New boat, Eyes, and 2 year old daughter…

Greetings fellas,

It’s been awhile since I’ve last made a report on here. After starting a new job at my company, moving to a new house and getting all settled, I havent exactly spent much time on the water.

After selling my last boat in 2012, and being boatless last summer, I decided to buy a new boat this spring. It’s mostly been a garage queen since I picked it up in April, ‘cept for a quick trip out to Chamberlain, SD several weeks ago.

I took last Friday morning off since the forcast was looking good. This time I had my wife and daughter join me as my fishing partners. I wasn’t sure how it would go but my daughter, even at age 2, loves to fish. We headed over to the Webster area and fished a lake I hadn’t been on for a few years. We pulled cranks and the walleyes were loving it. My daughter is too small to hold the trolling rods by herself so I would hold the rod while she cranked them in. In total, my daughter and I probably caught 40-50 walleyes in just a half day on the lake, including some dandies. My wife didnt fish but took pics of Holly and her fish.

Shameless IDO plug: The hot lure this trip was the small #5 Storm Smash Shad in gold perch, clown, and firetiger colors. If you are buying flicker shads and are sick of tuning and re-tuning to keep them running after catching fish, Smash shads are for you. We caught dozens of walleyes and pike on each lure and never had a tune issue. Sales at retailers in my area have Smash Shads priced at $2.99! At that price, snags become less of an issue. Speeds of 1.9-2.4 mph were money.

Here are some pics:

Andy

Very nice, remember to kept that sun screen on that tender young skin…hers too. Even on cloudy days.

Great post! Thanks for sharing.

way to go dad!

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Very nice, remember to kept that sun screen on that tender young skin…hers too. Even on cloudy days.

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Absolutely. While I tend to forget sunscreen more often then not, my wife is always sure to make sure there is some on board when Holly comes along.

Side subject Andy…How’d the pheasants make it through the winter in your area? I hunt maybe 70 miles WSW of Aberdeen and am worried about #’s based on the winter we had here in Minnesota. Thanks and never forget to remember these times with your daughter. Mine leaves for college in 5 short weeks and I cherish the times we had together at that age…RR

RR, thanks for the reply. To answer your question, I think it will be a lot like last year. Birds have been plenty visible the past couple months, but that’s normal for this time of year and hard to make any kind of judgement. Lots and lots of slough burning, tiling, and tree belt removal going on since last summer even. Unless we get a handle on habitat loss, these sub-par seasons are going to be the normal- if not worse. We need a good farm bill with some kind of revamp to CRP that’s more lucrative to the farmer. Corn is king!

Thanks for sharing and putting a smile on all our faces this Monday!

Thanks for sharing as it is Great to see the little ones getting involved!! It’s a lot easier to get them going later if you start them now!! Looks like some dandy fish to boot!!

I was fortunate growing up to have a dad that took me out in the boat since before I can remember even. I think it’s important to involve Holly from a young age as well. It’s much easier sometimes to load up the boat with a couple buddies and go, but teaching your kid is worth all of the extra work. She and I can’t wait to get out again.

My dad took me because he knew I loved fishing, even though I think he would have prefered to be on a golf course.

Nice report Andy, keep em coming!

The pics of you and your little girl are priceless. What a great dad for taking her fishing.

Thanks for the report Andy
Very cute Daughter you have there and a sweet looking new boat from what I can see too!
Care to pm me on the lake you were on as I’m going to be out there in 2 weeks?
Thx

BC, thanks. I’ll try to pm you later when I get a sec.

The boat is a 2014 Alumacraft Tournament Pro 185. They brought it back and I had to have one. I have 175 and 9.9 Zukes for motors.

An interesting tidbit. For anyone looking at a new kicker, you have to check out the new EFI Suzuki 9.9 power trim/electric start/high thrust. I got the first one available in the entire country with a tiller handle (from what the dealer told me) This motor is downright sweet. No more cold blooded starts, dinking with chokes, etc. Push the button for literally one second and it fires right up.

The only downside is that there isnt a Trollmaster currently available for it. Apparently, the throttle spring on the EFI is much stiffer than the carbed version. The servo isnt strong enough to move it. I called Trollmaster and they are working on one though.

Congratulations on the new fishing partner.

Great report! It’s always great to see young kids getting time on the water and it always makes me think about spending time with my little girl on the lake. Thanks for sharing it really put a smile on my face even on a Monday!

You’ll cherish those pics as she grows up Nice job