Last weekend we went trout fishing at Backbone State Park. 
Neither one of us had ever been trout fishing before. We discovered beautiful creeks running with pristine waters, filled with speckled and rainbow and brown trout that danced about the waters like children playing in the park. Even greater blessings came when we met two young men who knew how to catch and prepare trout. They were named Brian and Ryan. Nice guys. One was from Iowa City and the other from Cedar Rapids; friends just hanging out for the day. They were a Godsend to our mini-adventure ad they imparted vast fly fishing and trout fishing knowledge into our lives. We love learning new skills and insights. They were just delightful young men.
As for the trout; You could see them clearly and just watch, as I did, or you could drop in a fly or worm and tempt them. Many just examined and teased. Some sacrificed themselves so we could be fed a luscious trout dinner. I had never eaten trout before so that too was taste sensation. It is so mild and easy to prepare and to eat.
The trout is a fish with skin, not scales. We simply gutted them and removed the heads. Then we placed fresh lemon slices inside the cavity, sprinkled with lemon pepper. After adding a big dab of butter we rolled the beautiful fish in aluminum foil and placed them near the fire. Within 15 minutes we were relishing with the delight the mild, flakes of flavorful fish. The skin slipped back with a slide of the fork. The meat peeled gently from the bones with gentle touch from the tines of our forks and we savored every bite.
The Backbone trout streams are stocked three times a week until October. It was a total delight to spend the day in such a magnificent place and to be with such wonderful. Backbone also has cabins to rent, though we spent the night friday night at the Strawberry Motel in Strawberry Point. It was delightful too, because of the wonderful people running it. Bonnie will take good care of you, but when they say it only has room for 4, believe them! Its literal unless you want to stand up while sleeping! HA! The cabins and the Strawberry Motel both rent starting at $50 a night.
Backbone has a lake, trout streams, paddle boats, canoes, kayaks, row boats and swimming beat. It is all beautiful. It appears there are no large motor boats, though I didn't see any motor boats. There is camping and many picnic areas.
It was a delightful day I would recommend for anyone who has the incling to spend the day with God, friends, and nature.
1 comment:
How cool is THAT??? Tom took the kiddos to BSP two weekends ago for a short hike. Mama, having been sick far too long, stayed home and cleaned a bit.
Haven't had trout in years - thanks for the sharing the memories!
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