08-10-2014, 03:23 AM
Well, as has been pointed out, it is high time I reported on our trip !!
We headed out on Friday Aug 1st at 10am. Pretty good time since we had planned on leaving at 9. Drove up to the Berry and were on the water by half past noon. Purposely forgot the plug until right before I put the boat in and asked the boys if I had forgotten anything. Nope, let's go fishing. So I showed them the plug and they nodded their heads.
Anyway, we got on the water and boogied out to the east side of the lake, a bit north of the marina and all the way across the lake. The wind was coming from the West, so we would position our boat west of the bank out where the water was around 50-60 ft deep and let our lines down to about 30 feet deep and jigged.
We used 3" tube jigs tipped with a chunk of chub minnow meat. We would jig until the boat drifted into 25 ft of water, then pull all the lines in and move the boat out to deeper water. We always headed more to the north so we could work our way up the east side of the lake. We tried this a few times and then boogied north of the island and west of it. We tried in that area for a while until the wind picked up. Nice waves did the jigging for us. It started getting a bit bumpy and I saw a couple white caps, so we buzzed on back to the marina.
We were probably out on the water for 3 hours. The boys had turned into zombies after about the first 15 minutes wondering when the fish would start biting. They would come to life every once in a while when they got a bite, but were so zombified that they'd forget to jerk the line to hook the fish. We tried to keep them awake and alert and ready to set the hook when the occasional bite came, but they're 11 and have the attention span of a knat..
Bottom line is I ended up pulling 2 in, the other leader caught 1 but it came off right at the boat (which is actually pretty nice so you don't have to pull the hook out). All 3 were cuts in the slot so all were released. The boys had some fun, but wanted to get back and try their hand at crawdad hunting.
So, back at the marina, we let them loose on the crawdads. We gave them 2 drumsticks to use. One boy lost his drumstick when it got tangled up in some rocks. The other boy got bored after 15 minutes and threw his drumstick into the lake. I guess they're not much into patience and not wasting bait.
Anyway, after about an hour they all wandered back to our campsite. We had 3 boys there at the time, the other 2 would arrive later that evening with their dads. So their shoes were all muddy and wet and they took them off and changed into dry stuff. After about an hour, I suggested that they try using the fishing poles which were still baited with stinky chub meat. They lit up and took off with a bucket and 3 poles, and wearing their only dry clothes.
They came back an hour later with a bucket of crawdads!!! Probably about 30 of the little buggers. We had hot dogs for dinner and boiled up the crawdads. They really were enthusiastic about the boiling and eating of the crawdads. We made some dip with some minced garlic and butter and dipped the crawdad meat in it. Very tasty. Not much meat, but it was fun. One of the boys wasn't paying attention and just ate a whole tail, shell and all and wondered why it was so crunchy.
That night, same boy got ill around 2pm and decided he wanted to go home. We tried to get him to stay, but he wanted to call his mom, so we let him. His dad drove up and picked him up at 5am. He missed out on the next day of fishing..
Around 11am, we took all 3 of the remaining boys, along with 2 other leaders and one of their younger boys on the boat to try the jigging again. The marina was PACKED !!! We put the boat in and were lucky that somebody had just pulled out of the parking lot and we got a good spot to park.
Anyway, we tried just east of Haws Point and drifted/jigged from the middle of the channel. The wind was blowing from the north east that day, so we'd work our way north and drift and jig. The boys became zombified after a few minutes and were in their zen state of semi-consiousness. When all of a sudden, we got a few bites, but no fish for the first hour and then after going just north of the canyon entrance, we started catching a couple. One of the boys said his line was heavy, and so we had him reel it in and he soon realized there was something alive on the other end. He got very enthusiasted and excited about catching a fish. We netted his fish and took some pictures before releasing it. That boy stayed awake and enthusiastic for about 30 minutes before reverting to his zombie state, which in my mind is GREAT PROGRESS. As time passed, both of the other two boys caught a fish and were stoked !!! It was funny that earlier one of the boys was asking what the big deal was about catching fish, and how it took too long and was boring. I told him he'd change his mind as soon as he caught his first fish. By the way, none of the boys had ever caught a fish and most had never been fishing. THEY MUST HAVE HORRIBLE PARENTS !!!
Anyway, we ended up catching about 5 on Saturday and each of the boys caught 1 fish and pulled it all the way in. We helped them net the fish, but let the boys hook, and reel in their catch all by themselves.
I asked them if they thought it was worth the time they spent in the boat and if they had fun. ALL of them said YES and were really glad that we stayed out and let them all catch a fish. Pretty good day I thought. So now we have a few more boys newly hooked on fishing. They had a great time, enjoyed being outside, and catching their first fish.
A successful trip all around !!!
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We headed out on Friday Aug 1st at 10am. Pretty good time since we had planned on leaving at 9. Drove up to the Berry and were on the water by half past noon. Purposely forgot the plug until right before I put the boat in and asked the boys if I had forgotten anything. Nope, let's go fishing. So I showed them the plug and they nodded their heads.
Anyway, we got on the water and boogied out to the east side of the lake, a bit north of the marina and all the way across the lake. The wind was coming from the West, so we would position our boat west of the bank out where the water was around 50-60 ft deep and let our lines down to about 30 feet deep and jigged.
We used 3" tube jigs tipped with a chunk of chub minnow meat. We would jig until the boat drifted into 25 ft of water, then pull all the lines in and move the boat out to deeper water. We always headed more to the north so we could work our way up the east side of the lake. We tried this a few times and then boogied north of the island and west of it. We tried in that area for a while until the wind picked up. Nice waves did the jigging for us. It started getting a bit bumpy and I saw a couple white caps, so we buzzed on back to the marina.
We were probably out on the water for 3 hours. The boys had turned into zombies after about the first 15 minutes wondering when the fish would start biting. They would come to life every once in a while when they got a bite, but were so zombified that they'd forget to jerk the line to hook the fish. We tried to keep them awake and alert and ready to set the hook when the occasional bite came, but they're 11 and have the attention span of a knat..
Bottom line is I ended up pulling 2 in, the other leader caught 1 but it came off right at the boat (which is actually pretty nice so you don't have to pull the hook out). All 3 were cuts in the slot so all were released. The boys had some fun, but wanted to get back and try their hand at crawdad hunting.
So, back at the marina, we let them loose on the crawdads. We gave them 2 drumsticks to use. One boy lost his drumstick when it got tangled up in some rocks. The other boy got bored after 15 minutes and threw his drumstick into the lake. I guess they're not much into patience and not wasting bait.
Anyway, after about an hour they all wandered back to our campsite. We had 3 boys there at the time, the other 2 would arrive later that evening with their dads. So their shoes were all muddy and wet and they took them off and changed into dry stuff. After about an hour, I suggested that they try using the fishing poles which were still baited with stinky chub meat. They lit up and took off with a bucket and 3 poles, and wearing their only dry clothes.
They came back an hour later with a bucket of crawdads!!! Probably about 30 of the little buggers. We had hot dogs for dinner and boiled up the crawdads. They really were enthusiastic about the boiling and eating of the crawdads. We made some dip with some minced garlic and butter and dipped the crawdad meat in it. Very tasty. Not much meat, but it was fun. One of the boys wasn't paying attention and just ate a whole tail, shell and all and wondered why it was so crunchy.
That night, same boy got ill around 2pm and decided he wanted to go home. We tried to get him to stay, but he wanted to call his mom, so we let him. His dad drove up and picked him up at 5am. He missed out on the next day of fishing..
Around 11am, we took all 3 of the remaining boys, along with 2 other leaders and one of their younger boys on the boat to try the jigging again. The marina was PACKED !!! We put the boat in and were lucky that somebody had just pulled out of the parking lot and we got a good spot to park.
Anyway, we tried just east of Haws Point and drifted/jigged from the middle of the channel. The wind was blowing from the north east that day, so we'd work our way north and drift and jig. The boys became zombified after a few minutes and were in their zen state of semi-consiousness. When all of a sudden, we got a few bites, but no fish for the first hour and then after going just north of the canyon entrance, we started catching a couple. One of the boys said his line was heavy, and so we had him reel it in and he soon realized there was something alive on the other end. He got very enthusiasted and excited about catching a fish. We netted his fish and took some pictures before releasing it. That boy stayed awake and enthusiastic for about 30 minutes before reverting to his zombie state, which in my mind is GREAT PROGRESS. As time passed, both of the other two boys caught a fish and were stoked !!! It was funny that earlier one of the boys was asking what the big deal was about catching fish, and how it took too long and was boring. I told him he'd change his mind as soon as he caught his first fish. By the way, none of the boys had ever caught a fish and most had never been fishing. THEY MUST HAVE HORRIBLE PARENTS !!!
Anyway, we ended up catching about 5 on Saturday and each of the boys caught 1 fish and pulled it all the way in. We helped them net the fish, but let the boys hook, and reel in their catch all by themselves.
I asked them if they thought it was worth the time they spent in the boat and if they had fun. ALL of them said YES and were really glad that we stayed out and let them all catch a fish. Pretty good day I thought. So now we have a few more boys newly hooked on fishing. They had a great time, enjoyed being outside, and catching their first fish.
A successful trip all around !!!
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