You guys will get a big kick out of this!!!

[Sunshine---]

This kind of ties in with the whole golf course thread from earlier and you guys will get a kick out of this.

I have my nephew out at the house who has never caught a fish before in his life.  I take him to the golf course pond I had talked about in the other thread.  This pond has a bunch of good size large mouth bass and not anything small.  I have caught tons of fish out of this pond and figured "what the hell, why not make his first catch a good one".  I took some time to teach him how to cast and he picked it up in no time.  So off to the pond we go....

I tied him on a spinner bait.  Figured it was a good fit because a fast retrieval would help set the hook automatically.  I had him cast and "reel fast JJ".  So he began....

About an hour goes by and he has finally picked up the whole casting deal pretty good.  He then figured out the transition from the actual cast to the reel and knew it was just a matter of time.

About 100 cast go by and his arm begins to wear.  I see that look in an 8 year old's eye that tells me he is losing patience with fishing.  He asks me "how about a worm" because some of his friends catch bluegill off the dock by his house and I tell him "trust me, your first catch will be one to remember".

I knew it was coming....

So after about an hour and a half, I tell him to hang in there and we round the last corner of the pond headed for home.  I find a shade spot to sit down in (got a little burned from 5 hours fishing this morning) and patiently wait for that first strike.  

Then it happened.....

I am sitting here watching my nephew cast on a 10 dollar rod and reel with a bright yellow spinner bait and WHAM, I see that shine in the water when the fish hit.  I popped open the cam corder I had and started yelling "JJ, your first fish".

I see my nephew start reeling like "what the heck do I do" and I helped him along.  I knew from his fast retrieval could have set the hook and felt he had a good chance to land what I knew was a good size fish.  A minute or so later I watch my nephew reel his first ever fish to the shore and just what I anticipated.  His first ever fish turned out to be a 2-3 lb bass.

He wont realize until years later how cool it really was but I captured it on tape and one day down the road, he will appreciate what happened a few hours ago.

[Sunshine---]

I have a video that I put on my server and will link it up in a few.  I have to have 10 posts to be able to link something so will do so after a few more posts.

[JShrock07]

Sounds like your day went good after all. I don't remember what I caught my first fish on but I am pretty sure it was with a nightcrawler. Its cool to hear you got him his first fish on a spinnerbait!!!

[Sunshine---]

Here is the short film I was able to put together.  

http://64.237.99.126/clips/JJBass.wmv

[JShrock07]

Awesome video!!!!

BTW That bait is a buzzbait not a spinner, if he reeled the bait in fast enough it would glide of the top of the water, but they do double as a spinnerbait! Great Job!!!! 8-)

[Fishhook12]

sweet vid and nice fish

[Sunshine---]

Thanks for the heads up.

Yes, turned out to be a good day. Caught some nice fish this morning and ran across a big gator early in the morning and had 3 otters come up to the canoe (about 3 feet away) at noon.

[Sunshine---]

By the way, for some of you experts....  How in the heck can I hook in to a nice fish in heavy cover (look at the otter picture) and pull them out.  I have caught a ton of fish in my life but nothing bigger than 5LBs.  Been looking for that big catch and have hooked in to them but I just can't get them out of the heavy cover.

Any suggestions??

[roadwarrior]

Heavy equipment and braided line. Hook-up, bring them to you

and occasionally you will have to go to them, but the point is:

Don't play the fish, put the heat on and get 'em in the boat!

8-)

[Sunshine---]

The funny part about the "sometimes you go to go get them" basically means as I have the fish on the line, the canoe is being pulled towards the fish.  Canoe fishing alone is not much fun.  

When I have a buddy in the boat, one of us would paddle towards the fish once a big one got on but on night in particular I lost a few good size fish just not being able to move them out of cover.  

[fishinfiend]

Very cool. Looks like you made a future BR member.

[bayoukritter]

Wicked video, my son is six and i have brought him out twice. He has yet to hook into one (couple of taps on a scum frog) but just a matter of time.

But it was the same case, after 20 to 30 min. his arm would get tired. So I tell him to take a water break and about 10 minutes later he is back at it or asking for something new to throw and never complained once he was bored.

Just goes to show its not always about catching. Even a six year can teach you sometimes it just fun being there.

[rondef]

Great video, thanks for sharing it.

[Eddie Munster]

Man, you're a great uncle for showing him how to fish and he's learning a great deal more than just how to fish. You're putting him on the right path by getting him outdoors, involved in quality activities and making him use his head for things other than video games.

That was an awesome video btw. Nice fish for a nice kid and his great uncle.  

[LCpointerKILLA]

haha funny video. You are like the bass coach. Cool pond

[Uncle Leo]

Landed that bass like a pro.

[Ben W]

Great vid!! haha your excitement throughout the vid especially when he had it hooked was the best part!!! Nice fish.

Did you have to ask for permission to fish in the golf course pond?

[slomoe]

Great video