New Member in NC - Daughter's first Bass with pics!

[Carolina Pines]

Hey guys this place is awesome!  I've lurked here for a while and after my last fishing trip on December 5th I finally decided I needed to join.  Both my daughter and I got our PB fish within an hour of each other.  More on that trip later!

 

My name is Matt, I was born and raised in central NC, and I've lived here all my life.  I've been fishing for as long as I can remember, but I've only been serious about bass fishing since maybe 2010, and I finally feel like I've gotten pretty "good at it" over the past two years.  Now, finally, I'm getting to where I can consistently find and catch bass throughout the year even in the winter. 

 

I typically fish with my brother in law Tyler, and sometimes my dad.  I also enjoy fishing alone.  I have a couple of different rigs, an Old Town Appalachian canoe with a motor mount I made myself from ash.  My other rig I inherited from my grandfather,  it's a 12' Sea King V-hull aluminum boat from the early 1960s. 

 

A few years ago I decided to optimize the Sea King.  I bought an old 1960s steel boat trailer and restored it, a 1969 Johnson 6hp outboard (completely restored that too), and installed new seat boards, trolling motor mount, and most recently an electric anchor winch.  I love that the boat, motor & trailer are all from the 1960s, it's like a time capsule.  That little V-hull is awesome for fishing the small local lakes in our area, and I've even used it a couple of times inshore saltwater fishing back in the creeks.  I feel like my grandfather is right there with me every time I take it out. 

 

My current fishing goal is to get better at targeting trophy size fish.  I really want a 10lb+ largemouth in the next year or two, and I have a honey hole that I know holds multiple giant fish.  To help me get there, I'm exploring swimbait fishing and I have a few "beginner size" swimbaits under 3 ounces I'm going to be using in the very near future. 

 

My daughter is almost 5 years old and she's been wanting to bass fish with me for some time now.  She's already done the bobber, worm, bluegill drill and her casting has been improving, so I took her along on our most recent trip.  

 

We set out around 10am Saturday, December 5th.  Mild day, mid 60s, but it was raining early on, so we waited in the truck and ate lunch until it lightened up.  After that, we had a great bite with multiple schools of bass busting shad all over the lake.  My daughter used a 3.5" paddle tail on a 1/8 oz jig head and caught her first bass all by herself, 1 pound 2 ounces!  Less than an hour later, I'm fishing the edge of a weed line and a huge bass blows up and misses on my topwater walker.  No more blow ups on subsequent throws, so I tossed a jerkbait back to the same spot, and got a nice hit on my Pointer 100 after a couple of casts.  This time she's on!  New PB fish, 7 pounds 7 ounces.  My daughter took the picture of me holding it!  

 

I'm really looking forward to learning a lot about bass fishing, this place is an incredible resource with some extremely talented anglers.  Now for some pictures! 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

 

 

                                                      

[A-Jay]

Hello Matt and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

Nice Intro and Congrats to you both on those Personal Best Bass.

A-Jay

[ScottW]

Hi Matt, welcome to BR! Great looking fish and congrats on your daughter’s PB!

[GaryH]

Welcome aboard Matt. Great intro. And congrats To you and your little girl on your PB’s. Nice to hear about you restoring grandads boat. Great memories. ?

 

[VolFan]

Ha ha that’s awesome man! I’m down in Charlotte and had the Swimbait bug for a while. I do less big baiting now so let me know if you’re interested in some rods or lures. Not sure where you are but Jordan is big time for big fish!

[Carolina Pines]

1 hour ago, VolFan said:

Ha ha that’s awesome man! I’m down in Charlotte and had the Swimbait bug for a while. I do less big baiting now so let me know if you’re interested in some rods or lures. Not sure where you are but Jordan is big time for big fish!

 

Thanks for the offer!  I'm a couple hours from Charlotte, not too far from Jordan lake but I don't have a ton of experience fishing it.  If it holds some big fish then I need to make some more trips out there!  

 

Right now I've got a few smaller swim baits like 68 Huddleston, 40 size Spro rat, 6" pulse tail trout... and a couple other 6-7" soft baits in the 1-2.5 ounce range.  I'll be throwing them on an ALX heavy hammer with a Tranx 200, 17 lb Sunline defier armillo mono.  Nothing too big and heavy for now, but if I start catching some hogs on these, the bug is gonna bite me I'm sure.  Then, there's a good chance I'll hit you up about a dedicated swimbait rod and reel.  

[whitwolf]

Welcome from Morganton NC!

[Carolina Pines]

2 hours ago, GaryH said:

Welcome aboard Matt. Great intro. And congrats To you and your little girl on your PB’s. Nice to hear about you restoring grandads boat. Great memories. ?

 

 

Thanks, it has been a very enjoyable project for me!  My grandfather was alive until I was 20, and he was there for quite a lot of my best times growing up fishing and hunting.  He saw me catch my first largemouth bass, was there when I shot my first buck, and I caught my first trout floating down the Smith river with him.    

[LrgmouthShad]

Welcome! Grew up in NC and will be back there for the holidays soon
 

Great to have you and best of luck in your quest to catch those giant bass

 

Great photos and story also!

[Woody B]

Howdy from Grover NC.   

[Log Catcher]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

[Smells like fish]

Welcome aboard!! Looking forward to hearing how your Spro Rat does for you. It’s my favorite lure!!! At least it has been the last year or two! Again, welcome. 

[Susky River Rat]

Welcome aboard buddy! Great story I hope your daughter is hooked now! You should start a family fishing photo album. I get prints of memorable catches and put them in an album instead of relying on a phone or social media for them. 

[GRiver]

Hi from the Sunshine State of Fl, great pics.

[Eric 26]

Hello and welcome from Illinois. Congratulations on the PB’s.

[Columbia Craw]

Fantastic!  Welcome to both of you!!!!

[GreenPig]

Welcome to the forum from central Ga. Congrats on the PBs. That's a very special 1 lb 2 ounce bass your baby girl caught.

[Carolina Pines]

On 12/16/2022 at 9:53 PM, Smells like fish said:

Welcome aboard!! Looking forward to hearing how your Spro Rat does for you. It’s my favorite lure!!! At least it has been the last year or two! Again, welcome. 

 

That's awesome glad to hear it!!  I'm really excited to start using it this spring, the swimming action looks incredible in the videos I've watched.  It feels really solid and well made, and the hooks are great, very sharp.  My wife can't stand looking at it lol it's been a lot of fun creeping her out.  

[Carolina Pines]

On 12/17/2022 at 5:34 PM, GreenPig said:

Welcome to the forum from central Ga. Congrats on the PBs. That's a very special 1 lb 2 ounce bass your baby girl caught.

 

Thanks man, yeah it was a special fish for sure!  It took her a while to figure it out but she kept at it, and she ended up catching a second smaller bass too a little while later!  She's already asking when can we go again. 

 

I've got two younger sons as well, 2 and 1/2 years old and 10 months old.  Pretty soon my 2 and 1/2 year old will be ready to catch his first bass.  He can outcast his sister some days.  

[T-Billy]

Welcome aboard.

[Bluebasser86]

Welcome!

[Carolina Pines]

On 12/17/2022 at 3:29 AM, Darnold335 said:

Welcome aboard buddy! Great story I hope your daughter is hooked now! You should start a family fishing photo album. I get prints of memorable catches and put them in an album instead of relying on a phone or social media for them. 

 

That's a great idea, thanks!  That would be especially nice for holidays when the extended family is around.  She's definitely hooked, ever since we got home she's been asking "when can we go fishing again?"  

[Lucky6]

Awesome pics! You have some great years ahead of you fishin' with your daughter, enjoy every minute of it!

[Dwight Hottle]

Welcome to BR. Great intro & will look forward to your posting some new shared PB's.