Grandkids Day On The Water, Still #1 Grandpa!

[Capt.Bob]

Took my 10 and 12 year old grandsons (brothers) to the river yesterday. I kicked it off Tuesday when I took the youngest out on the golf cart to get bait. We went to a couple small county bridges over creeks, then with a #16 hook and wax worms, on a 4 1/2' Ultra light, I let him fill the 7 gallon bucket with about 2 dozen creek chub's, for 10 years old and no bobber, he does pretty good. Then put the aerator on them over night with a quart bottle of ice to get em fresh for the next day's trip.

It was a little warm, and with the drought here, it is taking it's toll, low water very warm water temps, and fish been kinda off. But if you want to hold #1 Grandpa status, it takes a little work!! So I took them to a local River, the St. Joe, a spot that has deep water in a couple small holes, and should hold some better size Channel Cat. Plus there is a very small creek that dumps in and it's spring fed, so with the cold clear water dumping in, I usually can catch a couple Northern Pike or Small Mouth in this area. But today it was creek chubs for Catfish, and in short order, Maleeke had our first 1st Chanel Cat, about a 3 1/2 pounder, Garrets first turn, for the second fish, was a nice little Northern Pike, only about 30" but plenty good enough to put me on top for #1 Grandpa status!! Then to keep things even the third fish of the day, a Chanel Cat, Maleeke caught, and it was about 26" around 7 pounds, so now one has the longest and one has the heaviest, and the boys are tied, (keeps brothers form arguing and on an even field, you know, mines bigger than yours??). We ended the day after about 7 hours, loosing 5 or 6 fish, and the boys had 4 Catfish averaging about 3-4 pounds and 2 Northern Pike, one about 24" and one about 30", and to top it off the last catch was a BIG OLD SNAPPING TURTLE!! this thing was about 18 to 20" across, and on 20 pound test it worked till they got him to the bank, then when the turtle could get it's feet on the ground it didn't take long to break the line. But no matter they still thought that was cooler than ice water!! Ah, youth, wouldn't it be great if one more time----- oh well.

So we'll do it again somewhere else in a couple weeks, only this time me and Garrett will go get the bait the afternoon before the trip. The way it sounds, to lock that #1 Grandpa status up for the rest of the year, I think there going to make me camp out and fish all day on the river. It's a lot of work staying #1 Grandpa, but it sure is nice!!

A pic of the Future Fisherman of America (FFA) each with there biggest fish of the day, just before puting them back for someone else to enjoy!!

[DILLY07]

Thats a nice pike. I remember I was out on the Mississippi River and I casted out with black bandit 100 series crankbait and I reeled in really slow. All the sudden I thought HOOKED on a bass and I reeled in fast and I landed a pike. They sure do pick up a good fight!

Looks like you had fun!

[A-Rob]

Nice!

Good way to spend a day with family!

[Broke bass fisherman]

Great fish. Glad you kept the title.

[AK-Jax86]

Great fish I wish I was able to fish with my grandfather. Those are memories your children will cherish forever

[A-Jay]

Ya Man ~ It doesn't get much better than that !

A-Jay

[sean_steiner]

Took my 10 and 12 year old grandsons (brothers) to the river yesterday. I kicked it off Tuesday when I took the youngest out on the golf cart to get bait. We went to a couple small county bridges over creeks, then with a #16 hook and wax worms, on a 4 1/2' Ultra light, I let him fill the 7 gallon bucket with about 2 dozen creek chub's, for 10 years old and no bobber, he does pretty good. Then put the aerator on them over night with a quart bottle of ice to get em fresh for the next day's trip.

It was a little warm, and with the drought here, it is taking it's toll, low water very warm water temps, and fish been kinda off. But if you want to hold #1 Grandpa status, it takes a little work!! So I took them to a local River, the St. Joe, a spot that has deep water in a couple small holes, and should hold some better size Channel Cat. Plus there is a very small creek that dumps in and it's spring fed, so with the cold clear water dumping in, I usually can catch a couple Northern Pike or Small Mouth in this area. But today it was creek chubs for Catfish, and in short order, Maleeke had our first 1st Chanel Cat, about a 3 1/2 pounder, Garrets first turn, for the second fish, was a nice little Northern Pike, only about 30" but plenty good enough to put me on top for #1 Grandpa status!! Then to keep things even the third fish of the day, a Chanel Cat, Maleeke caught, and it was about 26" around 7 pounds, so now one has the longest and one has the heaviest, and the boys are tied, (keeps brothers form arguing and on an even field, you know, mines bigger than yours??). We ended the day after about 7 hours, loosing 5 or 6 fish, and the boys had 4 Catfish averaging about 3-4 pounds and 2 Northern Pike, one about 24" and one about 30", and to top it off the last catch was a BIG OLD SNAPPING TURTLE!! this thing was about 18 to 20" across, and on 20 pound test it worked till they got him to the bank, then when the turtle could get it's feet on the ground it didn't take long to break the line. But no matter they still thought that was cooler than ice water!! Ah, youth, wouldn't it be great if one more time----- oh well.

So we'll do it again somewhere else in a couple weeks, only this time me and Garrett will go get the bait the afternoon before the trip. The way it sounds, to lock that #1 Grandpa status up for the rest of the year, I think there going to make me camp out and fish all day on the river. It's a lot of work staying #1 Grandpa, but it sure is nice!!

A pic of the Future Fisherman of America (FFA) each with there biggest fish of the day, just before puting them back for someone else to enjoy!!

I've caught snapping turtles many times while fishing at night for walleye and bass. If you shine a flashlight in clear water at night you may be suprised to see how many snapping turtles are actually in the water!