Got out on the water a few times over the weekend with the kids. This was our annual 'lake house' trip we take every summer, so fishing isn't the primary activity - but I take the kiddos out for 15-20 minute shifts in the evening and they fish from the dock sporadically throughout the day. Mostly a small mouth show, but there was some perch and northern pike minnow mixed in there sporadically. The kids mostly threw spinnerbaits and crank baits, but we dabbled with the fly rod a few times.
Some of the highlights:
Wee man got his first smallie - he was STOKED!
This was my daughters favorite fish. She tried the "here fishy fishy" trick, and it worked. She now thinks any time you want to catch a fish you just have to say "here fishy fishy" out loud....
Got into a decent sized NPM, that was fun!
Highlight of the trip for me was the oldest catching his first walleye (deep crankbait). It put up a legit fight and he was pretty sure he had a world record fish on. He was so stoked, the photo doesn't do justice to how jacked he was, he was legit on cloud 9 the rest of the night. I may have created a walleye fisherman.....
Got out a few times in the AM by myself w/ the flyrod, had a hoot. Had the lake to myself in the mornings and the smallies were eager to take a fly - nothing in the bigger size class, but they were all great fighting and not shy about getting aerial. There were a few particular drop offs (from 10' down to 30') where the smallies would congregate in the mornings and evenings. During the day, they were all deep.
Also got into a few on spinner baits and crank baits off the docks - something about a deep crankbait bite that's just so damn fun.
Overall, great fun fishing with the kids. They all have such different attitudes about fishing it's a blast fishing with them. The littlest thinks every cast he's getting a bite - matter of fact, we started calling him "tug" because every cast he'd proclaim "got a tug!". I had to explain to him several times that it's just the action of the crank bait he's feeling. My daughter likes catching, not fishing so much. So have to be aware of that and typically would only take her out if she asked me too, or for the evening bite where it would only take a cast or two to get her hooked up. The oldest just likes being on the water and fishing. I'd frequently find him sneaking out after dinner to grab his rod and head to the dock. He's pretty hooked on fishing.
Good times.
Some of the highlights:
Wee man got his first smallie - he was STOKED!
This was my daughters favorite fish. She tried the "here fishy fishy" trick, and it worked. She now thinks any time you want to catch a fish you just have to say "here fishy fishy" out loud....
Got into a decent sized NPM, that was fun!
Highlight of the trip for me was the oldest catching his first walleye (deep crankbait). It put up a legit fight and he was pretty sure he had a world record fish on. He was so stoked, the photo doesn't do justice to how jacked he was, he was legit on cloud 9 the rest of the night. I may have created a walleye fisherman.....
Got out a few times in the AM by myself w/ the flyrod, had a hoot. Had the lake to myself in the mornings and the smallies were eager to take a fly - nothing in the bigger size class, but they were all great fighting and not shy about getting aerial. There were a few particular drop offs (from 10' down to 30') where the smallies would congregate in the mornings and evenings. During the day, they were all deep.
Also got into a few on spinner baits and crank baits off the docks - something about a deep crankbait bite that's just so damn fun.
Overall, great fun fishing with the kids. They all have such different attitudes about fishing it's a blast fishing with them. The littlest thinks every cast he's getting a bite - matter of fact, we started calling him "tug" because every cast he'd proclaim "got a tug!". I had to explain to him several times that it's just the action of the crank bait he's feeling. My daughter likes catching, not fishing so much. So have to be aware of that and typically would only take her out if she asked me too, or for the evening bite where it would only take a cast or two to get her hooked up. The oldest just likes being on the water and fishing. I'd frequently find him sneaking out after dinner to grab his rod and head to the dock. He's pretty hooked on fishing.
Good times.
