Early summer fishing with the kids

Before the summer got too crazy with Scout Camps, soccer tournaments, and family reunions I made a promise to myself and my kids that we'd go fishing a couple times. I made good on my promise and for three weeks in a row I loaded up the family Suburban and headed to the lake near the family cabin to fish for the evening.

The first night was May 30th... it was a cloudy evening and when we got to the lake the clouds were low and ominous. All six of the kids came with me, leaving Mom home alone to get some sewing done. We passed a couple other fishermen on our way to the dam and they chatted with the kids as they ran past... a couple nice old guys. I rigged up half the poles with the classic red & white bobbers and some salmon eggs, then the other half of the poles with the new fangled yellow & orange bobbers with rainbow glitter PowerBait pearls. It didn't take long to figure out that the PowerBait was performing better so the salmon eggs were switched out for the PowerBait. I didn't get a line in the water at all that night, I spent nearly the entire time running from child to child to help untangle or help the youngest ones cast. In the end though we caught a handful of nice fish and the kids had fun. We ended up with 4 trout on the stringer & I couldn't have asked for much more than that. On the drive home my little brood of children turned into real fishermen!!! Stories were told in the backseat as we drove of the big ones that got away and by the time we arrived back home late that night all were sound asleep and I carried them in to their beds.

After the first trip the kids were anxious to go again so I made a deal with them that if they helped Mom out and went above and beyond with helping out with house chores that I'd take them again. On June 5th I got a text from my wife letting me know that the kitchen had been cleaned, the laundry folded and put away, and bedrooms had been cleaned... the kids wanted to go fishing again. Well twist arm!!! I hurried home that afternoon and again loaded up the Suburban. This time my two year old decided to stay home with Mom and watch a movie and eat popcorn. So I loaded up the other 5 kids and headed for the lake. The sun was out and the weather was perfect. We started with the same PowerBait rig as the week before and for the first 20 minutes we didn't get a single bite. I grabbed one of the poles and quickly switched the red & white bobber out for a clear "bubble" and tied on a black leech pattern about four feet behind the bobber. I figured it had always worked well up there before so it was worth a try. I filled the bobber completely full, heaved it out into the lake and after a "10 Mississippi" count began a steady retrieve.

It didn't take long to feel that first unmistakable strike and in short order a smallish rainbow made it's way into my net. It was a mad scramble to switch all the poles over to the fly & bubble rig, but once I did it was fast and furious for the next hour and in total we landed 9 trout that evening. I had so much fun that night... I made one cast (and caught that one fish) but spent the rest of the evening responding to the shouts of "Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad... I got one!!!" and looking down the bank to see one of the kids with the rod doubled over. With each shout there was a second scramble for the net, there were fights over who got to net the next one. Just before dark we decided to call it a night and we made out way home with more stories being told of the big ones that got away in the backseat of the suburban.

On June 12th I got another text from my wife... the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms were clean and the kids had only one expectation... for Dad to take them fishing! This time my 4 year old decided to stay home with Mom and 2 year old brother so I had my oldest 4 kids this trip. There was no hesitation this time, we began with the fly & bubble rig and never looked back. Fishing was a good bit slower this trip but my 6 year old had the magic touch and he landed 2 of the 4 that night.

His second fish was a beautiful 16 inch plus rainbow that he put the squeeze on and had to show to the old guy fishing just down the bank from us. He was so proud of that. This trip was absolutely relaxing for me... I didn't even rig up my own pole and I just watched and coached... I focused mainly on my 6 year old as the older three had figured how to cast and didn't want my help anymore. This would be the last time for a little while that we would be able to go fishing... my oldest would have a soccer tournament the next weekend (which his team ended up winning, playing 5 games in less than 48 hours... four of them in less than 24 hours... scoring 30 goals and only conceding 1).

My second son requested that we cook the fish for his birthday dinner so my wife got half of the fillets out of the freezer and began to work her magic. We have a fantastic homemade chicken nugget breading recipe that the kids just love so we breaded and fried them... trout nuggets. They were amazing.