Camping trip with the kids...

[Corey Bechtold]

This last weekend I loaded up the boat, truck and kids and headed up north for a camping trip. With the weather being a unknown we threw caution to the wind and took off anyways. The kids were very excited because school is coming fast and this was a chance for them to get some quality "Daddy" time. I didn't know what to expect from them since the wife stayed back but to my suprise they were little troopers. They had a blast camping, tubing, swimming and of course fishing!

We hit the first lake on Saturday afternoon and spent some time enjoying the weather and exploring the lake. While I was pulling the kids tubing I noticed there was a hump in the middle of the lake. When the kids decided to swim I left the tube hooked up to the boat and pulled them out to the hump where I anchored and started fishing.

What I noticed was that the hump wasn't that much of a hump rather an area where the depth came up enough where there was a thick mat of weeds that grew up 6' down from the boat. There was a mixed bag of fish holding near the weeds. Bailey came in the boat along with the others and started fishing. The Bluegills were hitting several baits with Power Tubes catching the most. Here's Bailey with a beautiful Bluegill...

Brooke also got in on the action with a good Sunfish...

The Crappies were a little trickier than the Sunfish as they were holding in the weeds a bit. What we had to do was cast out and let the bait settle down to the weeds than lift the rod tip and start letting it sweep the tops of the weeds. The Crappies would slide in on the baits and hit. Here's a couple that we caught on Power Minnows...

We had to leave the biting fish for a pitstop for snacks and a restroom break and then we decided to swim. We beached the boat on shore and the kids put on their goggles and swam. They were seeing lots of smaller Gills hanging out near shore. The fish were pecking their feet and legs which really made me laugh when they jumped. Cole grabbed a rod and the other two told him where the fish were...

It was an eventful day on the lake and it was fun to relax on shore with the kids and have a campfire along with all the marshmallows and camp pies. I reflected on the day and thought about how Cole ran to the dock and started catching fish while me and the girls were getting the stuff out of the truck. Brooke had a little problem with the tube splashing her in the face which really makes her mad. Her spaz tantrums are the funniest things as long as she doesn't drag then out too long. We laughed our butt's off watching her yelling at the waves, tube and water. Bailey was really enjoying catching fish and bragging that she had the hot hand for the day.

Here are some fishing notes for the day. Cole's favorite bait is the orange/yellow Power Tube. He caught the majority of his fish on that bait while the rest of us changed with different color Power Tubes, Power Minnows and even some different style Bobby Garland baits. The funny thing is that almost all of the baits caught fish. It just had to be in front of their faces. The bigger fish were off the shore in the thick weed patches. There were plenty of smaller aggressive fish in the shallows that kept the kids very busy. The kids really had fun the first day but were ready to head to the next lake on day 2 and try for some more fishing and searching for some bigger fish.

It's getting a little late so I'll continue with the camping trip tomorrow.

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[Catcherman]

Cole will fish anywhere, anytime, won't he?

What's a Camp Pie?

[Corey Bechtold]

The second day of the trip involved moving lakes and re-setting camp. We had some lunch and hit the lake. The weather conditions were a lot different than the first day. We all had sweatshirts on and never took them off all day. With the wicked change in temperatures one would think that the fish would turn off but that wasn't the case. The fish still bit well but were partial to certain baits. Power Tubes were the most effective. Cole fished a collarless jighead with the Power Bait Trout worm and had good luck. He was using the natural color. Bailey liked the Chart Shad Tube and Brooke just experimented with just about every color I had. Here are a few pics from the afternoon...

We had a lot of fun again at the campfire and reflecting back on the day. We also shared a lot of laughs telling different stories around the fire about the summer and years past.

The last day started off a little late after a big breakfast. We intended on fishing the larger portion of the lake in search of bit Bluegills. The wind was blowing pretty good and I was having a hard time getting the anchor set so I used the motor to hold us in place along a reed bed. Bailey hooked into something right away on a Chart/Shad Power Minnow and later it jumped by the boat and I saw it was a good sized Smallmouth Bass. Brooke and Cole were trying to net the fish but it got off. All the kids then got their lines into the water and Bailey catches a big

Sunfish. While I was helping her get the hook out Brooke and Cole started catching a lot of fish right next to the reeds. I let the boat coast into the weeds and the kids began catching fish at an alarming rate! They were so furious that I had a hard time getting my line in the water. These were some tanker Bluegills and with the wind blowing harder I always knew when someone had a fish on. The fish were pulling so hard that the line was making a whistling noise. I'd look over and see the circle dance the

Gills were putting on. This incredible bite lasted the whole pass through the weeds and I couldn't even tell you how many fish were caught. The kids' arms were tired from catching so many fish. It was an absolute blast watching them fish and laugh amongst one another about the bite we were on. All the kids switched baits often except Cole who was really doing a number on the Gills with his Trout worm Power Bait. Brooke and Bailey went through almost every type of bait I had in my boat. Bailey had the best luck with bright colors. The Chart/Shad was her best color but

she also had some good luck with the Bobby Garland Hyper Tail Grub in the Caramel color (like a natural worm color). Brooke was still liking the Purple/Green Power Tube that I found online. It is apparently a Japanese bait but worked good for her. We wanted to set up another pass but the wind was blowing so hard that the reeds were laying down making it impossible to get the baits in the water. It also was looking a little scary with some dark clouds that looked like they'd open up at any time. We decided to head back to camp and take things down and get ready to head

home. We hit the lake one last time when the wind finally died off and went back to the hot area from earlier. The fish weren't in their previous spots but were pushed out to the first break. We also found a few Crappies mixed in with the Sunfish right before the sun went down. We decided to wrap it up and head for home after a quick trip to DQ. We ate our treats and watched the storms rolling oout in front of us. When we pulled into the driveway all the kids were out. Brooke and Bailey woke up and ran into the house to tell Mom all about their trip. I carried Cole to the house and he woke up just enough to tell me he

loved me and thanks for taking him camping. When I laid him into bed he never moved because he was so tired. We had a great trip and I was so excited to get the kids onto such an amazing bite with such big fish. Here are a few pictures from the hammer fest we had on last last day...

Till next time...

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[Corey Bechtold]

Catcherman, camp pies are made using camp pie irons. You take 2 pieces of bread, butter the back sides, add your filling, put the irons together and cook it in the fire.

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[Matt Johnson]

Very cool Corey! Looks like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing the pictures buddy!

[wolfman-k]

Memories for a lifetime! Good job Corey! Your young ones sure look like they have their father's 'big fish' catching genes! Great pictures and nice fish!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Dude, I loved the read, and loved the picts even more!.. .thanks for sharing!

[harvey lee]

Looks to have been another memorable day with the kids and some very nice pannies also.

[slab slayer]

That was a great memory for not only your kids but also for everybody that read it! Glad to hear your kids love to spend time in the boat as much as you do! Congrats on the great weekend and also giving Mom a break. Wonderful story and pictures! That sunset is a great way to end any day like the ones you had!

[IBTanin]

Sounds like a great trip thanks for sharing the photo's and stories!

[Corey Bechtold]

Thank you for all the responses. It's nice to share the stories and pictures with friends who enjoy fishing and the outdoors as much as us.

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

[Queenswake]

Great story and pictures. You have a beautiful family. It's great to see kids having a blast fishing because as we all know, this is crucial to maintaining the popularity of fishing as a sport. I am sure most adult fisherman can remember a particular fishing trip of their youth that made them fishermen for life.

I do not have kids yet but I can only hope they enjoy fishing as much as yours do. What is your secret? I just hope to put a pole in their hand as early as I can and always go for action rather than big fish when they are young. I think you have to teach them the beauty of the outdoors before things like videogames and TV take over.

It's also great to see adults getting into fishing for panfish as there seems to be a stigma against it in this land of the walleye. Bluegill fight harder than walleyes so I don't quite understand the stigma.

Enjoy your kids at this age as soon they will prefer hanging out with their friends than fishing with dad.