Float the Bear

Will and I floated the river on Saturday in our pontoon boats. We had a blast! It was a beautiful day to float. It was my first time in a pontoon going down the river. I was a little bit nervous but was surprised how easy it was. We went on an easy section of the river, Riverdale to the West Oneida bridge, so we weren't going over rapids or anything. It was a good starter for me to get used to kicking with my fins and being able to navigate the boat. It was nice to be with my hubby on the river! Of course we packed a picnic lunch and ended up eating it along the way. We originally planned on pulling over to the bank to eat but there really weren't any good spots when we were hungry so we just grabbed our food out of our bags and ate as we floated. We brought the fly rods along and fished most of the time. We were wanting to catch a carp, as there are tons in the Bear River. We saw a lot and heard them "sucking" on the surface many times as we floated by. Will hooked into a carp, but it was only on his line for a brief minute or two when it got off. Wow the power of a carp! They are some strong, huge fish. We'll have to go again to try and catch carp.

Will's parents were kind enough to pick us and the boats up in their trailer, drop us off, and then pick us up after we were done floating. We don't have a truck right now so we have no way to transport the boats. We are grateful.



I hooked into a small mouth bass that fought pretty hard. Because of the spot we were in where we were seeing tons of carp, at first I thought it was a carp so I was letting him run a little bit but after a while I was thinking "either this is a baby carp or it must be a different fish". It was fun to bring it in. My first small mouth on a fly. And the fly I had on was a purple wooly bugger with a yellow tail, which later I found out was one of the first, if not THE first, flies Will ever tied in one of his fly tying classes he took while he lived in Pocatello! Little did he know that his future wife would use that fly to catch a bass!
I love being outside and doing stuff. I love fishing and doing things together with Will. It's so fun to learn new things! We are going on another float trip on the South Fork in a couple of weeks, this time with a guide. I'm glad we were able to do this little "practice" trip. I'm excited to go again in the pontoons!