Another year has come and gone and fishing is next on the list of campouts. This campout is a good time to let the new scouts in the troop earn their fishing merit badge if they don’t already have it. We packed up and convoyed to Parker Canyon Lake, our preferred fishing destination. Last year we had three new scouts that got a chance to fish and earn their merit badge at the same time. This year hoped to be abo0ut the same.
Unfortunately, this year the weather turned out to be a bit of a challenge. We got to the camp site Friday evening looking forward to a fun day in the sun and reeling in a big catch for the Saturday night camp fire feast. Saturday morning started out looking good as the scouts prepared breakfast, but by afternoon the winds descended upon us. The temperature dropped and the wind blew at 20 – 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 40. Maybe in hindsight, we looked up the weather forecast and noted that not only was it going to windy on Saturday and Sunday, but it was also expected to be a rainy night and the following
As sometimes happens during a fishing trip, our day turned out to be more casting and watching then casting and reeling in. There were a few people at the lake catching fish, but they weren’t in our party.
We tried a different fishing spot after lunch and wound up catching only two fish for the days effort. As part of the merit badge requirements, the angler has to demonstrate his ability to clean his own fish properly. Once the prep work was done, the fish were cooked and served. It turned out to be somewhat of a struggle cleaning and cooking in the wind. Since the wind was so bad, we couldn’t even have a camp fire to cook over so the boys resorted to cooking from a shielded cooking stove.
By early evening the weather had turned the day into a fighting mess. The winds remained steady straining the tents and knocking over at least one, and the threat of rain on top of the wind drove the idea of calling an end to the campout. The scouts voted to pack up and head home after dinner.
As Always, Be Prepared.
