Lake Chabot Skunk Report - Saturday Feb 28, 2010

My nearly 4 year old daughter has been asking to go out on the kayak for the past few weeks.  Finally got things together enough to get us both up early enough to get out.  Decided at the last minute to go to Lake Chabot.  Got to the boat launch at about 9:00 AM.  Discovered that I forgot my seat but I decided to go any how. 

The lake had a lot of algae or pollen floating around.  I sat my daughter down in front of me and started paddling out, trolling with a blue j5 and a firetiger j5 rapala.  For the first two hours my daughter was having a great time, looking at the birds, saying hi to people on the shore and in other boats and trolling her fingers through the water on either side of the kayak.  After about two hours, she started getting bored so I brought out the snacks.  While she was snacking I looked back and my rod with the blue j5 was bent pretty hard with a fish on.  I fought the fish for a couple of minutes, and then it jumped several times and snapped my four pound test because my drag was set too high.  Based on the splashes it made while jumping it was a large fish.  After that, the snacks started to run out so I paddled back to the marina and packed the car.  Turns out I didn't miss the seat at all, in fact I think I paddled better without it.  Any one else have a similar experience? 

It was a great day on the water, the weather was warm, the sky was blue and my daughter and I had a memorable first paddle together.

Michael

Sorry about the lost fish - but it sounds like a goood time. I'm not sure I'd count that as a skunk.

It's great to get the kids out. My soon to be 11 year old has been paddling his yak since he was 8 and it's a great thing for us to do together. The rest of life's distractions stop on the water and we get a few hours of real quality time.

Thanks for the report.     

Thanks for the report Michael. Glad to hear you had a wonderful time with your
daughter even with the lost fish.

Jedmo

Glad you had good time with your daughter OTW.   Thank you for the report Michael.

Thanks for the report, i've been wanting to give Chabot a try! 

fish or no fish, sounds like a great day to me, cameron

It was a great day on the water, the weather was warm, the sky was blue and my daughter and I had a memorable first paddle together.

Michael

IMO: it's really not about the fish, it's about the fishing     And the icing on the cake is that you shared your experience with your daughter 

But let this be a warning Michael.....every report you post from now on has to have a photo...it's NCKA LAW