My kind of conservationism

 Matt and I spent another day with our Hiawatha peeps today. They were doing a stream restoration project. Matt really wanted to help but due to the chainsaws and giant nail gun Ray suggested we help with lunch. This was a perfect idea. We showed up at 11:45 and grilled brats and dogs for all the guys helping. I loved making lunch and getting everything ready. We also cleaned up everything after they were done. 

 I was voted the new cook of Hiawatha. I would rather cook any day than run a chainsaw.

 Matt used the lunch break to show everyone the flies he has been tying. 

 I love this picture with the bunkers in the background.

These are the bunkers they are building. These are seriously impressive. They build these boxes and they  bury them on the sides of the banks. They put large rocks over them and it creates a cave for the fish to hide in. These become natural nesting grounds and the fish population grows...as well as the size of the fish. 

Matthew was talking this guy's ear off about how badly he wanted to fish the stream they were working on. 

I believe strongly in conservation. I think what Matthew is seeing is something that will make a real difference in the streams he will fish in years to come. He does not even realize it but what he did today(although, it was a small part of the day) will make a big difference for the fishing he will do at this stream someday. I was very proud to be a part of it. 

Tick Reservoir

 Fishing fever hit our house pretty hard on Sunday...well to be fair it hit Saturday.

 Knowing our pond was still a little under the weather for fishing we decided to give the Reservoir a try.

I warned the boys that the ticks were in season. They called me crazy. There are no ticks in Minnesota in March!

 Matthew's first fish was a BASS! His first on a fly rod. This made his day.

 He gave it a good study before throwing it back.

 Yep, he has become quite the little fisherman.

 Like his safety glasses? Ha! Mike rolled his eyes when he saw the pair I grabbed. 

 The boys caught 21 fish between the two of them in a little over an hour. 

 Oh, and four ticks! I caught 3 of those. I guess laying down in the tall grass during tick season is a bad idea. You have to do what you have to do to get the shot.

Here is a short little video of him catching his first Bass on a fly rod. It was kind of the back end of the catch. I was setting up my camera to video him and before I could finish he had caught a fish. 

The Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo

 It seems I signed away my Saturdays, the day I walked into Gander Mountain a few weeks ago. Now I may sound like I am complaining, but the fact is that I have enjoyed it as much as Matthew. It has been really fun exposing him to this secret world that he thought only he and Mike were a part of here in Rochester. 

This past Saturday we took a family adventure up to Blaine Minnesota, for a fly fishing expo. It was a wonderful day together.

 This is Dave. He is a really really...really good fly tier. He is one of the regulars that we got to know at Gander on Saturday. He also is a left handed tier. He catches a little flack for that from the other guys. But, catch any one of them without Dave  and they will tell you that he is the best there is when in comes to tying flies. 

Matthew was in awe of this guy's flies. These are used for Northern Pike and Muskies. Some day Matt and Mike will get to fish for them and we will for sure buy a few of his flies. 

 Then there was Tyler...

Tyler is a 14 year old celebrity in the fly fishing world. He has been fly fishing pretty much his whole life. Matthew was totally inspired by him. He has traveled the world to fly fish already. 

 Matthew took a"into to fly fishing" class in the morning. This class had a "passport" that required a few lessons and signatures in order to win a new rod and reel. There were 8 sets being given away and only 9 kids...pretty good odds right? Well of course someone donated another set to make it  a sure thing.

One of the required signatures was for a fly casting lesson...

No sweat for Matt...

 Mike on the other hand had a really hard time with this.

I actually had to pull him back and tell him to stop micro managing the teacher!!!

He laughed and said..."Yeah, I guess you are right but this is the one thing I know REALLY well" Um...I want to remind you Mr. Willits that you do a lot of things really well. The best of them is being a father. 

 I think Matthew's instructor was a bit surprised by his talented 10 year old student. 

 This little young one was getting a lesson next to Matt. He was tiny! It was cute to see them getting him started.

 Then there was Jim...

Old school fly tier. 

I wish I would have asked where he was from. He and Mike talked for a bit about Montana fishing.

He taught Matthew how to tie two different flies. 

I liked Jim...

Jim was Montana before people knew Montana existed, I bet. 

This is my favorite picture of the day by the way.

 Then there was the live bugs and aquatic insects exhibit.

Yes, I love bugs...

Don't ask me why but I think bugs are fascinating.

Any guesses to what this is???

I would have never guessed.

It is a dragonfly right before it gets it's wings.

Why oh why has Disney not touched this story! 

A butterfly can't hold a candle to this ugly thing. It goes from a big black ugly bug to a dragonfly! 

I am guessing that big black case holds it's beautiful shinny wings.

Mr. Bug...you have something magical coming your way.

 and more bugs...

 Okay, I wish this picture was better but I don't have a macro lens now. These bugs were so amazing. These are Mayfly larva. They look like mermaids when they swim and they have soft feather looking limbs that flutter when they swim. Totally beautiful. I could have watched them all day.

 Look a husband for Vicious! Yes, we still have our pet crayfish. 

 This was a live habitat type tank. It was pretty cool.

This was Matthew with Tyler. The last class we went to was Tyler talking about the world of fly fishing for youth. He was a great speaker. I think Matthew's eyes looked like this the whole time. Tyler had so many pictures of the record breaking fish he had caught over the years. He holds a few records for biggest fish. 

I am so thankful that this would be who Matthew chooses to look up to. 

We got up at 7:30 and headed out the door to drive all the way up to Blaine. We were so busy during the day that we did not have time to eat. Matthew seriously did not want to leave. He loved every single second of the day. It is amazing to me that we were there for 8 hours and it felt like 2. I am kicking myself that I did not get a picture of the Hiawatha booth(our home peeps) It was fun introducing Mike to them. They had started to think that I was making him up. There is nothing better than taking them both to something they totally enjoy. There has to be a part of Mike's soul that is getting fed being back around fly fishermen. I know there is not a day that goes by that Mike does not think about his grandpa. He was such an important part of his life. It is wonderful to give him a day when he can not just think about him but remember him as if he were there. I know I had a few of those moments so I am sure Mike had many. 

Clair, you would be so proud of Matthew's cast. It is amazing for a 10 year old. Oh course, he was taught by the best. 

FYI: this pizza is from Black Sheep Pizza downtown St.Paul

I was incredibly impressed. It was the best crust I have ever had, and I know my pizza.

After a day like that the boys had fishing fever. They got the rods out today and we headed over to Tick reservoir. I named it that after finding over 10 ticks on my pant leg the first time they fished there. 

Today was no exception. I found 3 ticks on me(2 already impeded0 and Matthew found one crawling on him. 

I did however, get some really good shots of the boys catching fish. I will post them for you soon.

I just want to say...

Love you Grandma Dot:-)

All this fly fishing in my life has made me miss you even more. 

We can't think of Clair without thinking of you.

My date with Matt

Last Saturday Matt and I went to a Fly Fisherman's banquet. This was to raise money for the Hiawatha Trout Unlimited Chapter. aka...Matt's new peeps. 

 I have to admit that I did not take many photos. In fact I think I only took about 15. That is really low for me but I was just having fun being there. 

 Matt made the rounds of the raffle items dozens of times.

 He used his raffle tickets in the Rod raffle.

 He used his money to win this rod holder in the silent auction. Hopefully when he is older he can display his rods with it. For now they are all too fragile to be out in it. 

 Matthew was pretty much adopted by the members of Hiawatha TU. They helped him win prizes all night long. 

Oh, they also put him to work! That is Matt drawing raffle tickets out of the buckets. He and his new pal Randy Brock were paired up all night. They really put Matt to work. He loved ever minute of it. 

Oh, I have to say that one of the waiters noticed Matthew had not touched his meal. He was actually too excited to eat. However, he brought him over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...and an extra piece of cheesecake. I was so thankful for his extra kindness. 

It was a very fun night for both of us. I think Matthew is about to be one of the youngest members of the Hiawatha Trout Unlimited group!