Took some 'kids' fishing. (Caution, lots of teeth in these pictures.)

[genoel]

Due to some issues with my back, I am currently off work so my wife Liz and I had the opportunity to hook up with some wonderful friends for a little camping and fishing. The trip consisted of 5 adults and 5 'kids' (3 girls and 2 boys) between 10 and 14 years of age, so it was a great chance to take these 'kids' and try to catch a few fish before they were old enough to need a license. The only reason I call them 'kids' is because they were young enough to fish without licenses. They are really all young adults and acted like it.
We chose Young's Point Prov. Park on Sturgeon Lake because it presented the opportunity of keeping one fish each over 43 cms. therefore giving us the chance of not only getting the 'kids' to catch a fish or 2 but maybe even a chance to taste some fresh fried walleye, my absolute favorite.
I also had caught a few walleye on a small point right near the campground before and thought what safer way to take 3 or 4 'kids' fishing, catch some fish and create no new piercings among the group than to try some jigging.
I went out with the other dad K the first evening for a little scouting trip and was a able to catch a nice walleye about 50 cms long to keep for a taster. I also had the opportunity to take the 'kids' down to the fish cleaning station and show them how to clean and filet a fish. They were very interested and most of them were fine with the process. Back to camp for a real quick fish fry and a little taste for everybody to enjoy.

Early the next morning I had my first 'kid' D on board and away we went. The spot we were jigging was about 150 yards from our lake front spot and a lot closer to some a bit further down the loop, so we dropped anchor and were soon on some fish and the smiling began. Caught quite a few and he even got his keeper for supper, not the one in this picture, I just like this picture better.

In for a quick bite to eat and out with another boat load, my lovely wife and a couple of the girls K 14 and M 13. Again the quick 1 minute commute, anchor down, bait up some jigs and down they go. We were on to fish ASAP and more smiling faces were appearing everywhere.

Soon, catching fish was great but everyone was trying for keepers and catching at least 1 each that was large enough to keep by a long shot, most of our keepers were nearly or well over 50 cms in length. The smaller ones brought out some pretty big smiles too.

A couple of hours, goes by pretty quick if you're catching fish and even faster if you're unhooking them, stringing up the keepers and baiting hooks one after the other so we were quickly in for a very late lunch and back out with another boatload. This time K back out with son R 10 and daughter P 14. Back out to our spot and back at it. Again, more fish, more keepers and smiles all around. Also watched smoke rise from a fresh fire across the lake.
Went in, cleaned a pile of keepers and had our first real fish fry. A perfect end to a great day of fishing!




More to come...

[genoel]

Early next morning I was up early and managed to find a couple of new passengers, K again, this time with daughter M. Rinse and repeat, back out to our spot, anchor down and fish on. More fish, more keepers, more smiley faces.

I even managed the time to pull up a few beauties.

More boatloads, more fish and even more smiling faces. Even got one of the moms out, another K, to watch her kids catch some fish and take some photos. Smiles everywhere!

Trip after trip, back and forth, with fresh troops, more fish and more keepers.

I spent a lot of time baiting hooks, unhooking fish and helping out but every one of these 'kids' hooked, reeled in, and in most cases netted each others fish over and over like pros. And I'm talking about everything like the odd pike we would catch of varying sizes to the walleye ranging from about 20 to 55 cms or better. A lot of rods bent over in half and a lot of young muscles being tested.
And other than the odd poke I got from a walleye fin there were no injuries or fresh piercings performed, excellent!
Their behavior and manners were exceptional and the amount of pleases and thank yous I heard was amazing but nothing compared to the smiles I was able to capture and hopefully the amount of memories I was able to create for these 'kids' and adults alike.
Another day came to an end and we enjoyed another HUGE fish fry where the 8 of us weren't even able to eat it all. Honestly, how often do you ever have walleye left over when you fry some up? I always say eat until it hurts, and then 2 more pieces and when it stops hurting, eat 2 more.
Well another morning came and Liz and I got out to get a couple more keepers to take home with us.

One more trip out with D and R for more fish and more smiles.

An awesome trip, fabulous weather, frantic fishing and fantastic friends.

My back issues, which killed me all trip, were no match for the amount of joy and excitement we were able to share with our friends and we can't wait to get out and do it again soon! George and Liz Noel

[Stinky Buffalo]

Awesome thread!

Love the pics. Looks like everyone had a great time! Good stuff.

[Deep]

More proof as to "way too many Xboxes, not enough tackle boxes". Thanks for the great pictures.

[RMauthe]

That is fantastic. I was fortunate enought to take a young family out fishing for their first time last week friday. We had a great day with each of the kids catching over 10 fish - lots of smiles and not a bored moment. I wish I had some pictures to post, but I was too busy baiting hooks and landing fish

[Boogerfart]

awesome!!

[Whiskey]

that's awesome. I am sure happy I was able to go out as a child! Some of these kids will really appreciate this some day.

[Scott N]

looks like a great trip.

[burbotman]

Great trip, you have helped create some memories for life and some new anglers. Kudos

[pikergolf]

Great to see the kids out. Early in my life I couldn't get enough and everyday on the water was special.

[CBintheNorth]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Great to see the kids out. Early in my life I couldn't get enough and everyday on the water was special.

X2!!
Everyone there will remember those days for sure. Thanks for posting.

[dodger]

Great thread !!
Thanks.
Dodger.

[mudbug]

Excellant thread
It's great seeing younger adults getting outdoors and spending quality time together and learning new skills. Plus the smiles say it all

[Red Bullets]

I felt like eating popcorn as I was reading and enjoying the pictures.

[58thecat]

To go with the teeth I see you caught lots of "eyes" too

[sns2]

Thanks for the awesome thread. This is the very best kind by far. I hope your back issues resolve themselves quickly. All the best.

[genoel]

Originally Posted by sns2

Thanks for the awesome thread. This is the very best kind by far. I hope your back issues resolve themselves quickly. All the best.

Thanks everyone. The trip was fantastic, great friends, wonderful weather and awesome fishing! I think I had more fun than anyone else.
Honestly, if you're looking for a place where you can keep a walleye to eat this is a great place to do it. We fished literally 150 yards from our lakeside campground and caught loads of walleye in all size classes from about 20 to LOTS over 50 cms in length and in 3 days I burned less than 1/2 a 5 gallon tank of gas with my 25 hp.
We stayed 3 nights for the price of 2 due to a midweek Alberta Parks promo , had 3 awesome fish fries and even brought a couple home with us. Oh, and they have showers and supply firewood. And there were lots of empty spots when we were there at the end of July.
As for my back, still suffering, cortisone injection with 0% relief but off on another adventure today. On our way to see Grasslands, Riding Mountain and Prince Albert National Parks. Hopefully I'll have time to post some more pictures when we return because we will have a very short turnaround and then off to Fort Smith NWT for a quick flight into Bocquene Lake with www.andrewlakelodge.com for even more walleye fishing. VERY EXCITED about both trips and will hopefully be able to share more stories and pictures when we return.
Get out and enjoy this fabulous country of ours. She'll be 150 years old next year and she looks great. And they take Canadian dollars at par every where I go here. I'll keep going to explore new parks and areas here as long as I am able to do it. You should too! GN

[waterninja]

Great pics and story. Looks like a great weekend. Hope your back gets better.

[wildwoods]

Super cool. Great to instill the passion early!

[bigdb66]

very nice

[Brandonkop]

Nice, thanks for sharing. Always good to get the kids out on some fish!