little cruise.

Isla didn't love her "boat coat," but she's getting used to it.

Thanks for a great fishing trip dad! We had a great time and didn't break anything (that you know of ;)