I had one of the best charters in a long time last night, a really nice father who wanted both of his really nice kids to catch some fish. You never know when kids are involved. I’ve had some who were a pleasure to have on board, and some who made you want to pull your hair out after 20 minutes. The two I had the honor of guiding last night were certainly the former. It was a little crowded on board, so after the typical flattened ear stare down, Drake stayed home and watched TV. He likes the chicks on Fox News, so he didn’t have it too bad.

We set out for largemouth using plastic worms and circle hooks (again), and when I explained the conservation virtues of the circle hook to them they took to it immediately, having used them before. The father wanted me to focus on his kids catching fish, and so that’s what I did.

I pushed the boat along the drop off with short bursts of the trolling motor, in 20 feet of water, and had them cast toward shore, perpendicluar to the boat. This way, the cast landed in 5 or so feet of water, and with an in line swivel only as weight, was perfect when reeled slow, as it slid the worm slowly right down the face of the drop off. I explained our strategy to the kids, and I’ll be darned if they didn’t understand it immediately.

They got bites right away, and it wasn’t long before the first largemouth came to the boat. It was about 12-14″, but it didn’t matter, as the rod and line was matched for just that kind of fish. We were using the 9′ steelhead rods with 6# line. Not only did that fish fully bend the rod and take some drag, but contrary to popular belief, kids can cast longer rods much farther, set hooks better, and control fish better than the conventional “short rod for kids” mentality would have you believe. It just plain isn’t true, and I’ve proven it over 4 years of guiding kids - they fish better with longer, more flexible rods.

Each of them caught 5 or 6 bass that evening, with a couple of giant rock bass too. One bass the younger son had caught was in the 17″ range. I told him to hold his arm straight down, laid the tip of the bass’s tail at his fingertips, and the jaw tip was dang near his armpit! He put his other finger on that spot, and after releasing the fish, I looked up to see his finger still marking the spot near his armpit. “You don’t have to leave it there the rest of the trip”, his dad said. “We’ll remember”. We all had a great laugh over that one.

We moved to a sunken island where we usually anchor in the middle and cast in a 360 degree pattern as the bass constantly move through us feeding, and there is no need for us to keep moving. As we set up, I saw a small splash on the edge of the island in about 15 feet of water. Then another, and yet another. Change of plans.

The father brought his flyrod, and was so patient making sure his kids caught fish, that I was happy when I offered to rig up his rod, move over to the fish, and “give dad a shot” at some flyrod action, and he agreed. He caught a bunch of bluegills on the fly, and had a ball. I switched the spinning rods over to fly and bobber, and the kids caught several bluegills, too.

Darkening skies and lightning flashes in the northwest told us to use our better judgement and pack up, as it was time anyway. Another day on the water with some pretty special people.

I dropped off the folks, headed back out the skinny canal, and noticed the sky had gotten alot darker, and the lightning was flashing brighter. No sound yet, but rather than idle home watching the spectacle, I knew Drake wasn’t a happy guy, as he hates lightning.

As I got out into the lake, I stood the boat on its end, planed off and ran for home. Every time I drop off clients and head for home I feel I have alot to be thankful for.

“Let’s go fishing”, a friend of mine said over the phone.  Instinctively, I looked out the window from my store at the lake: northwest wind at 20-30mph, clear skies, and a cold front had moved in dropping the temperature almost 25 degrees.  That ought to cause the fish to burry their heads in the muck.  “Won’t this be fun”, I thought to myself.  “Sure, yeah, great”, I said to my friend.  The fishing would be tough to non-existent.  I still wanted to go, as I knew we’d have fun and some laughs anyway, as he’s one of the good guys. 

As usual, Drake was pumped up, pushed past both of us on the dock, and was going to try to jump on the boat when it was still 10 feet away.  I could see him on the very edge of the dock, crouched and twitching.  “Hold on, idiot”, I said to him, and moved the boat closer.  He jumped on, and my friend climbed aboard after.

We shot out crashing waves to a couple of hot spots.  The water was so rough, I couldn’t see the bottom to get a bearing on where we should set up.  Our goal was to catch (and immediately release) a 10″ bluegill on a fly, so I was looking for a cluster of nests, as I knew the females had spawned and the big males were in protection mode.  I’d toss out a marker on the far side of the nests and we’d cast across them to the marker.  Nice plan.  We found a few, tried it, and could barely get a good cast, but I felt we covered it ok.  Not a taker.  Northwest test.

We moved to several other places trying the same thing, only to have the same results.  We decided to stop fighting the wind and waves, and moved to a secluded upwind location.  We fished well in good locations, and typically we would have caught fish, but this particular body of water is ultra sensitive to changes in wind direction, temperature, cloud cover, etc., so it was tough.

Like always, it’s great just to be out fishing.  On days like this you have to throttle back a little, understand the fish are not active, and enjoy yourself for the whole experience and not just numbers or size of fish.  “Wow, they are really put down”, I told my friend. 

“Yea, but I’m really just here for the company”, he said.  He’s right.  That should be the focus, everytime, and fish second.  The company of a friend and a dog…who could ask for more.

We did end up catching a giant rock bass, a very nice smallmouth, and a little largemouth, so fish did enter the boat, and Drake did get his licks in.  So, the “northwest test” isn’t seeing whether you can catch fish when the northwest wind blows, or any other weather puts them down.  The “test” is seeing if you can remember what’s important when the temptation is to get frustrated because the fish aren’t biting.

A beautiful clear blue sky.  A soothing sunset with a full moon on the opposite horizon chasing up right behind it.  A friend and good conversation,  a great tasting beer, and a loyal dog at your feet.

When the fishing is slow, stop fussing so much and think about the good stuff.  Hmm…. what about when I’m not fishing….