My husband & I loaded up my 8 year old & our little boat & headed out once again to Lake Steilacoom. We've had such good luck there already, we decided to take my son there to try his luck.
Immediately after launching off, my son & I threw in our lures to troll. My son had his hook w/about 4 tiny blades strategically placed around it. Within a few moments, he was yelling that he had one. Boy was he just so excited. The look of pride on his face while he was trying to reel it in was enough for me to have already enjoyed this trip. When he finally got it in, it was a beautiful 12" Kokanee. We shot pictures, then he informed us that he needed to throw it back in so that it will keep growing bigger to catch next year. We've taught him well. :-)
About an hour after we got there, I decided to put on my rubber minnow lure & try my luck. Along the northeast shore line I cast out & started to reel back in. Not expecting to catch anything so quick-I wasn't gripping my pole too hard-so I almost had my pole ripped out of my hands. I quickly gathered my wits & started to reel in my catch. As I'm watching my line, this large beautiful bass jumps out of the water to announce his disagreement of being caught. I was probably just as excited as my son when he caught his earlier. When I finally got it into the boat my husband was yelling w/his own excitement. I finally caught a bass larger than 5"s. We carefully measured it out & it was 16.5"s long. Unfortunately our scale was out of whack so we couldn't weigh it. I took a couple of photos & then released it. I can't tell you the excitement I felt or how fast I was already planning the next one I will catch that will be twice that size.
Needless to say, that day was a success. My son caught many a fish that he was real proud to release & I caught my first big bass. My husband caught his limit of kokanee. Due to the cold, we left after a couple of hours but it was time well spent.
I am submitting this late due to the holiday hoopla I go through every year that keeps me busy & keeps me from my on true passion-fishing from Thanksgiving until the New Year.
My son & I can not wait to get back out into the boat & catch some more.

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