Conconully 2011 –
Trip Report
This
was another good year at Conconully, as we risked our lives to be able to feed
our families. Well,……maybe
the Deadliest Catch crew doesn’t have
to worry too much about being replaced by us.
Stats:
-
June
2 – June 6, 2011
-
Weather:
Almost perfect. Warm and sunny with
little overcast. 70-80 degrees.
-
Attendees:
Chief, Dave, LeeRoy, Jimmy Jo-Jo, Brian, Ben, Zac, Fritz, Peter, Brenton, and Mark.
-
Location:
Conconully Resort, cabins 1and 2 (four nights) and 4 (two nights)
-
Number
of water skiers: 0 (sorry Critter, couldn’t help myself)
-
Fishing:
very good
This year was the second latest opening of
Hwy 20 – it opened only a week before our trip.
We
had the luck of leaving home in the rain, and then having the rain restart the
day after our return, but with a beautiful sunny respite while in Conconully.
Of
course everyone had to stop at Loup-Loup for the traditional first beer, and we
had to make sure that Fritz (the “big unit”) hadn’t shrunk too much.
Conconully
was as scenic as ever, still a fair amount of snow up higher in places.
Soon
we had our boats in the water. Between
the three of them shown, it looks like an advertisement for Lund.
The
deck at cabin one was usually busy since everyone at the dock needed advice. We do our best to help others.
Seeing
Jimmy in the front of this shot reminds me that we also learned that he has
been hiding his true name from us all these years. When the waitress at the Sit-N-Bull asked
what his name was, he informed her that it was “Jo-Jo.”
The
parking lot also got used for conversation.
The
Sit-N-Bull was a gathering place, too.
I
think the Chief might be enjoying the trip.
One
day, some of us took a trip to find some crawdads, but instead found this
turtle. We had to restrain Fritz from
grabbing it and eating it. He said that
they taste as good as gizzards.
But,
we really came to fish. And it was a
good year for fishing.
Dave
did a great job of keeping his smoker going, and we all came home with some
delicious smoked trout (and even a couple of nice smoked Kokanee).
Even
the “little” fish in this picture are about 11-12” long. Big trout in general this
year.
Brenton
joined us for the first time, and appears to be enjoying things with Zac.
We
had an injury this year when the Chief’s knife viciously attacked him while he
was cleaning a fish. Fortunately we had medical
supplies and a skilled surgical team to dress it.
And
the Chief found some aspirin (or equivalent) pain-killer.
His
medicine was some “apple pie” that he made.
It was very popular and the large quantity we started with all
disappeared. The guys also ran the
Sit-N-Bull completely out of Kokanee beer.
No wonder the locals like it when this crew shows up every year. Matter of fact, Kevin was even actually
pretty friendly this year, and the cabins were a little cleaner than
normal. Maybe the mouse we saw running
through the kitchen of cabin two had a mop.
The
younger generation (a.k.a. “the kids” who are now about
30 and up) were somehow even able to fish alone at times without the wise
advice of us older guys. Here’s Zac,
Brenton, Peter and Ben.
This
is a Zac photo of their outing. The
“kids” got here late Friday night, then partied. I was amazed to see Peter wander into our
cabin at 5:30 the next morning, ready to fish.
But
we were nearby in case they needed us.
And
we visited Double-Ds (or is it Lucky-Ds?) for some of our meals.
It’s
a good thing that the Chief’s injury was on his left hand so he could still
hold a beer.
The
boats were all pretty reliable this year, although LeeRoy’s decided it didn’t
want to fire up one day. He’s busy
reciting a sermon while he tries to start it.
At least I heard some words that would be common at a sermon, but maybe
in a different order.
Who
was the winning fisherman? The prize
went to Mark, with a nice fat 15.75” trout.
And
Ben, as last year’s winner, came through with a terrific award that he made.
In
this rare shot, nobody is holding a beer.
Go figure.
This
shot is less rare.
Fortunately,
LeeRoy was usually readily available for advice.
While
we were there, a celebration was going on for Kevin’s son.
Some
of the attendees of Cole’s celebration were scattered around the next morning.
Here’s
an early morning shot of the beautiful scenery, along with Brenton and me (Zac
photo).
Unfortunately, time came to leave for the
year.
But
we’ll be back next year! Good times and
good friends.
Cheers,
Brian