Pelican Lake

You may be asking yourself, "Where is Pelican Lake?" Well, after having been there I don't know that I can answer that much better except to say that it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. In this case, the middle of nowhere turns out to be 20 some odd miles from Vernal and Roosevelt. This weekend I made the trek out with Heidi's family for their annual fishing excursion.

Ok, let's set the scene. I have only been "fishing" maybe a handful of times...all of them at or before about age 8. I have a strong memory of a fishing trip I took with my Grandpa and Grandma Wilson when I was 5. I remember my grandpa heading off downstream in his waders. I also remember me screaming and scrambling away up a hill when my grandma actually pulled a fish out of the water. When I was about 8 my Grandpa Bea was visiting me from Florida and took me fishing at some trout farm near Ogden. My strongest memory of that experience was getting the hook stuck in one of my fingers and being too afraid to tell my grandpa because I didn't want to look stupid.

So with that wealth of experience behind me, I purchased my first official fishing license at Wal-Mart and headed out with the fishing pole Heidi had given me as a gift a few months ago. Oh, and lest I forget, my special fishing hat that you will see in the pictures. We got out to Pelican pretty late on Friday night and basically only had time to set up our tent and get settled a bit before heading to bed. Hurley had an interesting night as it was his first camping experience and I don't think he was a big fan of the whole tent idea.

In the morning we loaded up the boat (complete with Hurley in his life vest) and headed out. We spent about 4 hours or so out on the lake but it didn't seem like that long. I really enjoyed being out on the water in the boat and I must admit I actually liked the act of fishing. I say the act, because I certainly have no desire to touch the fish--or have them touch me for that matter. Nor do I have any desire to eat said fish. In fact, I was actually quite traumatized to see that I could be the cause of an animal dying so I was very happy to practice the catch and release method. I know, I'm a total wuss!

Not very far into the morning I heard a snap and watched as the top part of my fishing pole broke off. I'm not sure what exactly happened but I think it may have had something to do with it being a telescopic pole. Or maybe that I have no idea what I'm doing?! Fortunately there were some extra poles so I was able to continue fishing. Shortly after that problem I reeled in my first catch of the day. I was quite pleased that I actually caught something as I feared I would be the only one to come up empty handed.



The rest of the morning was spent alternating between dragging in lake reeds and catching a few fish here and there. I cast out and thought I had hit a big snag of reeds so I kept pulling and pulling trying to get my hook and lure free when lo and behold we discovered that I was actually reeling in a fish. And a big one at that!! Call it beginner's luck, but I had the biggest catch of the morning! Heidi was really encouraging me to take some "trophy" shots with it, but as previously mentioned I do NOT like touching fish. The solution was to double glove with some surgical gloves and try to smile for the camera while secretly freaking out about holding the fish. But I was happy to let my little friend "Billy" (as named by Heidi's soon-to-be sister-in-law) back into his watery habitat.

Hurley had his first chance to try "swimming" in his life jacket. He really looked cute doing his best doggie paddle next to the boat. We dunked him a couple of other times to try to keep him cool. Pelican Lake is freaking HOT!! As in--located in a desert complete with lizards and scorpions--hot.



We spent the rest of the afternoon at the campsite trying to find shade (a rare commodity in the area) and packing up while the afternoon fishing group headed out on the lake. It was soooooo hot and I was very happy when the time came for us to load up and head home. It was a long trip there and back for a few short hours of fishing, but enjoyable nonetheless. And before I forget, I really do have to thank Heidi for being patient with my fish issues and helping me free all of my catches from the hook so they could be released. Here is a slide show with some pictures for your enjoyment: