Mother Nature Rocks

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August 26th 2018

 

Another minor issue with the outboard yesterday had me out for just a half day of fishing. Although Dave & his son John managed to get into some good fish, most of the better ones were either lost or missed all together. Today however, it was going to be a different story!

Peter & his son Matt were with me, but not expecting what was about to happen. It was Matt’s first time ever fishing and I began with the basics of just casting. From there we moved on to how to work the baits and the rest just fell into place.

Our first stop had many missed fish but it was a learning curve that had to happen. Both Peter & Matt had chances but it just wasn’t meant to be. I covered plenty of water hoping that they would get into them but was the only one to bring anything aboard. I did pass off the rod to Matt on a nice smallie that he landed, but it wasn’t the same as a hooked fish. No pics were had!

Once I was sure they were working everything right, I made another move to an area holding only big bass. It was here that things picked up! Not long after we arrived, Peter hooked into a really good smallie. It jumped several times and tried desperately to get off before I managed to get it in the net. Finally, their first fish! Now all I needed was for Matt to hook into one on his own.

We continued to fish the area and had a few more missed strikes before Peter set into another tank. He had made a really long cast and nailed a fish that must have been roaming in the area. When it jumped it seemed like 100 feet away & even at that distance, it looked huge! It put up quite a fight with several more jumps before it was boatside and in the net. I only wish that it was a little wider because it really had the length to be a 6 pounder! Regardless, it was definitely worthy of several pics.

Matt had been having a tough time missing fish, but it was about to change. He finally had a pickup and set into a good fish that actually stayed on. Although I did have to tell him to reel as fast as he could to bend the rod, he kept the bass pinned. Several jumps later, it was in the net and he officially had caught his very own smallie. It was also a big one and definitely worthy of several pics before the release.

I had noticed on the radar that we had some rain coming our way and wanted to get a few more bass before I set up the top and went trolling. We continued covering water with a few more decent fish being landed and Matt nailed another really good one once again. He was definitely getting the hang of it and enjoying catching fish! This one too was worthy of a few pics!

Late in the morning and just before the rain hit, I raised the roof and set everything up to troll. Good thing too as it began to pour almost immediately after I was done! I had hoped on getting them something big but wasn’t sure what would happen as I dropped the lines in and began the troll.

We hadn’t been fishing for even ten minutes when one of the reels went off and it went hard. I grabbed the rod and passed it to Matt, but took it back soon after when I thought the fish had buried itself in the weeds. To my surprise, it hadn’t and was just heavy! I gave the rod back and cleared the other rods as I knew what he had on. I even dropped the roof with the rain falling so that I was able to maneuver the boat when needed. We had a definite confirmation when it cleared the water in a spectacular jump that nearly left them in shock.

After a lengthy battle and me without a big net, I was finally able to get the boga grip securely locked on her jaw. I wasted no time unhooking the beast and placed it in Matt’s hands for a few really quick pics. Back she went unharmed and no worse for wear! Matt was still in disbelief, but his father had captured the whole thing on video. It was real and she was spectacular!

We spent about another hour or so trolling in heavy downpours for pike and managed several before they called it a day. What was supposed to finish at 4:00, ended a little early when we pulled the plug before 1:00. They had seen enough and after that lunge, it would only be downhill anyway!

Peter had brought his son Matt fishing for his very first time and I think he was officially hooked for life! Not only had he landed some really nice bass but he had caught a huge musky as well. Added to that, he had managed a slam with one of the northerns he had landed too! I told him that he should go out tonight and buy a lotto ticket!

Despite the short trip, they had both seen some pretty good fish today. The smallies would have been good numbers if we had remained on them longer, but the weather had us making an change. For once I was actually thankful for mother nature being such a pain and making us change to trolling. If it weren’t for her, Matt would have never gotten to do battle with a fish of a lifetime. Mother nature usually sucks, but this time she rocked!!