My 22 Year Old Son Asked Me To Go Kayak Fishing With Him Yesterday

[DanMarino]

1. Background: My son is 22. He is engaged to an Australian girl. COVID-19 has wrecked their plans to get married. She is stuck down under and he is stuck in Maryland. He works crazy-long hours at a Jeep dealership, but growing up he was my fishing buddy. He still lives at home and is saving up money (for the wedding, to buy a house, and to pay for immigration visa stuff).
2. Yesterday I was working from home (COVID) and my son calls me up at 5PM and asks if I want to go kayak fishing with him. My wife over-hears the phone conversation and she says, "Go get the kayaks ready." She knows that fishing with him is one of my favorite things to do and he rarely has the time to fish with me any more.
3. I get the trailer hooked up and load the kayaks, paddles, PFDs, and my fishing gear.
4. He rolls home around 6PM with Chickfila and we eat a rushed dinner with my wife.
5. My son changes clothes and throws his fishing rods in the back.
6. Fortunately, we live 1 mile from the reservoir and we are on the water by 6:30PM.
7. I brought the fly rod and only caught 1 tiny bass.
8. My son had a bunch of blow ups on a whopper plopper. He then switched to a Blue Fox in-line spinner and caught 16 tiny bass.
9. We paddled back to the ramp around 8:15PM and were back home by 8:45PM.
10. It will likely be my favorite fishing trip all of 2020.









It must have been a very good largemouth bass spawn last year at the reservoir. The 17 bass we caught were all about this size. I'm guessing these fish were all hatched in 2019?

[J.A. Veil]

That is a memorable trip for you. Catching fish was not the best part.

[Mark]

Tom,

That's a great story. It's nice that your son asked you to go fishing and that you complied and that your wife encouraged you to do so. You're also fortunate to have a new addition to your family pending and perhaps even more additions after that!

That's a tiny bass for sure. I always tell folks it takes extra skill to sense bite from a creature that that small and to set the hook, especially on the fly. That's not true but it's a good cover story.

[nhunter344]

Very cool that you got to go out and spend some time with him. Being able to catch a fish or two is just an added bonus.

My son is still younger, but Im trying to enjoy every trip we take as I know as he gets older, fishing with dad will be replaced by sports/friends/girls/school/career, etc. Im just grateful for these times and grateful that hes turning out to be a very environmentally conscious fisherman.

[Slackdaddy]

DM,
I feel your joy (and Pain)
I started taking my 3 kids on river fishing/camping trips when they would hit 7-8 years old.
My youngest was the one who really stuck to fishing.
By 2015 it was just me and him (when he was ~13) and I bought him his own Jackson Cuda.
We would go on 6-10 overnight river trips a year, just me and him,, he did not want others going because they were not serious about fishing.
And if we were not on overnight trips, we were day tripping local waters.
We were building a jeep XJ together, and planning his senior trip, just me and him fishing our way out to WY and back.

Boom, he turned 17 and and has no interest in hanging with me. The Jeep sits unfinished, WY trip never taken.
18 now and joining the elec union, steady girlfriend,, No time for dad or river trips.

I miss those days, when it was me and him, When I go out by myself, I get slightly depressed, I miss those day deeply.

I local kayak fish with the wife, it's fun, but not the same

IMG_0032.jpg

[belairfishing]

Very cool that you got to go out and spend some time with him. Being able to catch a fish or two is just an added bonus.

My son is still younger, but Im trying to enjoy every trip we take as I know as he gets older, fishing with dad will be replaced by sports/friends/girls/school/career, etc. Im just grateful for these times and grateful that hes turning out to be a very environmentally conscious fisherman.

As I recall, your son is quite the fisherman! He did quite well at the last kayak tournament, right?

[nhunter344]

As I recall, your son is quite the fisherman! He did quite well at the last kayak tournament, right?

I'm obviously biased, but he does a very good job out on the water. I'm quite proud.

[DanMarino]

Thanks guys. I figured some of you would be able to relate. I know my wife gets super excited when our 26 year old daughter wants to spend time with her (shopping or whatever women do together). I didn't even mind not catching a fish until 5 minutes before we paddled back to the car. My son has spent quite a bit of time fishing this year, but he usually fishes from shore or goes wading in a river/creek. I'm glad he enjoys going outdoors and that he has been using fishing as a form of stress relief from his job. My grandson turns 1 next week. I'm looking forward to the possibility of fishing with him some day.

[elkfish2]

Awesome . I love it when my son out fishes me. Because he works so hard at it trying new things to get them to bite .
He's taught even me things .
Always a great time . Never turn it down . And my wife is like yours GOOOOOOOOOOOO what are you waiting for .lol

[Jesseman]

1. Background: My son is 22. He is engaged to an Australian girl. COVID-19 has wrecked their plans to get married. She is stuck down under and he is stuck in Maryland. He works crazy-long hours at a Jeep dealership, but growing up he was my fishing buddy. He still lives at home and is saving up money (for the wedding, to buy a house, and to pay for immigration visa stuff).
2. Yesterday I was working from home (COVID) and my son calls me up at 5PM and asks if I want to go kayak fishing with him. My wife over-hears the phone conversation and she says, "Go get the kayaks ready." She knows that fishing with him is one of my favorite things to do and he rarely has the time to fish with me any more.
3. I get the trailer hooked up and load the kayaks, paddles, PFDs, and my fishing gear.
4. He rolls home around 6PM with Chickfila and we eat a rushed dinner with my wife.
5. My son changes clothes and throws his fishing rods in the back.
6. Fortunately, we live 1 mile from the reservoir and we are on the water by 6:30PM.
7. I brought the fly rod and only caught 1 tiny bass.
8. My son had a bunch of blow ups on a whopper plopper. He then switched to a Blue Fox in-line spinner and caught 16 tiny bass.
9. We paddled back to the ramp around 8:15PM and were back home by 8:45PM.
10. It will likely be my favorite fishing trip all of 2020.









It must have been a very good largemouth bass spawn last year at the reservoir. The 17 bass we caught were all about this size. I'm guessing these fish were all hatched in 2019?

That was a great story.You must have felt really good and refreshing after a long time.You mentioned that nowadays h don't have time to go with you for fishing.I think one reason behind this is that i takes so much time and effort to go that far on a kayak.You can get a pontoon boat with a trolling motor so that you can have more fun and less effort.Just a suggestion.Take it or leave it.

[DanMarino]

My son typically works 9AM to 9PM or 10PM. I'm positive that me owning a pontoon boat with a trolling motor would have ZERO impact on his availability to fish.

[bassguy84]

My oldest is 12 and my youngest is ten. One of the only good thing about covid was the time that we went out together or one on one with each of them this year on the Kayak. We are usually on a field 6 days a week. My oldest is surprisingly very confident on a kayak which doesn't match his personality much which is great to see him thrive somewhere. He has been on the bay with me and the sounds of NC and has had no problems keeping up. They both can fish pretty well kayaking as well. They are pretty independent and are able to figure out issues, unhook fish, rerig etc. The last time my youngest and I went out he did amazing doing everything himself. We were out for several hours as well which was a good trip for him. I joke and tell them in just a few years they are going to want nothing to do with me. We will see. Needed to brag about the boys a little then have done so well from the spring to now. My oldest is in Swansboro going for NC slam this weekend so hopefully get some pics to post.

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