This morning My youngest son and I headed into a local back lake. The journey required a 20 minute drive, another 30 minutes in 4WD, than 10 minutes of paddling and than one portage of about 1/2 mile. The lake we were targeting is a bass factory and always performs. We took 2 canoes as we are competitive. He's 21 and fit and strong but lacks technique and fishing experience. I'm 50 something, not overweight and relatively fit for my age but not like a 21 year old - so given our respective strengths and weaknesses it's generally a pretty even match. My son is a numbers guy so usually whoever lands the most wins regardless of size.

I was driving my 17' 6" H20 Boundary in the Epoxy Pro layup. Asymetrical hull (actually not that great for solo), no keel, 42 lbs and fast as hell. This is a pic of her on the truck:



My son was driving my 16" 6" Bluewater Saugeen in a standard kevlar layup. A heavier and slower boat but more forgiving where technique is concerned. A picture of her on the truck:



To fit them both on the truck requires a few 2x4s:



Please not that none of the pics above are from today. They are mostly pics from past bear hunts but do show the the exact gear/setup we used today.

We are lucky in that we have access to dozens of back lakes that are tops 1.5 hours travel. Today we left at 530 am and were on the water at 7 am and fished until noon and made it back in time for afternoon nap. The final tally after 5 hours on the water was the old man outfished the young gun 12 to 3 but the big fish award definitely went to the young gun:



All fish went back except the biggun. He was fried up and completely devoured at the truck before we started the drive out. Flesh was amazingly firm and completely worm free.

Thanks for posting that up, I always enjoy your stories

Good times

Yep.

Hold on thar pilgrim! Worm free? I have enjoyed hundreds of bass with nary a thought of worms. Explain yourself.

Good lookin fish!

Largemouth and smallmouth to a lesset extent over 3ish pounds in these parts are hit and miss for worms once the water goes over 75 degrees. That lake was 77. They are harmless but unsightly.

Been that way for as long as i have fished for bass - essentially since i could hold hold a rod.

Most all my bass were from warm Texas waters. It must get too warm here for worms to survive???

Sounds plausible to me. Our smaller back lakes get to about 75 to 78 from mid July to mid August and than start cooling as we head into fall. Maybe a temperature sweet spot for the worms.