Introduction To Fishing
July 7, 2018
July 6th 2018
Joe had contacted me a while back about taking his son out fishing and today was the day. They brought one of his friends, Mathieu along and the three of them looked forward to catching some fish. Mateo was just getting interested in fishing and had yet to catch one on his own. Mathieu had caught about 4 fish in his life so just landing something would be great! I was looking forward to putting them on as many fish as I could in their half day on the water.
As we headed out, I could see that the winds were blowing pretty good and wasn’t sure where I was going to start. They were out of the NW and the waves kept growing, the further we got from the shore. I decided to try a flat that I fished the day before and stopped to drop shot it. This only lasted about 20 minutes before I realized that it was impossible. We were drifting cross current making it a lousy presentation and I cut our losses quickly. We were going to run and fish where I knew we would be able to catch.
The boat ride wasn’t pleasant but we managed to arrive safely and I was able to set up where I wanted. I was surprised to find that there were pretty good sized waves here as well but I set the rods and began trolling. Within 2 minutes the first reel fired and Mateo had a fish on, briefly. The second one Mathieu got to fight but it too came unpinned shortly after the hookup. We were not having a great start but I knew it would change!
I moved slightly shallower with the troll and locked up Mateo on a small northern. He brought this one to net, finally landing his first fish ever! With lines back in we didn’t go far before another reel fired and Mathieu got to fight a pike of his own. Simultaneously, a second reel fired and Mateo was into a double. As luck would have it, they both landed their fish and we had our first double header of the trip. A few quick pics and we were right back to the fishing again!
They were both having a great time catching pike but I was surprised with this wind that we hadn’t gotten any walleye yet. The next reel went off and I handed Mateo the rod with something heavier. As he brought it closer I realized that he had a good sized walleye on the end of the line and instructed him not to give it any slack. We were going so fast with the wind that I had to put the motor in neutral to give him a chance. I finally grabbed the line and dragged the fish into the net. It was way over the slot and would make a great pic for Mateo for his first walleye too!
As the morning passed, the winds intensified and so did the waves where were fishing. I wasn’t looking forward to the run back but carried on regardless. They were catching fish and nothing was going to stop me from getting them into many more! In fact throughout the morning, they had multiple chances at both walleye & pike and landed about 75% of the ones they hooked. Mathieu & Mateo never expected to catch this many fish each and they were having a great time. Joe was just relaxing on his first day away from work in months and videoing most of the action. We had multiple double headers and even one triple that turned into a double when one of the fish got off. The action was great but as time passed, we got closer to leaving. A few more fish later, it was noon and I pulled the plug for the day. I had extended their morning a little longer due to the kids, but now it was time to go. I packed everything up and readied for the ride back home!
As soon as we got under way, I could see that it wasn’t going to be easy and took my time heading into the wind. The waves were big and as I neared the channel, they grew even bigger. We were in three to 4 footers constantly and over 5 from time to time. I was definitely glad to be in this boat for safety reasons! It reminded me of the giant waves from the great lakes during past tournaments!
We finally made it back to the dock with just a little splashing on everyone, instead of taking waves over the bow. A bass boat would have been a different story! It’s amazing what these boats can do in big water and today, it was big! I think the kids enjoyed the roller coaster ride almost as much as catching fish! They both ended in the double digits and some quality ones at that!
This may have been the first time Joe was with me but I think I’ll be seeing him again this season. Mateo loved his experience fishing and is looking forward to having another, real soon. I too look forward to getting them back out and into more and different species of fish. Who knows, maybe even a sturgeon bigger than them!!
