Got out today for a fun day of fishing with my Dad and my 5 year old daughter Layla. Last night when we were getting ready, Layla asked me if she could make her own spinner for the trip. Naturally, she picked the Pro Series “Layla Bug” which is named after her, but she chose to mix it up a bit with the beads. After selecting her pattern (Pearl Orange/Pearl White/Pearl Chartreuse), we rigged up her new Pink Camo Stick Bait Caster and were ready to go.
What a great day on the water! Thanks to Layla, I think we might have a new hot Mille Lacs pattern. With her custom Spinner, Layla out fished my Dad and I 3:1 for the first couple of hours. Layla had a blast watching her rod in the rod holder as she reeled in a good dozen fish for the day (outfishing both her Dad and Grandpa!).
We just fished a few mudflats today and stayed with the same program that has been successful all year. Basically just cruise the flat first, find the fish, then backtroll over them at 1 MPH with air injected crawlers behind a 2 OZ Bottom Bouncer. For young kids, this is a great tactic too, if you have a medium action rod and just put it in a rod holder. With a lighter action, the rod will load up, then you can grab it and the kids can take over from there. Layla even popped a couple of nice slots for the frying pan later this week. Just a great day to be on the water!
Best of Fishing,
Shawn Flemming
Jolly Roger Tackle
Here is a pic of the hot blade today. The spinner recipie was 2 Pearl Orange, 1 Pearl White, 1 Pearl Chartruese, 1 Pearl White and 2 Pearl Orange Beads. A few other pics of Layla in action as well.
Thanks for the info…Sounds/looks like an awesome trip. I hope I can hit them like this when I get up there for my first ever Mille Lacs trip this coming week.
Sweet report Shawn, those smiles say it all.
Great report Shawn! It is always rewarding to get the kids out and put them on some fish.
Well done!
-J.
If you’re interested in the specifics of how Shawn fishes these spinners, check out this video from last week.
This latest Hooked Up episode is for all the guys that love to fish spinner rigs on the big pond. Shawn Flemming, owner of Jolly Roger Tackle, shares his methods for fishing spinner rigs on Mille Lacs Lake with Joel Nelson.
Nice job Shawn and when the kids are having a blast in the boat it is all worth it. I have been taking my son Lucas out with me as well and he has been enjoying being out in the boat and catching fish as well.
That’s good stuff right there… With positive experiences like that she’ll be hooked and you’ll have a fishing partner for life
Nice work Shawn!!
AWESOME STUFF!!!
Very cool! I might have to get myself one of those pink camo rods if they work so well.
Thanks Dan…I might have to get myself one too! At first, I just wanted to get Layla a rod that she would be willing to give up the Disney Princess rod for and it actually works quite well, especially in a rod holder with the Medium action. Pink sold the deal as you can tell in the pictures she is a fan of (as are most 5 year old girls) Here is the link so you can get yourself one…don’t let anyone give you any grief for it either!!!
http://www.camofishingrods.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=16
I got the last one at Cabelas and it was only $49.99, so must have been a mistake. $139.99 here so maybe I got a bargin, but the thing flat out caught fish!
That’s awesome Shawn
a priceless moment! I love to see your daughter getting in on the action and I can vouch for the pink action with the girls as Thursday I had my 2 year old daugher Brielle pick her crankbait out for me and she picked a pink shad rap out and once the board dropped back and the clicker screamed she jumped down and ran to the back of the boat to help reel in ‘her’ fish. I might have also found a new color of crank for Mille Lacs!
-ted
Very nice!
Awesome Report
; I do the same thing with my daughter. Just leave it in the rod holder and she out fishes me all the time. I am pretty sure there may be something to just not touching the rod until its keeled over with a fish on.
Good Job Kayla on outfishing Dad and Grandpa
Thanks Ted…great picture! Thanks for the tip too. I’ve got some new Custom Shad Raps and haven’t tried the pinks on Mille Lacs so will probably give them a whirl this weekend. Nice boat by the way too!
Thanks Mike. Yes the holder method is great for kids. We did start missing a few fish on it in the afternoon with the light biters. I ended up putting my rod away and held onto Layla’s during the afternoon hours. I’d just set the hook and hand it to her to reel in. I think her hot spinner might have been the ticket and I was foolish enough to not have a backup of her pattern in the boat!
My Daughter usually puts her rod in the holder and grabs some snacks and waits for the rod to bend and shake. Then calmy grabs it and reels like crazy. I have learned to set her drag fairly loose so she doesn’t lose as many of the big ones her best to date is 26 1/2. We are working on taking our time reeling in the fish this summer.
Thanks Shawn, I have an older 620T (’06) silver with a blue 150 E-Tec and usually my two yellow labs are with me – flag me down if you see me up there as I would love to connect with you. I am now out of Wilderness Beach on the NE side and will be up this weekend to build a deck on my camper between early morning rigging on the mud and drifting around in the basin during the late afternoon with my buddy Tuckner – can’t let a deck get in the way of a free weekend to fish
-ted