First Report In A Few Weeks

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Detritus
Posts: 538
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:50 pm
Species: Anything we can catch
Location: Vergennes

First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by Detritus »

It's been a busy few weeks in my little part of the world, between coaching two baseball teams, Brody on the rowing team, and kids on four other baseball and softball teams.

But, we did manage to sneak in some fishing here and there.

On one trip, we took Strike Three out to do a little of what Ozzy calls "cast and throw fishing", as opposed to what we do aboard the Country Angler, which he calls "sit and watch fishing". We went out with Liam, Ozzy, and their baby sister Mary, who's 6 and a half now.

Ozzy got his first Master Angler fish of the year. A 13" pig of a yellow perch on a crankbait in Kingsland Bay.


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The thing was like a little bass. Biggest one we've ever had in the boat.

On the way back home that day, Liam couldn't resist doing a little jigging night crawlers in the river, so we made time for that. I remember that we had somewhere to be, and I told him we could only fish until 12:45. I watched him jig on Livescope up front until 12:48, when I told him we really had to go. It was at that moment he yanks the rod, and its on.

So pay close attention here fellow anglers, I'm going to let you guys in on some of our secret fishing techniques to catch big fish. In the murky water of the river, sound plays a big role in attracting the fish. This one was attracted to yelling about whos turn it was to sit in the back spinny chair, thumping your feet on the hull, screaming "It's my turn!" over and over, and "Ozzy!! Ozzy!! Ozzy!!!" and me telling them to knock it off. Plastic bottles being thrown in the river, and then being netted back out, and powerade being dumped on the deck. Also, be sure to slap your fishing rods on the surface of the water like whips as much as possible as well. If you do it right, you can end up with fish like this in your boat.


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11.5 lb Sheephead.

It was about a 20 minute fight for Liam on a rod with 8lb test line. Also, Master Angler species number five for him for 2021, making him a Youth Master Angler again, this time before Memorial Day. A quick trip for us, and I could tell Liam was annoyed by the little ones in the back from time to time, but, of all of my kids, he has the most patience.

The next weekend was Memorial Day, and we spent it camping on Burton Island. Strong North wind, and cold temperatures all weekend. Pretty sure the water was warmer than the air most of the time, and that's not very warm this time of the year. Off and on rain too.

But, we fished off of the docks and jetty a little, caught a few nice Largemouth.


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That fish was actually caught on a crawler and a jig head that Liam was using to try to catch some Bluegill in a school in the inner marina. There was also lots of Largemouth on nests right on the edge of the shore guarding eggs. Pretty cool to see.

We did have Strike Three there as well, and took it out fishing too. Brody, Liam, and I went over and fished the Gut, to see what was over there.

We found a massive school of perch, which we thought was some sort of malfunction on the Livescope at first. But, it turned out to be real. Hundreds and hundreds of them. We pulled 20 of them or so out to bring home for lunch. Liam cleaned half of the fish, I did the other half, and we both cooked them. The coolest part of that school though, was when they were at the surface making the water boil, a big pike shot up and ate one of them jumping in the air. Lots of yelling on that sight as well.

Liam got a nice little bass later on, on a chartreuse spinner bait.


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That brings us to this past weekend, which was kind of a big milestone for me as a Dad.

The night before the morning we had free to fish after a crazy day of Little League, Girl Scouts, a Rowing race and a Birthday Party, I was asking around the kids to see who was interested in fishing the next day. To my surprise, my older daughter Tess said she wanted to go. I think it was because I told her that Dilly Worm's Daughter was going to be out fishing that day as well, and those guys are good buddies.

I talked to the boys, and proposed and idea. I suggested that Tess and I join Dilly Worm on his boat, and Brody and Liam take the Country angler out solo for the first time. They were up for the idea, alghough Brody was a little nervous, saying he only wanted to run two riggers, so there'd be less of a risk of tangles. Liam responded with, "No way, we're running four rods". I suggested that they just play it by ear. I talked to Dilly, and those guys were up for it. The plan was set.

We got out on the water a little earlier than them, and planned on meeting up out in Town Farm Bay. We do live minutes away from a pretty beautiful fishery.






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Then came the time that I watched my boys drive away aboard the Country Angler alone, on ther first solo cold water fishing trip.


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Kind of something to see for me. Didn't really expect them at 14 and 11 to be able to have the skills and ability to do something like that, but, there it is.

I had given those guys a handheld CB radio to keep in contact with us on the other boat, so as not to clog up the VHF airways with chatter, since there was so many boats on the water. I don't think it was 10 minutes before they're calling us, "Fish On!". And then "Doubles!".

One of them was an 8lb laker.


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We were having a good time aboard the Bassmobile (Dilly Worm's boat) as well, although not catching as many fish as the boys. The girls did each boat a laker though. Here's Tess' fish.


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Spoons and stickbaits had the most hits, 20-30' down. We went 2-4 lakers, and the boys went 4-4 lakers. After a few hours of fun trolling, and hanging out with Dilly and his daughter, we called the boys, and had them meet us over in Kingsland for a swim, and a cookout.


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"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
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Detritus
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Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:50 pm
Species: Anything we can catch
Location: Vergennes

Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by Detritus »

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Liam wanted to keep a Laker for the new smoker we got a couple weeks ago, and see if we couldn't duplicate the success of smoking Lake trout we had last year with our Neighbor. Here's the smoker we got, I forgot to take pictures of the fish cooking on it.


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Here's the boys at home with their first solo caught cold water species meal.


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And here's the fish on the table. Really really good. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Lake Trout when prepared well, can be every bit as good as a salmon. Not even exaggerating. It is a lot more work, you can't just throw it in the oven like a salmon. You have to fillet it skin on, make a brine, brine it for a day, rinse it, dry it, then smoke it. I'll post the exact procedure and recipe on here at some point, and if you try it, you will be surprised at how much you agree.


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So there you have it, a little summary of our fishing trips we snuck in the last few weeks at our house. Kind of a big moment for me, watching those boys drive away to catch some fish on their own.
"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
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Reelax
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Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:27 pm
Species: Salmon, steelhead, brown trout
Location: Fletcher, Vt

Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by Reelax »

Milestone after milestone, trophy after trophy, your report was amazing Jack. Your kids are truly blessed to have such great opportunities to fish. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to post such a complete story. I am now wondering
How old you have to be to get a charter license.. I could see Brody having a great summer job where he is his own boss!! He already has an experienced deck hand for 1st mate..

Fish on!
Matt B
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fishy1
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Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by fishy1 »

thanks jack for that great report and all of the great pics just awsome. keep those kids fishing your doing a great job with them. i been looking for you at my usual spot. little up river now sometimes now to not to far away though.
BlackDucks&BrownDogs
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Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by BlackDucks&BrownDogs »

Good stuff!

Thanks for sharing.

BTW, salmon is a distant second to smoked lake trout! 😁
TUnamas
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Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by TUnamas »

Awesome report by all measures! Well done! Your kids are awesome, which means you've done really good.
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the_doctor
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Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:24 pm
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Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by the_doctor »

Those sheepshead put up an awesome fight. Very underrated.
Detritus wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:05 pm We found a massive school of perch, which we thought was some sort of malfunction on the Livescope at first. But, it turned out to be real.
I found them stacked up, a 10' thick solid mark off the bottom this past week up here. Mixed whites and yellows. I believe they are feeding on various creepy-crawlies that hatch this time of year.
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Detritus
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Species: Anything we can catch
Location: Vergennes

Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by Detritus »

fishy1 wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:32 am thanks jack for that great report and all of the great pics just awsome. keep those kids fishing your doing a great job with them. i been looking for you at my usual spot. little up river now sometimes now to not to far away though.
We usually only get to fish a half a day a week lately. But, it looks like we'll be launching Strike Three there Saturday morning. Well look for you on the way out, or back in.
BTW, salmon is a distant second to smoked lake trout!
Thank you.

I've heard so much negative stuff said about the taste of lake trout over the years that believe it or not, I think it has had a direct effect on our salmon and lake trout populations. People catch a laker, it goes back in the water. People catch a salmon, it goes in the boat. It's not the only reason for the numbers of each species, but, it could be a significant factor. All perception if you ask me.

On that conservation note, I wanted to mention that above I had talked about the nesting bass up at Burton island, then showed a picture of a bass Liam caught. I just wanted to clarify that while it may not be illegal to catch fish off of nests (I'm not sure on that one), that is something that we do not do as anglers. If we see a fish on a nest regardless of species, we do not fish it. In fact, I think it is illegal to target bass with live bait at all during bass catch and release season. Liam was fishing the bluegill school away from the bass, and Mr. Largemouth hit that crawler from out of nowhere.

In any case, we think as a family the future of the entire fishery takes priority over catching any individual fish. Just in case anybody new to the sport was reading this, and planned to use our techniques or locations, or if experienced fishermen were wondering about our own personal fishing ethics.

Good luck out there everybody, that derby is sneaking up on us fast!
"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
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Greenhorn
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Re: First Report In A Few Weeks

Post by Greenhorn »

Great report Jack. I am thrilled and impressed that your boys were able to handle your boat by themselves. You have provided the opportunity and they have responded in a spectacular way. I talked to a coworker yesterday and his boys are doing extremely well on their high school bass fishing teams, one of them finishing 12th in the nation. I would say that generation of kids will be great stewards for this sport for years to come, thanks to caring parents like yourself. Best of luck in the LCI. I will be out there with you chasing the big one.
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