I've been way too busy with a new job and 3 of my 8 kids in sports. Combine that with the crumby weather, and I haven't been out much this year so far. Just a few quick outings over the winter.
I did some work on one of my kayaks. The PWM (controller for my trolling motor) fried last summer, so I rebuilt it. Then I had to test it on the water. I took one of my kids out with me to a local lake.
We waited out the huge thunderstorm, then hit the water. Had it to ourselves. Other than a 20 minute nasty down poor that soaked us through, it was a very nice evening. Fish were active. Ospreys hunting. Families of geese and ducks cruising the shorelines. Owls calling from the woods. Bullfrogs bellowing deeply. Trout jumping, swirling...and biting.
I was catching fish pretty consistently on the slow troll. We did some indicator fishing, but it wasn't happening, so we stuck with trolling.
She isn't too confident in casting yet, so we stuck with methods where she didn't need to cast much. We cruised side by side - her fishing one side wile I fished the other. Toward the end, I just tied us together so we could both just troll slowly using my motor and she didn't have to pedal.
I hit 3 heavy fish. One LDR near the yak after about a minute of a good tussle. Another taco'd the rod good, then was gone. Landed the 3rd - a solid 16 incher that fought harder than it's size would have suggested. Several other typical 10-12 inch stockers to hand. All released. My daughter was getting hits, but just couldn't get them to stick.
Despite not having much luck and being soaked and cold, she hung in there. I traded rods and coached her up a bit. But I still caught fish on her rod. One final pass by our good luck spot before calling it a night and BAM - FISH ON! She clearly had a good one on. I moved closer and coached her through it. I was determined NOT to interfere - she would own this from beginning to end. She fought it for several minutes, then managed to net it all on her own. See if you can tell from the smiles
And, yes, I let her keep it. She cleaned it herself and wants to cook it herself as well.
I did some work on one of my kayaks. The PWM (controller for my trolling motor) fried last summer, so I rebuilt it. Then I had to test it on the water. I took one of my kids out with me to a local lake.
We waited out the huge thunderstorm, then hit the water. Had it to ourselves. Other than a 20 minute nasty down poor that soaked us through, it was a very nice evening. Fish were active. Ospreys hunting. Families of geese and ducks cruising the shorelines. Owls calling from the woods. Bullfrogs bellowing deeply. Trout jumping, swirling...and biting.
I was catching fish pretty consistently on the slow troll. We did some indicator fishing, but it wasn't happening, so we stuck with trolling.
She isn't too confident in casting yet, so we stuck with methods where she didn't need to cast much. We cruised side by side - her fishing one side wile I fished the other. Toward the end, I just tied us together so we could both just troll slowly using my motor and she didn't have to pedal.
I hit 3 heavy fish. One LDR near the yak after about a minute of a good tussle. Another taco'd the rod good, then was gone. Landed the 3rd - a solid 16 incher that fought harder than it's size would have suggested. Several other typical 10-12 inch stockers to hand. All released. My daughter was getting hits, but just couldn't get them to stick.
Despite not having much luck and being soaked and cold, she hung in there. I traded rods and coached her up a bit. But I still caught fish on her rod. One final pass by our good luck spot before calling it a night and BAM - FISH ON! She clearly had a good one on. I moved closer and coached her through it. I was determined NOT to interfere - she would own this from beginning to end. She fought it for several minutes, then managed to net it all on her own. See if you can tell from the smiles
And, yes, I let her keep it. She cleaned it herself and wants to cook it herself as well.
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