Awesome weekend of fishing

[WatterBoy]

8-pack of split-tail grubs from the bargain rack at Cabela's last week. . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.19

Owner 1/0 hooks and dropshot sinkers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 7.99

200 yard spool of InvisX fluorocarbon line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $18.99

4 days of fishing with my dad a few weeks after he spent 3 weeks in the hospital. . . PRICELESS!

We were blessed to be able to have my parents and some other family up for an extended stay at our place on the lake last weekend. My dad and I were fortunate enough to be able to make several trips out in our boat. Just being out on the water again with dad would have been enough for me. On top of that, though, we caught a bunch of great fish and the weekend created many special memories.

Here are some of the fishing highlights.

It was about 9:30 Friday night and I had just landed a nice LM using a 5" wacky-rigged senko on a dropshot rig. I hadn't even had a chance to weigh it yet when my dad's topwater frog was absolutely SMOKED by this 5lb 4oz, 29.5" pike. I've never in my life seen a lure that far down in a fish. Luckily, it was somehow only hooked with one hook and we were able to extricate the frog without any damage to the fish. (My LM ended up going 3lb 4oz.)



We went back to the same spot the next morning and landed 13 more fish, including 2 smallies for each of us. Both of my dad's went 1lb 15oz and mine were 2lb 15oz and 2lb 8oz.



The weather limited us to about 45 minutes of fishing for our Saturday night outing, but I still caught 3 fish and my sister, who only fishes a couple times a year when she's up at our lake and just learned how to fish senkos last year, caught this 2-pounder...



On Sunday morning we took my 11-year old nephew along. He had never used a spinning reel or bass fished before, so we went over some of the basics from the dock before hitting the water. He fished his heart out with an assortment of lures for two hours, but dang it, he just couldn't buy a bite. However, my dad hooked into this nice LM that was 3lb 1oz and a long ways from the boat and let my nephew battle it all the way into the boat. He had a great time fighting the fish and it was all he could do to get it up to the boat, but he did! I'm sure all our coaching and encouragement were a big help!??!



Even though I was helping my nephew cast/fish/etc. and probably only fished about half the time, I had one of my best outings ever by boating LM that weighed in at 3lb 6oz, 3lb 2oz, 2lb 11oz and 2lb 6oz. I let my nephew reel in the 2-11 LM, but it was pretty close to the boat when it hit. This is the 3 of us prior to releasing the fish after the outing.



With a little bit of assistance from my wife, my 4-year old nephew was pleased to land this Rock Bass from the dock on Sunday afternoon.



I landed 4 more LM during our Sunday night outing, with this 3lb 2oz one being the biggest. (It was a slow night for my dad as he only caught one Rock Bass.)



We wrapped up the trip with a great outing on Monday morning. My dad boated two nice LM at 2lb 13oz and 2lb 6oz after I had started us off with a decent 2lb 4oz LM. But the icing on the cake came at 9:00 a.m. when I was using a dropshot rig with one of the cheap-o split tail grubs mentioned above and I nailed a 4lb 0oz, 18" smallie. It was only 3 ounces shy of my PB smallie from last year.





I also got one unique shot of a loon that I thought was cool.



All in all, just a fantastic weekend at the lake!

[skeeter1804]

Congrats on a great time with your family, I would give anything to go fishing with my dad just one more time.

[rodnreel]

Great report! Nothing beats spending some quality time with the family.

[WaffleJaw]

wow! awesome weekend Watter!...Man that 4lb smallie is a monster!....Great photos too!..Some are gonna require a picture frame

[Cavs1123]

Sounds like a great weekend Watterboy!

[keithdog]

Great pics, and even better memories. You simply cannot ask for anything better! Enjoy those times with your dad my friend. Like Skeeter, I'd give anything for one more fishin trip with my dad. I love that photo of the loon! wow Congrats on your wonderful weekend.

[keithdog]

Forgot to ask, how do you like that Berkley gripper scale? I just bought one yesterday but havn't tried it out yet.

[MIbasser]

Sounds like a perfect weekend! Great looking fish!

[bamabassman]

you always astound me watterboy. awesum fish,awesum pictures and awesum day out on the water with oyur family. can't get no better than that pal. thank you for sharing.

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by keithdog

... Enjoy those times with your dad my friend.

Yep, I do. And I don't take any of them for granted. I'm grateful for each moment I'm still able to spend with my parents (or any of my family for that matter), and fishing outings with my dad are, well, priceless.

Originally Posted by keithdog

Forgot to ask, how do you like that Berkley gripper scale? I just bought one yesterday but havn't tried it out yet.

I love it. My fishing buddy and I have been using that kind for the past 12 years. Hope you like yours once you get to use it! Tip -- be sure it's set for POUNDS, not KG, when you go to weigh your fish.

[Bassboss]

AWESOME!! Looks like y'all had an amazing weekend man! Congrats, and that's a hell of a small mouth!

[islandbass]

WTG! I think that this is one of THE BEST fishing reports this year. Great fishing, and more importantly spending time with family and loved ones. Well done, WB. You just made a major deposit in the family memory banks.

[3dkicker]

Very nice! Smallies and largemouths. Good ones too.

[plugsandaxes]

awesome, man. great to see so many people from your family on the trip. I wish I could do something like that. It would be great to have my father back.

I'm a sucker for smallies, too. great catches there!

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by islandbass

WTG! I think that this is one of THE BEST fishing reports this year. Great fishing, and more importantly spending time with family and loved ones. Well done, WB. You just made a major deposit in the family memory banks.

Thanks, IB (and others)! We have another trip planned up to the lake this week with all of my wife's family. We're heading up on Wednesday and staying until the following Monday, so it will be great for us to get away from work for that long and make more great memories. There will be 14 of us there total, ranging in ages from 3 to 65. Even my sister-in-law and her husband from CA are flying in for the week. It will be great fun!

[bcklash]

WatterBoy those pictures are priceless. The Bandit and I try to take a picture of every fish we catch. The pictures mean more than any pb or who caught what. The pictures tell a story that you won't soon forget



Your pictures are priceless and so is your family.

[Rebbasser]

That is fantastic, amigo! I lost my dad several years back and like Keith and Skeeter would love for one more trip with him. If I have one regret it is he passed before I got my boat so never was able to go out in it with me. I still have my father in law and love fishing with him, but it still isn't the same. Treasure the time-the memories are priceless.

[BassFeverJohn]

Dude, it certainly looks like you had a blast. Those are some sweet fish.

I'm glad your dad was able to get out with you