Lake Havasu, not yak...

[JeffB]

The little one is getting to big to get out on the yak with me, so we have been doing a lot more fishing out of the boat this year. I haven't really had a chance to do much the last 3-4months due to work. Those 65-70hr weeks have been killing. I have been feeling really bad lately bc I have been neglecting David of dad and son time, so I decided just the two of us would get away.

I've been dying to get out to Havasu for quite some time now. I've been itching to catch a Cali Smallie. So I planned out a trip to get in a couple good days of fishing in right before spending Thanksgiving with family from OK visiting Laughlin. I only managed one day due to weather, but was able to make it count. My son and I grabbed a pack of night crawlers on the way out in the morning. I knew the lake had some big gills in it, so I needed a back up plan just in case fishing was slow. I gotta keep the little guy entertained.
I started off fishing points wit a lot of follow ups on small schools of smallies. Every time I would get hit, they would just mouth it. They were not quite committed to it. I still managed to catch a handful of smallies, but nothing big. I used so many techniques that kill it up in the northern states for me and back home, but it had no effect on these fish. Drop shot seemed to be key as well as topwater and jerk baits. I did catch a few on shad raps as well. After a tough bite and a good half day of smallmouth fishing I switched gears. I hit a spot I knew was going to hold good fish and it paid off.

I set up shop on our new spot and fished the wall. Caught a few smallmouth and a couple tiny stripper. I switched up a little bit after marking bait and a couple schools of fish and scored a couple of nice red ears. Light bulb went off in my head and set up a heavy drop shot and threw on a big night crawler. As fast as it hit the bottom my son was on. Big 2lb 14oz red ear!!! After that I sat down and held the boat in place with the trolling motor and watched him catch fish after fish for an hour and a half straight. I enjoyed every second of it. After a bit I asked him if I could catch one. I couldn't take it anymore. It was such a blast. The sun started to lay and I started throwing a top water again.

The striper came out and made it a fun night. They were not busting up top, but I could see them cruising all over underneath me. I had a bunch of fish exploding on the top water. All the striper were from 1.5# up to 5#. Nothing huge, but it was a blast. I managed about a 5.5# large mouth as well. After about an hour into the darkness, we called it quits. We managed about 12 bass, 20 striper, and probably 50+ gills. It was fun. I can not wait to go back. Next time I may try and find someone interested in tagging along.

I hope you all enjoy the pix! Happy Thanksgiving!