Taking a child fishing is one of the most rewarding things in life! It was finally time to introduce my 8 year old son (Ian) to the open basin bite on Mille Lacs! Now Ian’s already an accomplished anger with numerous big fish to his credit. Big Largemouth bass, giant bluegills and slab crappies is already in his repertoire. However, he best known to be “the king of dogfish”! You ask him his favorite fishing story and he will talk about “the big 26 inch daaaawwwwgggfish that he caught out on Grampa’s Lake!”
Now I’ve been slowing introducing Ian to the Mille Lacs open basin bite. Over the last couple of years, we’ve had numerous conversations about it. I tried to set expectations with him about the time required to make it a successful outing. Like most kids, he hates long car rides and wants to be fishing as soon as we leave the house! I never pushed him to go and told him that he needs to inform me of when he thinks he’s ready to take on the challenge. This spring he was looking at some of my walleye pictures and was a lot more inquisitive about going. Finally, he told me he was ready and we made the plans!
Now fishing Mille Lacs out in the open basin is not where you want to take a kid fishing for the first time. For us, it’s a 100 mile drive up there one way, we motor out 5-10 miles on the lake, it gets pretty rough out there sometimes with the wind, and we average about a fish or two per hour. Kids don’t really care the size of the fish they catch and what species it is. They just want to catch fish and lots of them! A trophy walleye to us is like an 8 inch bluegill to them. One needs to keep it in perspective. Your first outing with your child should be short (a couple of hours) and needs to be action packed full of catching fish.
I remember when my Grandpa took me fishing as a child. We would dig our worms, grab our cane poles and head to the river bank. There we would find bullheads and lots of them! We would catch one right after another until we ran out of worms or when our pail was full of gulping mouths! I was hooked on fishing right away because the focus was on catching fish in the shortest amount of time. Now that pail of fish could have held big walleyes, but it really wouldn’t have mattered to me. Those bullheads were true trophies in my eyes!
As I write this, today is Father’s Day and I couldn’t have thought of a better present from my son then what I experienced with him out on the water yesterday. He was absolutely delightful and showed a considerable amount of patience! He also thanked me numerous times on the way home for “taking me out in the big water”. We pulled crankbaits via planer boards for about 5 hours and ended up catching 6 walleyes between 23-25 inches (we also had 3 other hits). All fish were caught on Rapala Deep Tail Dancers (bleeding tiger) and Storm Deep Thundersticks (firetiger). Leadcore also brought in the biggest fish of the day – a 25 incher.
Dad planned ahead and made sure there were activities for Ian to do in between the lulls. They consisted of reorganizing his baseball card collection, playing with his little NFL football helmets, telling jokes, reading a book, grilling brats out on the boat and of course chumming gum for the walleyes.
Joining Ian and me yesterday was fellow IDO member – Tim Ellis (T Ellis). Taking a child fishing out in the open basin on Mille Lacs requires two adults and I want to thank Tim for joining us and making the day all about Ian. I met Tim here at IDO and like me; he’s very passionate about fishing for walleyes.
A little over two years ago I went through a divorce. It was one of the hardest times in my life. My time with my children (I also have a 14 year old daughter named Chloe) got cut in half. I didn’t realize how much that would affect me and them too. There are many, many days that I miss them. However, I do now appreciate and value the time we do spend together more than ever before. We plan our days in advance and make the most of it. Our time together has become the priority versus other things that used to be more important to me before the divorce. For instance, this weekend I was able to take Ian fishing on Mille Lacs, watch him play his baseball game and then watch Chloe perform at her Dance Recital! What a way to spend Father’s Day weekend!
I wished someone would have sat me down years ago and shared with me the value of spending quality time with my children. I had to learn that the hard way. So please learn from my mistake and cherish the time you spend with your children. If you don’t have children, reach out to a neighbor or a big brother/sister program and take them fishing. Or you can volunteer for the IDO A.R.M.’s event being held on June 27th at Everts Resort! Taking a child fishing truly can make a difference!
Some more pictures of our day.
Simply Awesome Brad
That’s great Brad!! I think we need to have a business meeting in the next week or so.
Maybe Bobby could join us. 
Brad, that grillin’ in the boat is over the top!
Nice job out there.
-J.
Looks like a great day on the water.
Great story Brad, and excellent tips on taking the youngsters out on the water.
Brad and Ian,
I just wanted to thank you very much for allowing the opportunity to share the boat on Mille Lacs on Ian’s first outing. What a champ!! It was truly priceless for me to be a part of this father & son outing and the memories that will last forever! This outing really cemented the idea for me that it isn’t always catching the fish but the company and memories from out on the water that makes it so special, but luckily the fish cooperated nicely. Thanks for writing an awesome report. How long before Ian gets the IDA screen name “Grifter Jr.” to follow in Dad’s steps?
Very cool Brad, thanks for sharing – I can’t wait to experience the same with my daughter when she gets older!
My wife, daughter and labs joined me at Cass Lake cabin we had rented for the tour pre-fish and we celebrated her 1st birthday on June 8th. I took a lot of time away from my event prep to make sure that I was around while she was up between naps and captured countless moments on film and video not to mention in my memory. It was priceless to hear my wife tell me that when a boat went by she would look up and say ‘da da’.
Here’s to many more great memories to come!
ted
Hi
my name is ian and i am grifter’s son. As you can see i learned how to fish from the best of the best. As long as i can remember i wanted to go fishing on mallace(aka ever sence i saw my sisters 31 inch walleye)! And i finally got to go with my daddy! 
The ride up there took foreverrrrrrrrrr 
but it was worth the wait! I would like to share the keys to my daddys and my success… 
(i hope)
to be an ido member just like my dad grifter! 
Number 1: Be patient your fish will come
Number 2: Bring stuff to do in case you get bored (like baseball cards, a book, food, mini football helments, etc.)
Number 3: Always listen for the sound of the rod which sounds like crack crack and the box shivers really fast.
Number 4: Make sure you all always bring yummy food and delious drinks! (They may come in handy)
so thoses are my tricks to catching walleyes on mallace. I am very happy
P.S. The picture of me sleeping was because i was waiting for tim to catch his first fish!
Welcome Grifter Jr to IDA! You impressed me more than you will ever know being in the boat for your first Mille Lacs outing. You are a true Champ! I will make sure to use your suggestion list when i take my daughter Olivia out on Mille Lacs lake the first time.
Great job putting up with Dad Ian! You will have many years of taking him fishing to come!
Two of my boys are taking me fishing tonight after work!
I can’t wait!
As long as i can remember i wanted to go fishing on mallace(aka ever sence i saw my sisters 31 inch walleye)! And i finally got to go with my daddy!
That right there, is what it is all about
Congrats Ian and welcome to IDO. Congrats Daddy, one heck of a trip, and a fabulous post. Kind of gets me a little teary in the eyes
Awesome!
IAN, and Brad,
Ian, Congrats on your FIRST Post with IDO. You show a long future of catching big fish with your Dad.
and
We are looking forward to more posts from the two of you this summer…
Do get a good hat to wear while fishing, and ALWAYS USE good sunscreen,
THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT…
Have a Great SUmmer…
Jack..
Great report Brad!
Ian, we are all proud of you and look forward to reading about your Mille Lacs adventures that are yet to come! Hope to meet you at the IDO gathering in August, I’ve got some questions about those Mille Lacs eyes for you.
Brad and Ian,
Thanks for the story, truly awesome! It looks like you had a great time on the water and I know you will both have many more to come, just be sure to look back on that day and remember how great it can be.
Welcome to IDO GrifterJr.
Glad to have you here, and the report was truly awesome
Welcome Grifter Jr,
I will be sure to use some of your tips the next time I’m on the pond with my son !! Great report you 2