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Not a piggie, but a good start. It ate a 4 inch Yum Dinger, Texas rigged, while I was untangling my kids line from mine. He crossed my line and hooked it with a spinner, when I untangled I thought I had somehow hung up in the rocks, then the line darted sideways :D

First blood on a new rod to boot.

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Kiddos casting is getting way better. He's graduated from push buttons to spinning gear. He's getting his own rod medium action rod soon. He kept bugging me today to cast buzz baits, big cranks, and swimbaits like I had been fishing. Told him he needs something beefier than an ultralight. His response was perfectly timed and as wiseass as I'd expect...

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Also got my first buzzbait fish of the year, a 10 inch largemouth sitting right on the bank in some wood. Hooked another briefly, but it flopped loose. It was a grind to get 2.5 fish today. Had a couple good thumps throwing 7 inch swimbaits, lost a new 5XD crank to the rocks, and missed a couple fish on a lipless crank bait.
 
Beat the water for almost 5 hours yesterday for 4 fish. Congrats on the first one for 2018.

Didn't see anyone else catching anything either, so glad I was not alone in the struggle.

What surprised me most, there did not seem to be the usual schoolie bass near the sheriff's boathouse. They should be in post spawn mode at this point. Nada.

Next week I may try Vernonia, smaller puddle, maybe more chance of getting a fish. I'd love to find a new spot to chace bass that doesn't require a 2 or 3 hour drive, or a boat to properly fish.
 
My lil dude was a bit butthurt that for all his effort, he got no fish. We're hitting the local pond after school to try and remedy that. Carp, bluegill, bass, catfish - somethings gotta eat! I saw a pair of 5-6lb bass roaming near shore last time we were there. Almost pooped myself seeing bass that big, in that pond. Its dang rare - the bass typically average under 10 to 12 inches. Seeing those piggies got me all twitterpated. :D
 
I agree that teaching young boys to fish is really a challenge because they have no earthly idea of what the word patience means... lol:D


Oooh yeah. He's too much like his dad in that regard. I used to get quite frustrated with fishless days, moreso if adults got fish but not me.

And I was a snarky little turd when *I* caught fish and the adults didn't. I am thinking my boy is karma embodied sometimes. Simeine, somewhere uttered the curse "may your child be just like you" - if I find that person, I'm gonna slap em! :D

The one thing that's different, when I was a kid fishing meant soaking a worm, on the bottom. Didn't matter if we were banking or boating, tactic was always the same, except at Diamond Lake, where worms were often swapped out for cubes of Velveeta "Cheese"

It seemed like 80% of the Velveeta sold in the state was in the two shops near that lake :D

I started fishing lures and flies as a teen, because still fishing with bait got reeal boring. I started reading everything I could on fishing, and I wanted to be like Bill Dance, Babe Winkleman, Roland Martin, and Larry Schoenborn.

So I am getting the boy started on lures early, because maaybe he'll be less of a pest if he's not totally bored. Casting & reeling kept him more focused. When he got frustrated his Rapala was not getting hook ups, and I suggested switching to a bobber & jig, he flatly refused saying he preferred the cast & retrieve, and wanted to get a fish on a lure. We tried going to a Snap Bean - the smallest crankbait I know of. It was too light for him to cast well with, but it had fish take a wack. I forgot my splitshot at home (bad papa) or I would've put a bb shot above it for casting weight.
 
Tell me more about this Diamond Lake/Velveeta tactic...

Pretty simple, typical bait rig. My old man wasn't into fancy slider weight rigs (carolina rigs for bass fishing types types) - we tied a bell weight on above a snap swivel, then attached Eagle Claw pre-snelled hooks - either #6 or 8 baitholders, or #12 treble hooks to the snap. Bait was a 1/4" cube of velveeta. Cast it out and wait. Or, if in a boat, drop it straight overboard till it hit bottom, reel it up a couple cranks to tension the line, and wait.

Old man was not much into trolling, reading a graph, or believing fish were catcbable when not on bottom, except if you were fly fishing and he didn't fly fish.

We fished the same rig everywhere. In Kansas, we fished that rig for catfish, using heavier weights and tackle. Bait was worms, chicken liver, or fresh crappie guts.

Out here for trout, bass, or yellow perch, bait was night crawlers, maaaybe occassionally Power Bait. At Diamond it was worms or cheese.

Only time the old man would fish any different was going after salmon out in the bays, when we fished herring on the troll.
 
@mkwerx Have you guys tried the Strike King KVD squarebill silent crank? I bought a few and fish blow them up big time and they are fairly easy to cast. I thing it's a very beginner friendly crank as well

Walmart has them for sure

I fish squarebills a lot, those and lipless.

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Kiddo likes winding crankbaits in. Here's one of his first crankbait caught bass.

One of my favorite baits next to the KVD ones, are Matzuo's square bills. I can't find them in stores anymore though. My fav lipless is also a matzuo. I have one in particular that outfishes all others, I've worn the paint off, and worn grooves in the bottom of the nose, it still kills. I'd trade my Rattle Traps for more just like it!

Here's kiddo's first smallmouth, he got it on a "ned rig" under a bobber.

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Good times!!

My boy got bored with bobber fishing too... that's why his older sister caught all the fish while he was goofing off. Boyz, sheesh.

When I was a young lad meself, before dad got a boat, we did a lot of bank fishing. It was with dough balls, sometimes Velveeta... couldn't afford to waste "good" food tho. Bluegills and catfish were the order of the day. After I graduated HS, I fished the same lake by hiking to different spots around the lake, where I would wade out and cast feather jigs and other lures to get some bass. Had good success.

In the Coast Guard I was stationed in N. C. for a little over a year... I bought my first levelwind reel and got a taste for LG bass fishing. Used to cast large crankbaits, 9" worms, etc. Mostly from boat but also along the banks at the base.

Later I moved here and started fishing local lakes and also the Snake R impoundments. Mostly used medium sized crankbaits, top water lures, and 4" or 6" worms and 2" twister tail grubs. Very good success!!!
 
In my experience, bass don't chase lures coming towards the bank nearly as well as they do those going away or parallel. Other than using slow moving soft baits, think how a boat could improve fishing for your family!! :D
 

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