Feel Good Outing

[Bluebasser86]

As with every week my friend and I were making fishing plans for Tuesday on Monday. I could tell he had something on his mind so I asked what was up. Turns out his step-son and all his friends had gone to camp for the weekend, minus one who got left behind because his parents wouldn't let him go. No real reason, they just didn't want him to go. My friend said the boy was really upset and he thought maybe we'd have room in the boat for one more on Tuesday. I told him I'd be more than happy to have another person on the boat and we were going to the perfect lake for him to tag along! Well they showed up at the house at 4am and I probably got thanked half a dozen times by little Bradley for taking him fishing before the truck even left the driveway. My friend had stayed up late teaching him how to cast a baitcaster and he was really excited to get to try using one out on the lake. We had pretty good conditions and I started catching fish right away, on my first cast actually. I put 5 or 6 in the boat on a buzzbait, popper, and jig before I thought maybe a spinnerbait would work. So I switch Bradley over to a spinnerbait and told him to casts across a rock pier. He was almost back to the boat with his bait when his rod slammed down and he put his first fish of the day in the boat! Not a monster in size but in meaning it was. It was his first fish ever on a spinnerbait. Then he picked up his baitcasting rod that had a jig and started testing the waters. He did pretty well casting and even managed to pitch with it fairly well. We got to the end of the next pier and I look back to see him fighting another fish! He swung his first fish ever on a baitcaster and a jig in the boat! Again not a monster but a good fish anyways. We went on to catch between 50 and 75 fish between the 3 of us, nothing huge but lots of solid fish around the 3 pound mark with an even 4 pounder I caught on a crankbait being the biggest. My friend caught his first ever fish on a swimbait and I caught several on mine to help build some confidence. Bradley ended up with 16 fish on a spinnerbait, jig, and even one on a swimbait! Not bad for an 11 year old. I almost felt bad when I told him we had to go at the end of the day. I did feel good on the way home when he was already talking about next time we go fishing. I don't know if he will ever be as consumed by the passion for fishing that I feel, but I am certian after this day that there is one more kid out there that is hooked!

[ICU812]

I'm glad I took the time to read this. It was good of you to take him fishing and I'm sure it was a time he'll never forget!

[00 mod]

GREAT story and kudos to you for getting another youngster hooked!!!

Jeff