The Winter Fishing Derby

Kelly left today for a weekend in Southern Idaho with his father and some of their friends.
It is an annual trip to take part in what they call the "Winter Fishing Derby".
Let me explain...

The "Derby" is a contest run by an Idaho fish farm.
The ordeal, as I understand it, goes something like this:

-The whole event is a contest to be the lucky fisherman to catch and submit the biggest fish. Being the one that catches the biggest fish makes you the "Winner" of the contest. The winner gets a $500 cash prize and a bunch of swag from the sponsors.
-Each participant pays a $25 entry fee to be a part of the fishing derby.
-Each participant also is charged $20 for a room. The "room" is really just a spot to sleep inside one of the 10 or so trailers that are located on the fish farm. As the trailers have been described to me, I picture them to be similar to the FEMA trailers that were used in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Kelly's group (6 of them) each paid $20 a peice for their spot inside their trailer.
-You bring your own food, or go out to eat. Meals are not provided.
-Now the interesting part! These dedicated and highly skilled groups of fishermen (and probably some women, too) now get to go out onto the BREEDING PONDS of this fish hatchery to try and catch the Big-One! These brave men and women must use their keenly developed fishing skills to try and outsmart these fish by trying to get them to bite on whatever bait their years of fishing knowedge tells them will be the most effective lure to snag a captive-bred and human-fed fish!

WOW! How proud can a mother be ?!?!?!

But, I confess...Last year, Kelly did have a lot of fun, and he came home with a couple of rather large rainbow trout to add to the collection of frozen fish already in my freezer.

So... I guess we'll see how this year goes.
Truly, there are MUCH worse things my 17-year-old son could be doing with his time!