Ririe Scoutcamp&Icefishing

[windriver]

I went on my second annual Ririe Res campout with my venture scouts this weekend. I have to say it was one of the most memorable and just overall perfect camping icefishing experiences that I have ever had.

Friday night we loaded up the trucks and headed to Ririe after stopping for bait and last minute items we forgot we arrived at about 5:30 P.M. Then we started the long trek across the lake to our camping area.


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When we arrived at our spot it took us quite a while to set up the tents, camp etc... and prepare for the night. It was after dark when we started the fire and prepared our tinfoil dinners. After we ate our tinfoil dinners we made a dutchoven cobler that was awesome. While we waited for it to cook we went on a little night hike and looked at tracks in the snow.

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The scouts went to bed about 10:00P.M. The leaders drilled holes in the clam command post (leaders tent) and fished until 1:00 in the morning while sitting on our cots. The fishing was not fast but we ended up catching 2 Kokes, 2 cutts, and a sucker before we called it a night.

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I got up at 6:30 and proceeded to drill 20 holes so that the scouts could get in on the early morning bite. The fish started biting fast and furious at about 8:00AM. They never really let up. We had 10 scouts and leaders in our group. Some came in the morning and some had to leave for work or other commitments before we left, but every one limited out on Kokanee and trout. The Kokanee were absolutely amazing today. They hung around for literally hours. After we limited out and we were trying to concentrate on the perch they actually became annoying. We could not get our jigs down to the perch no matter how much they tried. That being said we ended up catching 26 nice perch as well.

Here is a picture of some of the fish. We took this picture early because some of the boys had to leave. Some of these fish belonged to the leaders who are not pictured.


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At about noon we filled the perch for lunch along with a couple Kokes and fried them in the dutchoven.

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After lunch we broke camp with each boy and leader having caught an enormous amount of fish and more importantly enjoyed a really wonderful time together.

As we loaded our sleds we realized that we had a major problem. Some of our scouts had gone home early and we still had to get all the sleds and gear to the car. This is when a nearby fisherman offered to pull our sleds with his four wheeler. He did this without being asked and I would like to thank you for your kindness if you read this forum. This simple act of generosity made a perfect campout a miracle.[angelic]

[inline "Kindness of Strangers.jpg"] we As we walked up the ramp we were greeted by the Idaho Fish and Game who gave the scouts a civics lesson by checking their licenses. It was no problem since they were all legal. (No Picture).[cool]

As we loaded the truck for home the Ririe Bald Eagle made an appearance soaring above the reservoir as if to wave goodbye. ( I forgot to take a picture)[crazy]

I can't wait to have some Kokanee candy when our catch comes out of the smoker.

Windriver
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[jigs]

well i would say you have made life long fisherman out of 10 young men.

thanks for sharing man i cant wait for my little girl to get old enough to take fishing
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[kentd71]

I should try that with my varsity scouts. Great post . I am going to try and be there on monday.
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[fishingiscool]

It looks like you had fun and you got more meat off those perch than I can (I need to find someone to give me a demo on how to fillet a perch). I tried to take my varsity scouts to palies earlier this year but only one of the four showed up, I did get him hooked on ice fishing though I guess catching twenty plus Kokanee in three hours cant hurt
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[maghunter]

The first time I went ice fishing was with the scouts up to Palies. We did some night fishing as well and I will never forget that campout. Glad to hear you caught some Kokes at night. I've been wondering if its possible, I will have to give it a try this winter. There is something magical about ice fishing at night, not to mention no crowds.

I took my 4 year old daughter out to Roberts so she could finally pull some fish out of the ice. She had a blast, caught more perch than I could count and a small trout. I can't believe the number of perch in that pond.
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[dublmmz]

Excellent post and the pictures tell the story. Those kids will have a memory that should last forever.

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[Belasko]

Great report. Loved the pictures interspersed throughout. I can't wait until my boy is old enough for scouting so I can get in on some of those camp outings again! Glad you guys had such a great trip.
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[Playas44]

Great report.

I loved the part about fishing from the cot at night. Now that is dedication.
I told my wife, Now there is someone worse than me about ice fishing.
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[DeeCee]

[] Just awesome windriver! That was a trip to remember for all involved. My dad once told me that if you take a boy fishing he's more likely to stay out of trouble, and I agree. My first four were girls and even today as adults and married, they still like to go camping and fishing.

My youngest girl was the only one who was willing to go ice fishing. Many years ago on Mackay she caught two kokanee on one line and one hook. She lassoed (sp?)
one with a loop around the head and hooked the other on a jig on the terminal end at the same time. We still laugh about that one to this day. On another occasion I took my oldest daughter who was about 14 at the time, up to Copper Basin during the summer to find a good camping spot for some scouts a few days later. While there we broke out the spinning rods and fished for some brookies in a smaller stream. My daughter cast out in a plunge pool and started to reel in her bait. She got a bite or so she thought but said it didn't feel quite right. When she got the fish in, we were both surprised at what we saw. She had hooked the fish exactly, and I mean exactly in the butt hole. Perhaps needless to say, I have never seen stunts like these since and probably never will again. A couple of summers ago my father, son, second oldest daughter and her husband and myself went fishing up to Mackay. My daughter outfished every one of us and she later told me it was really sweet beating her husband at something since he always won every competition she and her husand competed in against each other. She is quite competative. My son now is my fishing partner at 18 yeas of age and an eagle scout too. My dad was right, take a boy fishing and he's liable to stay out of trouble. He loves to fish year round and hunt too. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories windriver.

DeeCee

I ice fish not because I like the cold but because it is the only time I can impress my wife, by walking on water.
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