Hit the main stem of the Creek yesterday from 1 PM to 4 PM with my 10-year-old son in tow, who probably would have gone pig-slopping with me because I took him out of school early.
Threw a chrome rattletrap until my arm about dropped off with no takers. Rigged up a slip bobber and shiner for my son, who proceeded to catch three nice 10-14" smallies. The cool things about it were (a) him getting up on me 3-0 and rubbing it in mercilessly, and (b) watching him use what he called his "bass technique" to catch them. About every 10 seconds or so, he would reel fast, and the bobber/shiner would move about 4-5 feet. When he did, he would yell "CHALLENGE!" LOL
All the fish he caught took dead or mostly dead shiners. Go figure.
The water was dang cold and gin clear. Nice to see some water in the creek. Of course, that also meant I had to carry my son over a few spots to keep him from getting totally wet too early in the day.
All the fish came out of the deepest, slowest water we could find. Without exception, each fish took a couple fake passes at the bait before they finally took off with it. Some definite taste-testing going on.
Can't say enough about the circle hook. Live bait guys, if you don't use it, you should. I haven't gullet-hooked a fish since I began using them. And they're awesome for kids, who just want to start reeling anyway.
Awesome to be able to do this in late November, and nothing better than taking your son fishing and have him tell you on the way back to the truck, "Dad, I love you and thanks for taking me." Better than biscuits and gravy, man.
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Originally Posted by jcb
