Great last few days on the water with the Maniaci family. They brought their 6 year old son up to visit for a couple of days. I knew we could catch panfish off the dock, which we did, but was floored by how well the youngster could cast a lure which meant we could also fish the river. It was truly remarkable.
Domonic started Saturday afternoon on the dock catching panfish after panfish when he hooked into this beast of a Largemouth Bass. It took him a while on his two foot Spiderman pole but he made it work. Great photo and release.
The next day we tried casting lures off the dock and Dominic again casted really well so we thought he was ready to fish the river. Fishing has slowed a bit on the river. I've noticed that post spawn there is about a one or two week lull in the action when using topwater. The cooler water temperature probably played a role as well. We still saw/hooked plenty of fish but not the numbers we have been seeing. With the warming trend and a little rain I expect the fishing to pick up as the week progresses.
Yesterday was fairly windy but the beauty of fishing the smaller rivers is you can always find a section out of the wind to fish comfortably. We did just that and my college buddy Vinny got on the board with a few decent northern. He also lost a nice Smallmouth that jumped completely out of the water but managed to real in another nice Smallmouth later in the day. Roughly 16".
Angie, Vinny's wife, casted really well but only saw a few fish over the few hours we were out.
I'd say the play of the day was when Vinny hooked into a mid 20" northern and Dominic just kept on fishing and hooked his own Northern. You can not help but be happy when your good friend and his 6 year old fish both have fish on at the same time!
Another highlight is when I hooked into this monster pike. Vinny did a great job netting the giant fish and Dominic decided it was half his as I was using his rod.
Overall a enjoyable and successful family outing on the river. Some people ask me what is an o.k. age to go on a trip. My old number was about 8, but if you can cast like Dominic, I'd say 6 years old is plenty! Send me a message and bring your family out to fish with me. I promise they'll leave with more fishing knowledge than they start the day with and memories to last a lifetime.
Enjoy today,
Teacher Todd
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