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Sitting at work yesterday, browsing the forums like I normally do, and I found myself pretty envious after seeing all your picture of the fish you guys had been catching lately, so I called up my old man to see if he wanted to go out after work. He was down for it, of course.
He used to fish a lot as a kid but life got in the way. But ever since I bought my first boat this spring, him and I have made it out nearly every week since late April, and he's quickly rediscovered why he loved it so much to begin with.
As soon as I got off work I picked up the step-son from daycare and headed to the boat launch, meeting my old man there. The kid had been on my boat once before and loved it, but had never been fishing on it. I've taken him shore fishing before but he's never seen anything bigger than a perch pulled up so I was really hoping to show him something nice this time.
We get on the water at little after 5:30 and before long have found our way to spot I know that's usually been good to me. I throw a worm and a bobber on the little guy's line and cast it over a weed bed nearby then my old man and I start casting out. He lasts about two minutes before he gets bored and decides he would rather play with the steering wheel than fish. Not surprising, he's 4 years old and doesn't have a toy that isn't a car, truck, boat, or plane. The kid loves vehicles like I love fishing, haha. I let him just play around as I wasn't too concerned with him catching a perch or something, he's done that plenty now, I just wanted him to see how big fish can get to get him more excited about it.
We drift around in that area for nearly an hour, trying different lures and depths and weed lines, but nothing. Not even a hit. Usually this place is good for one or two pike at least but it seems they aren't interested today. We start jumping along the shoreline to other spots I've had luck with before with similar results. Then we get out from a dock and I've just got a good feeling about this place.
My dad and I both are using 3" five of diamonds by this point and on our first cast in this spot something takes his lure and whips down under the boat into the weeds. He said it felt like a strong hit and I'm there ready with the net as he pulls up... a pile of weeds. darn, must've kicked the hook after it dove down. The kid was standing at the side of the boat eagerly awaiting the fish and the disappointment was evident in his face, he was just as excited to see it landed as we were. Now I know we've gotta get one as I refuse to let this kid go home without seeing a fish.
A few minutes later and my dad has another hit, this one he's determined to keep. It's coming in real easy and not putting up much of a fight until it gets within a few meters of the boat then it begins to fight like hell, diving deep and bending the rod down solidly. I'm standing ready with the net when it finally comes up and she's a beauty. Net it quickly and pull it into the boat, finally get a good look and we are not disappointed, least of all the little guy who is losing his mind. It's a 30" pike, weighing 4.5lbs.
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77 downloadsThis is an especially nice moment for my dad, as it's his season's best so far, and since this is his first season in around 30 years, it's the best fish he's caught since he was a kid. We release the fish then pick up the rods to try again, huge grins on our faces, and now even the kid is back into it.
Not more than 3 casts later I hear the best words in existence, "fish on!". The scene plays out again as my dad reels in yet another fish. Not as big but still nice, 25" and nearing 3.5lbs. Asked the young lad if he wanted his picture taken with it but he ran to the back of the boat at the thought, probably not a bad thing to be a little fearful of those teeth, haha. Tried for a little bit more there without success and decided to go back to where we started off, still frustrated that we got skunked there originally.
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80 downloadsShortly after we arrive they start biting, but only on my dad's lure. He pulls up two small ones just shy of 2lbs and quickly tosses them back. I'm starting to get a little frustrated now as I haven't been skunked all year yet but it's looking pretty likely here. The little guy is standing up in the bow with me now and points towards shore and tells me to cast that way. I do as he says as I had earlier told him we were a team so that he could feel included on anything I catch.
It was less that a second after hitting the water that I felt that familiar tug on my line and knew I had one. I start reeling as my dad readies the net, but this one was a fighter. Every time I got it next to the net it dove straight down, again and again. Finally in the fifth attempt at netting him we succeeded. Not the biggest of the day but a nice fish in its own right. 28", just shy of 4lbs. I give all the credit to the kid, who told me exactly where to cast and it worked out perfectly. There may be hope for him yet!
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81 downloadsWe called it a night shortly after that as we were already out later than his bedtime and knew I would be catching hell for that from his mom, but when we got home and he wouldn't stop talking about how awesome the fish were, she couldn't even be a little mad over anything that made her kid so happy.
