Mother's Day afternoon at the Ponds

[Paul Roberts]

Every Mother's Day we take a wander around "The Ponds" -an old gravel quarry made into a public park, with 20 or so ponds to play around in. We bring mud boots, binoculars, dip-nets, fishing rods, a picnic lunch, and this year, our two new border collie pups -talk about a handful those two!

A couple of days ago I followed up on one pond that had winter-killed 3 years ago, and found it full of reasonable sized bass (12"-15") --the boom following the bust. We headed there to see if my son could catch one. He's not a die-hard angler, more interested in dip-netting and exploring than casting, and it didn't take him long to wade in over his mudders -thigh deep -but he caught that tadpole ;D. I put a super-shallow crank on his spin-cast rig and he got to business:

Whap! "Papa...I think I need help..."

"Nah, you can do it. Just keep crankin'."

Mother's (and babies) were everywhere it seemed. It's a wonderful time of year:

The pups were finally wiped out. Wish that had happened while we were fishing. :

[b.Lee]

That seems like a perfect day to me! I love your dogs also!

[Rand]

Great post as usual Paul. Time spent with family is invaluable. Great looking pups too.

Rand

[Dwight Hottle]

Sounds & looks like everyone had a great day, Paul.

[brushhoggin]

awesome pics. i went fishing last weekend and spotted a red fox sniffing around in the woods with sun rays creeping through the shade, flowers and a mother duck with her babies trucking along the bank in case they needed a quick get away into the water.  i hated myself for not having a proper camera.

[Paul Roberts]

Bring the proper camera and nothing will happen ;D. That's why we so often hear -"sorry about the crappy cell phone pix". You really have to have one with you all the time, and bother to use it.

I've been a devout grouse hunter, and I used say "Wish I had my shotgun," on days when I was flushing lotsa grouse while just hiking around or fishing. but I came to realize that having the shotgun along doesn't mean you are gonna actually get the shot. Our mind's are quicker than the hand. And in photography, our eyes compose all sorts of glorious things that're tough to capture "on film". Digital has revolutionized photography in that the camera's are tiny, have high resolution, and I can go home and make something decent out of most photos. The ducks, geese and baby rabbit above were all too far for the lens, but snip-snap in Photoshop and I have something decent.

Now if only I could make hitting grouse that easy.

[RoLo]

Great pix Paul, they sure tell the story.

Now if only I could make hitting grouse that easy.

If you're referring to ruffed grouse, I wholeheartedly agree (my nemisis)

Roger

[Paul Roberts]

Great pix Paul, they sure tell the story.

Now if only I could make hitting grouse that easy.

If you're referring to ruffed grouse, I wholeheartedly agree (my nemisis)

Roger

I am. I now hunt dusky's here in CO, and make up the difference by using a bow. ;D

[Bass_Akwards]

Nice Paul!  I've been out of town for a week, and came back to Boulder winter. Got to fish on Monday for a couple hours and did pretty well but haven't fished since. Now I'm leaving again tomorrow for a week but might fish today if the weather is halfway descent.  Your post got me dying to get back out there.

Awesome dogs! I can't wait to get a new pup myself.  Had a 170 pound rotty that passed away last summer and I miss him dearly.

[L a r r y]

Fond memories and pictures to go along with it.  EXCELLENT POST PAPA!!!!

[Paul Roberts]

Hey Todd. Yeah winter just won't give in this year. I'm "up above" so I had about 10inches or so. Be happy you are in town. There is a spring at the end of my driveway that is running like never before -it sucked in the snowplow and then the garbage truck -both had to call in for assistance. I gave em zuchini bread while they waited lol.

Despite the weather, there's still fishin going on. Unless I see the ponds capped in ice, I'm still game. (I don't own an auger anymore). ;D

Let's get out one of these days. I'm sure we must be seeing each others boot tracks.

[A-Jay]

Nice post & pic's. Thank you for sharing that simple and special time. Love your puppies, they look fantastic ~ even when asleep.

A-Jay

[bassman31783]

Great post & pics as always Paul.  Looks like it was a fantastic day.

[Mrs. Matstone]

Great post and pics. Congrats on the awesome day!  ;D

[Catt]

Passing it down