Bassin’ with the kids- Chasing Junior Angler of the Year (JAOTY)

With soccer season and school wrapping up we now have time to move onto the more important things in life, like fishing.  Jacob (BassMasterJake) was lucky enough to win the raffle for the Feel Free Move Angler by participating in last years JAOTY, and we were fortunate to get the invite from Bryan (eastonkayaker) to fish his home water for bass and panfish to break the yak in.  The alarm went off at 5:45am, and after a few attempts to get Jake and brother Colton out of bed, we grabbed donuts and were on the water early to beat the heat.  Bryan shared some tips on locations and tactics, and the fish cooperated nicely.

It was a solid morning on the water, with both boys hitting their targets of largemouth >15” and non-stop bluegill/sunfish action.  Big thank you to Dan Arbuckle and the crew at Headwaters for the kayak donation, it is absolutely perfect for Jake (and has plenty of fish mojo!). 

On the drive home the boys were running down their checklist of species and naming off the waters we’ll be targeting over the summer:  Baum Lake for browns, Whiskeytown for kokanee, Siskiyou for rainbows, Trinidad for perch and rockfish.  Lots of fish slime and smiles on the horizon…I want to encourage all of you to sign your kids up for JAOTY and get them on the water this summer!

Tight lines,
beenfishin

Great stuff, Ben!  Have an awesome summer with your boys. 

This reminds me I'm supposed to take my son out fishing 😝. Go get that JAOTY!

Nice job Dad and boys !!!! are we going to get them out in Trinidad on the 4th of July !?!?!?!?!

Yeah buddy, Trinidad for the 4th is a green light.  We'll be hitting the redtails at stone lagoon one day and the harbor for some rockies, i'll have a few shots to get out solo as well.  You guys staying at emerald forest?

Awesome!!! thanks for sharing 

yes we are, fri-sat at the old koa then sun-wed Emerald Forest. i want in on the perch, let me know what day, i want to take Christine out.

yes we are, fri-sat at the old koa then sun-wed Emerald Forest. i want in on the perch, let me know what day, i want to take Christine out.

Sounds good amigo, love me some perchin'!

Pretty nice looking fish!

Awesome report! It is great seeing him out there on the new Kayak.

Nice, they are already out fishing me! I can barley get my teenagers to go anymore and theses pics flash me back to the good ole days! What lake is that in the pics?

Great job Ben, Jake and Colton!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

The Wiechmen fleet

Thanks for sharing Dad & son quality time wth us Ben.