Hooked on Smallmouth

Mike was with me today but this time his son Ryan wasn’t with him. Instead, he brought along his daughter Chloe for the first time. I was looking forward to having her experience what Ryan had on his first trip and was sure she would have a great time. The weather was definitely better than the previous day without the rainfall but we still had plenty of wind. In fact it was blowing from the NW and although the intensity was less it was still terrible for a drift. I had both throwing spinnerbaits right away due to the wind and Mike wasted no time boating several smaller ones up to 3 pounds. Chloe was not having as much luck but I was sure she too would soon experience the power of the smallie! Although it was a challenge in the morning wind, the fish were somewhat active and Mike was picking at them regularly. Finally it was Chloe’s turn and I could tell by her yell that she had a mean one on the end of her line. At 10 years old anything larger than a perch seems like a giant but the raw power of a smallmouth for a little girl is like reeling in a whale. She eventually managed to bring the fish to net and had her first ever 3 pound bronzeback. This was just the start for her as she managed to land a few more soon after, now that I had her casting with the wind from the back of the boat. One of them was probably the largest bass of the day at over 4 pounds and it really beat her up good. With all the hollering I could tell that she was having a blast! By mid afternoon, the wind had layed down some and I was finally able to drift & drag making their feel of the bottom much better. Until now, they were only able to cast blades but had pretty good action never the less. This time however, they were in contact with the bottom and there were fish down there by the hooks on the sonar. For the next couple of hours, there were multiple hookups and a mix of bass & walleye were coming aboard on each drift. Chloe was thrilled to have caught one of the walleye as they were bringing home two for dinner. Ryan had done the same thing several years ago and it was a big hit in their family too. By the time it was all over they both had landed plenty of bass and a couple of bonus fish that I’m sure would have the dinner table talking about with each mouthful taken. I think Mike’s going to have a tough time fishing again without Chloe tagging along as she had more fun today than her video fishing game. Good luck Mike!!