08-15-2018, 04:45 PM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Had the opportunity to fish Strawberry with a friend of a friend yesterday. I met up with Dan and his son Kade at 3:30 AM to make the long drive to the Berry. Dan was spending a whole day with each of his kids this week. Today was his day with son Kade. What a cool thing for a father to do![/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]We prepped the boat during first light, launched at dawn, and was fishing by sun up.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Our target fish today was cutthroats. Our technique was vertical jigging tube jigs tipped with chub.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]After a little tutoring, Kade landed his first ever Berry cutthroat. It was only about 16 inches but you would think he had landed a shark how happy he was. Kade and his dad couldn't believe how big that fish was. I told them that it was "just a baby" but they didn't believe me. It was the first fish of the day and the smallest of the day but they were thrilled![/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Kade's-1st-444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]As we caught more, the fish size just seemed to get bigger and bigger.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Kade's-19---444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Kade was determined to catch a bigger fish than his dad. But when Dan landed a 22 incher, Kade was beginning to think that he wasn't going to come even close to beating ole Dad.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Dan's-22---444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]At noon, even though the fishing had only slowed a little, we decided to call it a day. As we were bringing in our lines from the last drop of the day, Kade yells, "I got one … and it's a monster!". Sure enough, last drop of the day, on the way up no less, Kade nails this beautiful 23 incher to put ole Dad to shame.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Kade's-23-444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]The final count for the day was 31 fish, three over the slot: Dan-22", Kade-23", and Coot-24". All fish were released to swim another day.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]No, the fish count wasn't the 20-30-40 fish per person per day like it can be in the fall, but it was still one of my more memorable fishing trips. It just tickles me to watch rookies get so excited about these blue-ribbon fish. The weather was fantastic, the fishing very good, and the company and conversations was wonderful. Makes me wonder … is it possible for a father-son outing to get much better than this?[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4] [/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]--- Coot ---[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]We prepped the boat during first light, launched at dawn, and was fishing by sun up.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Our target fish today was cutthroats. Our technique was vertical jigging tube jigs tipped with chub.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]After a little tutoring, Kade landed his first ever Berry cutthroat. It was only about 16 inches but you would think he had landed a shark how happy he was. Kade and his dad couldn't believe how big that fish was. I told them that it was "just a baby" but they didn't believe me. It was the first fish of the day and the smallest of the day but they were thrilled![/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Kade's-1st-444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]As we caught more, the fish size just seemed to get bigger and bigger.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Kade's-19---444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Kade was determined to catch a bigger fish than his dad. But when Dan landed a 22 incher, Kade was beginning to think that he wasn't going to come even close to beating ole Dad.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Dan's-22---444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]At noon, even though the fishing had only slowed a little, we decided to call it a day. As we were bringing in our lines from the last drop of the day, Kade yells, "I got one … and it's a monster!". Sure enough, last drop of the day, on the way up no less, Kade nails this beautiful 23 incher to put ole Dad to shame.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4][inline "Kade's-23-444.jpg"][/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]The final count for the day was 31 fish, three over the slot: Dan-22", Kade-23", and Coot-24". All fish were released to swim another day.[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]No, the fish count wasn't the 20-30-40 fish per person per day like it can be in the fall, but it was still one of my more memorable fishing trips. It just tickles me to watch rookies get so excited about these blue-ribbon fish. The weather was fantastic, the fishing very good, and the company and conversations was wonderful. Makes me wonder … is it possible for a father-son outing to get much better than this?[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4] [/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]--- Coot ---[/size][/#800000][/font]
[signature]