Steelheading The UP In "09"

I just return from a steelheading trip to the UP of Michigan and had a great time. The river was not yet prime for fishing but we found fish and fished hard for a week. Rick and myself hooked about a dozen fish and landed 4 of which I kept one that was bleeding so returning it to the river would not have been wise. It would have died so it will be great table fare as it will be BBQ'ed this weekend. This is actually the first fish I've kept in about 15 years, most of the fish we catch are released to spawn naturally and maintain the fishery that we enjoy so much.

With different timing we would love to go back in about a week as the fish should be thick in the river spawning. It would not be unheard of to catch dozens of fish in a day. But with high water and most fishermen not being able to get to the fish it should be a good spawning year that will be realized in years to come.

Later and looking forward to a good walleye opener in Minnesota,

Steelheader

The first day on the river it snowed most of the day. You can see the accumulation on the other side of the river.

Rick "JOE" walking along the river going to another spot where we're hoping to find spawning fish.

I hooked 3 steelhead under this balsam tree, along with about 20 suckers. This is one of our favorite spots in the lower Cedar river.

Rick is on the high bank along the river looking for spawning fish on the shallow beds. The fish will turn on their sides and fan the rocks with their tails to clean the algae and silt from the rocks. When the females flash like this it attracts males behind them and those are the fish you would like to catch.

This is the first fish I landed on Friday. It was a nice female steelhead of about 10+ pounds. I think as I was going through my vest my foam bobber dropped and I picked it up and put it in my mouth. Sorry it looks really stupid...HEHE!! These are the fish that we travel to the UP for, look at the shiny side of the fish, this is called a chrome fish....fresh from the lake.

My fishing buddy Rick was not used to my camera and probably not good with any camera so he missed most of me and the fish. I put this picture in to show that the fish a nice female was bleeding alot so instead of releasing her I kept the fish. It will BBQ very nicely and will be eaten on Sunday afternoon.

This is the second steelie that I landed on friday. I kept him in the net because it was easier to release. This was about a 12 pound female that was full of spawn.

Chisholm Prom 2009

The 2009 prom came off without a hitch and tho the numbers were small this year, the kids had alot of fun. There were many times during the night when almost all the couples were dancing at once. It was a great group!! Mrs. LaCoe did suvive but she is complaining of alot of aches and pains after the teardown of the decorations and getting home at 3AM on her Birthday! It was a loooooong weekend!

It was a great success,

Steelheader

The punch table mural.

The photo arches with the reflecting pool.

Noni's chandelier.

The arches from the dance floor.

The punch table.

A recycled mural on the table wall.

Looking acrooss the gym at the picture arches and reflecting pool in front of it.

The Greek Parthenon, or our creation of it.

The entrance and the punch table.

This a picture for you Gabby, you probably won't see Poppy dressed like this anytime soon. Sometimes Noni dresses me funny.

Noni's second floor buds at school, and very welcome prom supervisors.

Gabby here's a picture for you. Look at the footwear on the girl in the black dress. Noni says this is not acceptable prom footwear, please make a note for future reference.

Prom participants.

The creative genius of the prom gets a hug from the prom crasher.

A little mosh pit action on the dance floor......I think that's what they call it.

Noni showing how much she like her picture taken, or maybe she's trying to scare her students. I don't think they believe her when she tells them she's crazy!!

Noni and Poppy did get in one good dance.....a special birthday dance!

Mrs. Gentilini getting a group hug/dance, Mrs. Tomzak looks to be enjoying the action.