A NIGHT WE WILL NEVER FORGET
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:21 pm
My hard-charging 9 year-old son didn’t hesitate, as usual, to say “yes” last night when I asked if he wanted to fish the golf course lakes in back of the house. What surprised me is that he asked if he could try casting tackle for the first time.
Flash back to a few months ago, when my son used his medium light spinning setup with 10 lb. braided line to cast a mini bladed jig along a tule line when a solid largemouth ambushed his bait and quickly went back into the tules before he could react. That 3 lb. fish broke his heart, but I was thoroughly entertained because I told him exactly where to cast to catch the aggressive resident fish, and he was able to do so. He asked what he could have done differently, and I suggested that he could use heavier casting tackle in a few years when I thought that he might be ready.
Back to last night, I reluctantly dug out an old retired custom 6’ medium Phenix rod that I had made around 1990. The rod hasn’t been in my regular arsenal for over a decade, but it holds a special place in my memories because I managed to catch a 4.5 pound spinnerbait fish on my first cast with that rod that won big fish and few hundred dollars in tournament when I was a broke college kid. I paired the rod with an old beat up Team Daiwa-X 103HSDF that I keep around for friends to use. Did I tell you that my son has a habit of leaving combos at the bottom of the lake?
My son’s first cast with the casting setup was only about 20 feet because I scared him about backlashing, and he has never seen his father do so. Did I tell you that I’m also full of it? His second cast was only about 30 feet, but this skinny post-spawn fish gobbled his swim jig. He got the fish in with no issues because I have been hooking and handing him off fish with my casting setups since he was old enough to walk.
He caught two more fish in the next few casts. This proud father thought that he might be a natural. Maybe the next KVD. Unfortunately, he only made it about 20 casts before his first major backlash. This un-pickable beauty still couldn’t take the smiles of accomplishment off of our faces.
Flash back to a few months ago, when my son used his medium light spinning setup with 10 lb. braided line to cast a mini bladed jig along a tule line when a solid largemouth ambushed his bait and quickly went back into the tules before he could react. That 3 lb. fish broke his heart, but I was thoroughly entertained because I told him exactly where to cast to catch the aggressive resident fish, and he was able to do so. He asked what he could have done differently, and I suggested that he could use heavier casting tackle in a few years when I thought that he might be ready.
Back to last night, I reluctantly dug out an old retired custom 6’ medium Phenix rod that I had made around 1990. The rod hasn’t been in my regular arsenal for over a decade, but it holds a special place in my memories because I managed to catch a 4.5 pound spinnerbait fish on my first cast with that rod that won big fish and few hundred dollars in tournament when I was a broke college kid. I paired the rod with an old beat up Team Daiwa-X 103HSDF that I keep around for friends to use. Did I tell you that my son has a habit of leaving combos at the bottom of the lake?
My son’s first cast with the casting setup was only about 20 feet because I scared him about backlashing, and he has never seen his father do so. Did I tell you that I’m also full of it? His second cast was only about 30 feet, but this skinny post-spawn fish gobbled his swim jig. He got the fish in with no issues because I have been hooking and handing him off fish with my casting setups since he was old enough to walk.
He caught two more fish in the next few casts. This proud father thought that he might be a natural. Maybe the next KVD. Unfortunately, he only made it about 20 casts before his first major backlash. This un-pickable beauty still couldn’t take the smiles of accomplishment off of our faces.