Flathead provides a family-friendly Fourth of July

It is hard to beat a long Fourth of July week in the Flathead! Long, warm, sunny days, no rain and refreshingly cool nights made outdoor recreation a real pleasure. With endless beautiful mountains for hiking, streams for fishing and lakes for water sports, it’s easy to see why many geographers feel Western Montana is an ideal location for summer vacations.

 This past Fourth of July week our family gathered at our lake cabin on Crystal and Lavon lakes near Happy's Inn. As is normal for this time of year, the focal point for most of our outdoor activities was our dock. This is where lake fun begins in the fishing boat, canoe, paddle boat, kayak and float tubes.

This year we had a new addition to our fleet, a kayak. This was an immediate hit, especially with the granddaughters, Sarah and Katie. Instantly, the kayak became their personal preference watercraft. Kayaks are lightweight and easy to paddle. I can see that grandpa will have to purchase another kayak or two for the next family reunion later this summer.

Our grandson, Kellan, age 15, preferred the speed and challenge of a wakeboard towed behind grandpa's new boat. His goal was to get some “air” time. All the kids loved being towed on oversized float tubes. Grandpa and grandma's job was to run the boat, attempting to dump the kids by maneuvering the tubes into rough waves at high speeds, dumping the kids as they screamed and squealed with delight.

One of my favorite times was fishing during the quiet, cool, calm of early mornings on the lake when the party-time folks were still sleeping. This was rewarding father-and-son time with my son Mike. For many years our lake produced great rainbow and kokanee fishing. Then Fish, Wildlife and Parks started an experiment with a native rainbow trout instead of the time-proven, non-native Arlee strain of rainbow. The result has been years of poor fishing. After listening to fishermen complaints, Fish, Wildlife and Parks seems to be reverting to time-proven stocking.

So, last week our fishing was improved. We caught several fish per hour and rainbows up to 22 inches and kokanee to 15 inches. The fish were in deep water, mostly at the 20 to 24-foot depth. We used leaded core line, having our best success with four colors out and long leaders. We caught fish on a variety of lures but our best success was with small green Triple-teasers.

The younger kids enjoyed catching perch and sunfish off the dock. Some of those small fish were used for bait in the crayfish trap. The girls loved running down to the dock in the morning to see how many crayfish were caught overnight. All the kids, including the 45-year-old kids, enjoyed a rope swing that allowed them to swing over the lake and drop into deep water. Lots of fun! Lots of time was spent swimming and floating on tubes. Anyone on a tube seemed to be fair game for a dunking.  

As with most nights around the Fourth, late evenings were filled with loud and colorful fireworks displays. I can't discuss our week without paying tribute to our wives who prepared endless meals. While we were super-active on the lake, no one lost any weight. Our family gathering was enhanced by having several friends stopping by for a visit.

How much does our family enjoy our cabin? Perhaps the best indication is one of our sons began negotiating for his own lake property. So it seems summertime at the lake will continue as part of our family culture. God bless the U.S.A.!

I hope your Fourth of July week was as enjoyable as ours. Western Montana provides endless opportunities for summertime recreation. Enjoy!