My 4 year old catches his first bass

robertmee · 08-28-09, 09:48 AM

Proud papa had to brag.

The last three weekends, I've been spending with my 4 year old son at Lake Gaston. Just the two of us as the wife and 15 year old have had other committments. So, we spend alot of the day fishing off our boat house. He's been using his trusty lightnin' McQueen rod/reel set, and for the first weekend, it was bobbers and night crawlers. We get tons of bream around us, so he's catching those pretty well. But he's impatient and likes to fish like his daddy, casting and reeling. So the next weekend, I move him up to a rapala. I'm fishing a devil's horse. Our boathouse is in an offset channel on the way to the Kerr Dam. About 60 yards wide and 5' deep. TONS of hydrilla this time of year. I'm killing bass in the 2 to 4lb range with the devil's horse as I love top water fishing anyways.

Well, the rapala is a bit light for his tackle (mind you he's got a 2' pole) and he's not enjoying it cause he can't cast more than a few feet. Plus, I'm not keen with him having a treble hook catch him in the head. So, last weekend, I decide to just put something on that's heavier and that he can learn to cast with. I let him pick a plastic and he selects a crawfish. I rig it up with a small hook, a couple of split shot and let him have at it. The hydrilla is so thick he's having a blast cause he thinks every cast he's getting 'hits' as the plastic drags through the weeds.

Understand the purpose of this excercise is to keep him entertained and to improve his casting skills. Before long, he's casting 30 to 40' with this setup! And since I'm not pulling bream off and rebaiting his bobber every 5 minutes I'm getting some fishing in myself on the otherside.

Well, about an hour in, he's saying 'Got One!'. Now, he's been saying that about every 2 or 3 casts because of the weed drag. So, I just entertain him and tell him to reel it in. I go back to fishing and don't notice that he's fighting for awhile. After about 3 or 4 minutes, he's saying Daddy I can't get him in. I figure he's stuck on a weed pile, so I go over to help him get 'unstuck' and I'll be damned if he doesn't have a 2 lber on the line. He'd reeled it all the way to the dock but couldn't get it up and out of the water.

I was beaming and so proud. And he'd caught it on a no-nothin bait with no fancy texas or carolina rigs. Just a gummy crawfish and some split shot. I'm signing him up for the tour and taking endorsements as we speak

WaffleJaw · 08-28-09, 09:59 AM

lol...thats an awesome story....looks like he's well on his way to earning a new set-up come christmas.lol

toppwatr · 08-28-09, 10:01 AM

what a great story. hahahah lightning mqqueen....... ive been trying to get my little sister to start fishing by showing her those stupid little disney channel and cartoon character combos from target.... its no use though... i gave up a while ago... she'll never like it...

nofearengineer · 08-28-09, 10:05 AM

Robert, that is a great story, man.

There's just something special about a father passing down the fishing rod to his sons.

brushhog · 08-28-09, 10:09 AM

It's hard to believe, but isn't it even more fun when they're catching, than when you are?

66KingFisher · 08-28-09, 11:30 AM

Thats a great story.....congrats to you both.

cassidyta · 08-28-09, 12:07 PM

I have a lot of pictures of fish that I have caught, but my proudest fish are the ones caught by my kids. Keep it up.

BassAddict · 08-31-09, 01:26 PM

That's a great story man! My boy is almost 7 and has been fishing with me for a couple summers now. He like throwing "baits" as opposed to a bobber. I usually rig a plastic worm weightless or maybe with a 1/16 oz. weight. He just reels it in slow most of the time. He's been watching me a lot and I noticed him flipping his bait into a brush pile. I asked him where he learned to do that and he said "watching you". That's so cool. Keep him fishing man! That's awesome!

BTW... my dad taught me to fish at Lake Gaston when I was a little kid!

islandbass · 08-31-09, 01:43 PM

Congrats to both of you. It's really neat that those little rods really work, from Barbie to Spiderman.

BigBassin144 · 08-31-09, 02:13 PM

awesome story, and congrats to your son on his first bass!

BB

robertmee · 08-31-09, 02:15 PM

Thanks for all the kudos....We struck out this past weekend. The hydrilla density has exponentially increased over the past week or two, severely choking the area out beyond our dock. Time to get out the fishing boat

Jim80 · 09-01-09, 05:42 PM

nice read man , and congrats to the kid , once they get that first one in they hooked so to say . My sons are just about my most reliable fishing partners

Jim

08-28-09, 09:48 AM	#1
robertmee BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 180	My 4 year old catches his first bass Proud papa had to brag. The last three weekends, I've been spending with my 4 year old son at Lake Gaston. Just the two of us as the wife and 15 year old have had other committments. So, we spend alot of the day fishing off our boat house. He's been using his trusty lightnin' McQueen rod/reel set, and for the first weekend, it was bobbers and night crawlers. We get tons of bream around us, so he's catching those pretty well. But he's impatient and likes to fish like his daddy, casting and reeling. So the next weekend, I move him up to a rapala. I'm fishing a devil's horse. Our boathouse is in an offset channel on the way to the Kerr Dam. About 60 yards wide and 5' deep. TONS of hydrilla this time of year. I'm killing bass in the 2 to 4lb range with the devil's horse as I love top water fishing anyways. Well, the rapala is a bit light for his tackle (mind you he's got a 2' pole) and he's not enjoying it cause he can't cast more than a few feet. Plus, I'm not keen with him having a treble hook catch him in the head. So, last weekend, I decide to just put something on that's heavier and that he can learn to cast with. I let him pick a plastic and he selects a crawfish. I rig it up with a small hook, a couple of split shot and let him have at it. The hydrilla is so thick he's having a blast cause he thinks every cast he's getting 'hits' as the plastic drags through the weeds. Understand the purpose of this excercise is to keep him entertained and to improve his casting skills. Before long, he's casting 30 to 40' with this setup! And since I'm not pulling bream off and rebaiting his bobber every 5 minutes I'm getting some fishing in myself on the otherside. Well, about an hour in, he's saying 'Got One!'. Now, he's been saying that about every 2 or 3 casts because of the weed drag. So, I just entertain him and tell him to reel it in. I go back to fishing and don't notice that he's fighting for awhile. After about 3 or 4 minutes, he's saying Daddy I can't get him in. I figure he's stuck on a weed pile, so I go over to help him get 'unstuck' and I'll be damned if he doesn't have a 2 lber on the line. He'd reeled it all the way to the dock but couldn't get it up and out of the water. I was beaming and so proud. And he'd caught it on a no-nothin bait with no fancy texas or carolina rigs. Just a gummy crawfish and some split shot. I'm signing him up for the tour and taking endorsements as we speak

08-28-09, 09:59 AM	#2
WaffleJaw BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Dallas,TX (DFW) Posts: 2,212	lol...thats an awesome story....looks like he's well on his way to earning a new set-up come christmas.lol __________________ [nelsoncustomrods.com]

08-28-09, 10:05 AM	#4
nofearengineer BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southwest IN Posts: 5,630	Robert, that is a great story, man. There's just something special about a father passing down the fishing rod to his sons. __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

08-28-09, 10:09 AM	#5
brushhog BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Whitesboro, NY Posts: 1,222	It's hard to believe, but isn't it even more fun when they're catching, than when you are? __________________ 3/4 of the Earth's surface is water and 1/4 is land. Clearly god wants me to fish, not mow the lawn.

08-28-09, 12:07 PM	#7
cassidyta BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,928	I have a lot of pictures of fish that I have caught, but my proudest fish are the ones caught by my kids. Keep it up. __________________ If you have ever wondered if you should retie, the answer is yes.

08-28-09, 10:01 AM	#3
toppwatr BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 215	what a great story. hahahah lightning mqqueen....... ive been trying to get my little sister to start fishing by showing her those stupid little disney channel and cartoon character combos from target.... its no use though... i gave up a while ago... she'll never like it...

08-28-09, 11:30 AM	#6
66KingFisher BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mena,Arkansas Posts: 1,327	Thats a great story.....congrats to you both.

08-31-09, 01:26 PM	#8
BassAddict BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Richmond, Virginia Posts: 805	That's a great story man! My boy is almost 7 and has been fishing with me for a couple summers now. He like throwing "baits" as opposed to a bobber. I usually rig a plastic worm weightless or maybe with a 1/16 oz. weight. He just reels it in slow most of the time. He's been watching me a lot and I noticed him flipping his bait into a brush pile. I asked him where he learned to do that and he said "watching you". That's so cool. Keep him fishing man! That's awesome! BTW... my dad taught me to fish at Lake Gaston when I was a little kid! __________________ Eric

08-31-09, 01:43 PM	#9
islandbass BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: WA State Posts: 1,783	Congrats to both of you. It's really neat that those little rods really work, from Barbie to Spiderman. __________________ ARX "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson (Shimano 2005 Reel Catalog)

08-31-09, 02:13 PM	#10
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	awesome story, and congrats to your son on his first bass! BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com!

08-31-09, 02:15 PM	#11
robertmee BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 180	Thanks for all the kudos....We struck out this past weekend. The hydrilla density has exponentially increased over the past week or two, severely choking the area out beyond our dock. Time to get out the fishing boat

09-01-09, 05:42 PM	#12
Jim80 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Thomaston CT Posts: 3,862	nice read man , and congrats to the kid , once they get that first one in they hooked so to say . My sons are just about my most reliable fishing partners Jim __________________ In memory of Zooker 1/11/73-7/2/2010. You will be sorely missed and never forgotten.

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