I took my 3yr old son, Blake, for his first fishing trip last Saturday. We went to one of the little ponds at the park outside the zoo. We were trying to catch some eatin size panfish. We didn't catch anything big but we did catch 5 or 6 little sunfish. Blake reeled in 2 or 3 of them on his Snoopy fishing pole. I'm so proud of my little man. He did great!!! He got his own worms from the container and brought them to me to put on the hook. Then when he caught a fish on his pole I helped him reel it in close to shore so he could finish reeling it onto the bank. Then I'd show him how to take the hook out by putting the fish in his hands while I took the hook out. Then he would put the fish back in the water by himself. The only time he cried was when the fish flopped out of his hands and into the water by itself. He cried because the fish wouldn't let him put it in the water. Very cool.

I hear that the hybrids are running near the damn on Skiatook. I'm gonna have to get my hooks wet again real soon!!

P.S. Mohawk Park surrounds the Tulsa Zoo and Golf Course. It has lots of parking, covered pavilions, barbecue stands, picnic tables, and a free little water park for the kids. It'd make for a nice family FTE get together.

 

hehe... wasn't too long ago I was in Blake's shoes and my grandfather was showing me the ropes. I remember when I got to take my little brother for his first time, boy did he have a blast (naturally I did too).

STan

 

Ya, our first few fishing memories are something to be cherished. I hope Blake remembers it as he grows up.

I went out to Skiatook dam yesterday after work. It was a bit too cloudy. We were there a couple hours and only got one good bite that set my drag off by the fish grabbed the plastic instead of the hook. But I did catch one eatin size crappie. Man was that thing tastey. Yum Yum.

 

hehe. Well, I just finished my last final (and it feels "oh so good")...

I plan on kicking back and doing a little fishing myself tomorrow. Not sure where we're going to go yet though, but as long as I can do some fishing... I'll be a happy person.

Do you work tomorrow Ron, perhaps we could meet up (granted I'm a largemouth guy, do you fish for largemouth?) at one of the local lakes.

STan

 

Heya Stan, Ya, I work tomorrow; 8am-4:30PM. I'm plan on going to the damn at Skiatook again right after work today. You wanna meet me there for a couple hours? Gimme a call at work or email me.

 

You didn't miss much yesterday, Stan. The water was calmer and visibility was pretty good at 4 to 5 feet. The fish weren't biting on nightcrawlers. I did pull in another eatin size crappie with a 2 inch white sassy shad with red 1/8oz jig head. I put a fresh worm on my hook and tossed the dead one in the water. A few minutes later I saw a crappie swimmin by as slow as can be with that dead worm half out of his mouth. It was as if he was mocking me. Sheesh. I could have reached down and grabbed him if I was fast enough. I wonder if they were done feeding by the time I got there?

 

Hey Ron,
I tried to call you, both thursday (though it was about 4:25 or so... perhaps you were already gone... or "not at your desk"... hehe) and friday (around 4:15).

Anyways, I ended up going to a friends farm pond down the road. I didn't do too hot either. I caught probably 10-15 little largemouths. It's too bad, there really were some big fish in that pond a few years back, but now it's so over-populated it seems these little guys are all I catch out there. Soon to change though, he told me to start throwing some of those little ones on the shore.

I still would like to go with you, though I've never been to Skiatook lake (well, not in the last five years I guess), when and where? My new schedule is: sat/sunday 6am-4:30pm (same as always), then I'm off through the week until the first week of June and I'll work two 12's on mon/tue (10am-10pm).

I would really like to go to Hudson lake some time soon, I've not been there in awhile.

STan

 

I don't even waste money on bait anymore. I just throw a lead weight out and reel it back in. Gets me the same results I get by using $50 worth of wierd looking lures.

 

That sounds like snagging for Spoonbills. I haven't tried that method. I hear that some of those fish get really big. I wonder if they're good eatin'?

Stan and I made it out to Skiatook yesterday for a couple hours. The were biting ok. Nothing fantastic. I got two eatin size white bass and I'm proud to say I caught my First Walleye!!! I didn't know what it was until I started to put my thumb in the mouth and realized that I was feeling some sharp teeth. I don't think it was close enough to the 18 inch minimum so I didn't keep that one. Two other guys that came out at the same time pulled in a couple of maybe 3 to 5 pound Stripers.

My biggest thrill was a fish that had my pole about bent in half and fought for a few seconds until......it broke my monofilament line. It was strong enough to break my 8-10lb line. So there is an important lesson==make sure you have your drag set properly before each fishing trip. I'm still kicking myself for that but am still enjoying the fact that I caught one of those beautiful Walleyes!

 

Gee... you didn't mention the baitfish I caught!

I also caught a little small mouth (maybe a pound). That wind was brutal though...

Thanks for the invite Ron! Next time, we'll do some bass fishing???

STan