Welcome to Horning's Hideout
I tagged along on my son’s Cub Scout troop’s fishing trip yesterday. We went to a beautiful place in North Plains (Oregon, where I live) called Horning’s Hideout. There were the two troop leaders, myself and 11 Cub Scouts.
Horning’s Hideout is a beautiful place about 25 minutes or so from Portland. They specialize is outdoor weddings and have a couple of ponds for fishing, camping areas, paddle boats, Frisbee golf…all kinds of fun outdoor things to keep folks busy. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any decent pictures of the many pretty peacocks on the grounds. Every time one of them would get close enough for a decent shot, my dog would try to get at them, so I had my hands full! I did get a pretty picture of this butterfly, though.
Butterfly on Rhododendron
Two of the boys (brothers) had brought their own fishing poles and tackle boxes. One of them wanted to use his stuff, the other chose to use the gear provided by Horning’s. All the boys who used the rods and bait provided caught fish within minutes of tossing in their line. Seriously, half the boys had already caught their quota (one whole trout!…each!…woohoo!) before the other half even got bait on their hooks. The boys who wanted to use the fake, neon green “worms” out of the personal tackle box had absolutely no luck. We waited and recasted and recasted…no bites at all. Finally, even though they didn’t want to hurt the wiggly little wormies, we convinced them to use the live bait. Minutes later, their fish had been caught, too. It was a wild 30 minutes of lines flying, hooks being baited, fish flopping on the dock and much, much, squealing, yelling and shouting. There were only a few hook mishaps and tangled lines – not bad considering the pace the fish were flying out of the water! Those red hook-puller things did a great job of getting those hooks out of the fish. I don’t remember
Nico tied up on the dock
having those when I was a kid. Very handy!
I had to tie Nico up on the dock so I could help the boys. She didn’t like that very much and cried until some of the boys went over and played with her. She’s such a baby!
Before we knew it, it was time to head back up the hill and clean our fish. The boys were pretty much horrified, as was the one leader who had never been fishing before. I like fishing and gutting the fish doesn’t bother me at all, but it’s not my favorite thing to do, especially with the number of fish that needed cleaning. Luckily, our hostess at Horning’s came to help! She was terrific and tried to get the boys interested in the fish insides. She pointed out their “parts” like liver, gullet, lungs…I think our
How to Clean a Fish
inexperienced leader almost threw-up at that point! They did have this helpful sign with instructions posted near the cleaning stations. I thought they were pretty funny. I was
Gus holding his big catch
surprised the Scouts were so standoffish when it came to holding onto their fish. They all thought they were too slimy. One boy told me he wouldn’t eat “that kind of fish.” He only ate the kind from the grocery store. It’s odd how out of touch they are with where their food comes from! I hope the rest of the families enjoyed eating their son’s catches as much as we did (well, when I say “we” I mean Philip and I…Gus had a couple of bites Ruby might’ve tasted it, but that was it!).
It was a pretty exhausting couple of hours. Those boys are full of energy, let me tell you! I was really glad I got to join them on the trip. I spend so much time with the Girl Scouts, I was afraid my son was going to think I didn’t want to hang out with the Boy Scouts. I am so lucky to be my own boss and have the flexibility to be able to take time to do these things!
Suzi Beech and Family 