# Finally! I knew there were fish in there somewhere.



## fender66 (Jun 30, 2010)

I guess third time is a charm. I discovered about a 75 acre (no gas) lake that I've been driving by for 20+ years about 3 weeks ago. It's only about 10 minutes from my house and a County Park to boot! Why I've never heard of it before is still stumping me. Anyway, it's close enough that I've been hitting it for the past 2 Fridays after work. I get just under 3 hours on it before I have to leave. Two weeks in a row were strike outs. Not even so much as a hit. Tonight, was a little more reassuring. My buddy landed a couple nice 1 1/2 pound Large Mouths, and I landed about a 2 1/2 pounder on an 8" bubblegum pink worm. First time I've ever fished that color. Only 1 hit on it, but it counted. I knew there had to be something in that lake, dang it! Now I'm on vacation for 5 days...going out tomorrow and Friday. Hope to get some smallies on a river I've not had my boat on yet. Man this is fun and I'm thrilled to share it with you all who can _"really" appreciate and understand! _ Here's a pic of my fish from tonight.


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## Waterwings (Jul 1, 2010)

Congrats on the catchin' ! That's a nice one! =D>


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## Pruitt1222 (Jul 1, 2010)

Its even nicer knowing you can find them so close to home. Man the front of your boat looks huge compared to mine. She is sure a pretty color, I dont see to many that light in color around here.


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## shamoo (Jul 1, 2010)

10 minutes from the house, great discovery!!!! I guess your going to hit it hard, heavy and often.


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## fender66 (Jul 1, 2010)

Pruitt1222 said:


> Its even nicer knowing you can find them so close to home. Man the front of your boat looks huge compared to mine. She is sure a pretty color, I dont see to many that light in color around here.



My boat is a 1648 so it can't be that much bigger. It's a 1984 Alweld that I scored late last December as my first. It is "mid-mod" too. I'll post pics eventually. Right now what you see is my front deck that's been etched and primed.


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## Captain Ahab (Jul 1, 2010)

Nice job!


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## Jim (Jul 1, 2010)

nice job man!

10 minutes from the house is a bonus!


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## Zum (Jul 1, 2010)

Awesome,glad theres some fish to be caught.
I've never fished bubble gum either,I think I might have some flukes that color.


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## fender66 (Jul 1, 2010)

Thanks guys...I feel like I have a new family. :lol: 

Just got back from another morning of fishing too. Tried a river I haven't tried in my tin yet. It was running pretty shallow in some spots, but I did okay for the first time. I think I'll try another spot on the same river tomorrow morning. Going after the small mouth. Today my best catch was about 12 inches. Still had a great day. My favorite part was when my youngest daughter hooked a sunfish on a 6 inch plastic worm. That's the first fish she's ever caught on artificial bait. She was so happy! Pics to come later.


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## TheRookieFD (Jul 2, 2010)

Congrats! Way to stay persistent. Nothing like putting your child on fish is there? 

Keep having fun.


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## fender66 (Jul 6, 2010)

Hey guys...here's an update from my last post. Went fishing last Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday mornings and again yesterday. Nothing much to brag about other than some fun until yesterday when my 12 year old daughter out-fished me big time! This however, is one of my favorite fishing moments of all time. Here's how it went down:

My wife and daughter went out yesterday to tried our luck for a while (this is my wife's first fishing trip with me). About an hour or so into the fishing, I hooked about a 1.75-2 lb largemouth. I thought that was a good catch for this lake. About 2 hours into fishing however, my daughter said she wanted to try a new color worm so she picked the large red worm that I had been using. I told her that she won’t catch small fish on this but she still wanted it. About 20 minutes after setting her up, I was fishing the bank on one side and not really paying attention to her when she said, “Uhhh dad....I think I’m snagged again”. When I turned around, her rod didn’t seem to be bent right for a snag. I asked her if she was sure it wasn't a fish and she said she still thought she was snagged. After I started walking to the back of the boat, I kept asking questions like, do you feel anything pulling, is your line still straight out, or is it moving to one side. About that time, around 40 yards out in the direction of her line, a fish jumped and broke water. The look on her face was pure surprise, mixed with fear, joy and not knowing what to do, all at the same time. She immediately panicked and kept saying, “Dad, help me...it’s slipping, I can’t hold it, help me, it’s slipping”. I kept telling her to hold on and keep bringing it in. She was reeling for dear life with one hand while hanging on with the other. I then realized that the drag on her little little Zebco 33 was set so that she wasn’t making much progress so I tightened it up a bit. Now she was reeling it in. As it got closer to the boat, she kept telling me to take her pole cause she couldn’t hold on any longer and it was slipping. "My hands are tired, I can't hold it anymore, help me dad" she kept yelling. I just kept coaching her insisting that this was her fish and she can bring it in. As it got close to the boat, I had her raise her rod and out came the mouth of a really nice largemouth. 4 pounds to be exact. THIS, was the best part of my weekend, and will last for a long, long time. My wife was there taking pics of the whole event. These will go in a scrapbook for sure.

To top it all off, my wife got to experience this event and totally loved it. (I think she finally "got it" with the fishing thing  ) She even said that we might need a little bigger boat so she can come along more often. I'm not holding my breath, but the seed has been planted! [-o< 

Here are a few pics of the "Moby Dick" as she named him......and of course my little fish in comparison. I'm green :mrgreen: with envy with her catch, but I at least get "daughter" bragging rights.

The first pic is her first "artificial bait" catch from last Thursday.
Second Pic is my best catch yesterday
Third and Fourth pics are...well you'll figure these out.


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## countryboy210 (Jul 6, 2010)

Look At The Smile On Her Face !  

The Fish Was Hooked, Now She's "Hooked" On The Sport, AND Mom/Wife's Hooked. . . You Got It Made In The Shade My Man !

Congrats To All ! =D>


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## Critter (Jul 6, 2010)

Love it!


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## fish devil (Jul 6, 2010)

:twisted: Looks like everyone had a good time. Nice catches!!!


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## switchback (Jul 6, 2010)

Nice catch!


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## fender66 (Jul 7, 2010)

Thanks guys...I have been blessed!


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## C.U. Fishin (Jul 7, 2010)

Simpson?
I live right across 44 from there, a 10 min. trip would include hooking up the tin  

Now the bad part, I'm working ridiculous hours for the next 10 days.
Another good part, in 11 days I'm leaving for two weeks of fishing in Canada

I drove down to the boat launch a couple weeks ago to check it out, just haven't fished it yet.
Looks like I will be putting this on my "Things to do" list.


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## fender66 (Jul 7, 2010)

C.U. Fishin said:


> Simpson?
> I live right across 44 from there, a 10 min. trip would include hooking up the tin



Actually, the 4 lb came from Perry. I just wanted to fire up my motor and try something different. I did get my 2.5lb and a buddy had 2 1.5 lb last Wed...but that's the first time I've ever caught ANYTHING from Simpson. I'm glad I did though as now I know there are fish there.


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## wasilvers (Jul 8, 2010)

Congrats!


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## shamoo (Jul 8, 2010)

VERY NICE, its nice getting the family involved, does your daughter realize in the first picture shes holding the 4 lbers breakfast? :LOL2:


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## fender66 (Jul 8, 2010)

shamoo said:


> VERY NICE, its nice getting the family involved, does your daughter realize in the first picture shes holding the 4 lbers breakfast? :LOL2:



THAT, is very funny. She did realize that on the way home. Kind of upset her to think about it too cause she's an animal lover.

Funny story to go with that: She bought me a minnow bucket for Father's day this year. Last weekend when we were going out, she asked if we could use the minnow bucket. I said sure, but you do realize that we have to hook the minnows through the head if we use them for bait. She gave me a funny look and said she didn't want to do that anymore. :roflmao: God I love my girls!


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