Summer Recap 1st Edition: The Summer of Catfishing

I asked my blog-friends-turned-real-life-friends Kailey and Brianna if it was dumb to recap my summer even if these things happened like, last month and they told me no. So, I'm gonna go ahead and proceed to recap summer stuff that I never got onto le blog cause they said it was OK. And I need validation by my friends in order to do things. Not really, but kind of. And plus, I just kind of feel like fall can't officially start until summer has been officially blogged. Cause you know, the world revolves around my blog and stuff.

Anyway, I've posted a couple times this summer about catfishing (like, here and here) and I kind of feel like it was indeed the "summer of the catfish."

We made our way out to Bartlett Lake often this summer, even more so Nate than I, in an effort to catch a big 'ol catfish. At least that was my goal. I never succeeded, but I got pretty close. Nate succeeded a bunch of times cause that's just how he rolls I guess. Nate's good at everything and I don't understand it.

He kicks my ass in everything. Except college degrees. I have a leg on up on him in that department. But everything else he beats me in and I have to figure out a way to reverse that trend. Catfishing certainly isn't going to be it.

The last time we went out I got a huuuuuge fish on my line but couldn't reel him in in before he snapped the line. He was that big. And that's not an old fisherman's tale...he was huge. He was so heavy I could barely crank the reel; but good news - at least now I know I can hold onto the rod.

That was one of my fears; if a fish got on the line and it started fighting would he rip the rod right out of my hands??? Nate said if I was that weak and he lost a good fishing pole cause I couldn't hang onto it, he couldn't be married to me anymore. So you know, that's a relief and stuff.

But no matter if I got a fish or not, catfishing was fun this year. It was fun to catch bait fish (Blue Gill), drink wine/beer/anything anyone brought, swim, and hang out while waiting for your bell to ring on your pole signaling you had something on your line. Most of all it was fun to sleep on just your cot, under the stars. No tent, no nothing. That was on my bucket list for this summer and we made it happen, and it was just as awesome as I though it would be....minus the bugs and stuff in the morning, which were terrriblllleeee...but I wasn't gonna let that ruin things.

Bartlett Lake was good to us this summer. It was hot, and it was fun, and it was full of bugs, but it was also full of catfish...

...which worked out nicely for Nathan, and not so much for me. But it's whatevs.

On your way into Bartlett Lake there's a turn-off for Horseshoe Lake, which Nate, nor I have ever taken, and on our way home last time we decided to take a detour and see what Horseshoe Lake was all about.

Turns out it wasn't a lake at all. It had been drained recently and left us with this:

I love Arizona because of all the places that surprise you...like Horseshoe Lake for example. It's crazy to think this is all underwater usually. It's green, and includes river, and mountains, and it's gorgeous; and as a native Arizonan, Arizona never ceases to amaze me.

All ye who think Arizona is nothing but desert is gravely mistaken.
...That was my Pirates-of-the-Caribbean warrning of sorts.

Anyway, I asked Nate today, "Is catfishing season over?" and he said no. So maybe, with any luck, we'll head back out to Bartlett this fall and maybe just maybe I'll catch myself a big 'ol catfish after all.