Friday:

I've read the disturbing articles about how the popularity of fishing is starting to decline in Minnesota and it troubles me. My life surrounds this sport and honestly I can't fathom life without it. When I hear about kids who'd rather play video games than go out and enjoy the outdoors and go fishing they simply don't know what they are missing. This is why I became a fan of this charity called Fishing For Life. Not only does it help raise money for a worth while cause, it gets kids connected with the outdoors and fishing. How can a guy like me go wrong supporting a cause like that?

I towed the boat to work and Austin & I left for the fishing grounds on the Mississippi by 12:30 PM. We stopped and I picked up some very large sucker minnows for bait. Austin commented at the time "wow, what do you catch using those?" I was hoping he'd find out and luck would have it this weekend he most certainly did! It was a long boat ride up river and we were hoping to camp at a spot called Eagle Island where Austin did so well fishing last year. Unfortunately there was someone already camping there so I began searching around and after a brief stop at another site I settled on a spot that I camped on over Memorial day weekend. Its a great site and has decent fishing but there is a deep shelf in front that fish sometimes would get snagged into. It was a risk we were going to have to take as it was getting late and our options were limited. As we were setting up camp we got some rods out and the bells on the line. It took no more than about 10 minutes and Austin got a bite and landed a solid Carp to start the Fish-A-Thon fish count at one.

Later we were getting a fire going to cook up some hobo dinners for supper when the bells at the end of our catfish line began to ring. Austin set the hook and proceed to land a beautiful 12 lb Flathead Catfish. Please note this is one of Austin's small catfish of this fishing trip.

The moon began to rise over the river and we had just a beautiful evening out. No more bites that night before we called it a night.

Saturday:

I woke up to the sound of rain on the tent. The forecast was for a good amount of rain that morning and then again that afternoon and evening. It wasn't a downpour type rain so after breakfast we motored up to the St. Croix and fished the lower rock wall. It was none to pleasant out with the gusty winds and wet conditions. After the slow start the fish started to go. One of the things I've noticed is that Austin is definitely improving his fishing skills and ability to show up the guide with his catch!

I was especially pleased with his patience while catching larger fish like this Carp on ultra light tackle.

It was lunch time so we motored back down to camp and then the rain really began to come down and the wind picked up. We spent some time in the tent and I caught a nap before we went out for a few hours towards evening. We worked a wing dam and caught several Smallmouth bass and small channel cats before heading back to camp. We ate dinner and got a good fire going to enjoy before it really started to rain hard and we decided it would be best to just call it a night and hope for better weather on Sunday.

Sunday:

It was 6:00 AM and we had a Catfish rod out with a bell on it. I awoke to the sound of the bell and looked outside the tent to see my heavy catfish rod bent over like a wet noodle. "Austin, wake up, you got a big fish on!" Austin and I were so excited that I think both of us tried to unzip the tent door only to zip it up again. Finally we figured it out and Austin grabbed the rod and started fighting the fish. It was calm and quiet out. It was misty and foggy morning and the only sound you heard was drag of the reel as the fish peeled off line. I knew Austin had hooked into something awfully big. Austin continued to battle the fish and after several minutes I saw a major splash just offshore. The fish was close, and it was huge! It took Austin about 10 minutes but finally we got the monster Flathead Catfish that went 35 lbs to shore!

It was an incredible moment. Austin had just caught a fish of a lifetime! I was so proud of him. A fish like that gets kids or anyone for that matter "hooked" on fishing. Only time will tell but I think it was mission accomplished after catching a monster like that!

About an hour later Austin and I motored up to the St. Croix and spent the morning trolling. Austin had some pledges based on number of fish caught and total number of species. Austin had really wanted to catch a Walleye so I was optimistic we'd have a good morning of fishing and do just that. But after the fish he just caught I don't think it mattered either way as regardless Austin already had a banner day.

The St. Croix was very generous to us this morning as well. I found a little trolling pattern on the sand flats south of the Kinni and Austin caught 23 more fish that morning including 3 Walleye! Austin had combined pledges for $10 for each species caught (11 total species with a $5 bonus for a Walleye) and $5.50 for each fish he caught (46). He was raking in the charity money this morning and that was for sure!

By noon we motored back down to Prescott to pick up Austin's mother Genevieve and enjoyed a nice lunch back at camp before having to pack up and call it a trip. Austin had several chances of adding a few more carp to his total but we lost them to snags or broken lines. Regardless it will go down as a tremendously successful Fish-A-Thon weekend!

Austin's final tally:

Channel Catfish:                   3
Rock Bass:                         2
Flathead Catfish:                  3  (35 lbs and 12 lbs)
Walleye:                           3
Carp:                              2
Sauger:                            1
Smallmouth Bass:                  14
Sunfish:                           7
Sheepshead:                        6
Silver Bass:                       3
Crappie:                           2
                                  --
Total:                            46

Flat Rate Donations:            $655                 
Species Donations:              $105
# of Fish caught Donations:     $253
                               ------
Total:                         $1013