My First Time Fishing!

After talking about it for months, and being kicked out of the boat more than once to accommodate a paying gig, I finally got the chance to fish for the first time with my boyfriend Scott Hill, owner of Fishing Thrills Guide Service. We left Afton shortly before 7 a.m. on Sunday July 5, headed for Lake Delavan.

Scott is a well-organized and thoughtful fishing guide. When I got to his house, the truck was warming up, and he was packing for the day – worms in a special cooler; beer, soda and water in a separate cooler, a special beginner’s fishing pole, and all the necessities were all aboard his newer and very clean 20 ft. fiberglass fishing boat packed with special fishing instrumentation, including a fish locator, weather radio, depth finder and four motors including a powerful 125 HP Mercury Outboard, a 10-horse four-stroke outboard, and two trolling motors, a 7-horse in front and a 9-horse in back. The boat had 4 swiveling fishing seats. To me, it was very luxurious and nothing like the 12-foot aluminum fishing boats I had grown up with in the 80s.

When we got to the public boat launch in Delavan Scott swiftly and adeptly launched the boat off his trailer. I held two ropes to keep the boat close to the pier while he parked. We got in and he fired up the boat and instantly we were off – no waiting around to fix the boat or waste time getting in the water. Once past the no wake buoys, we were off. “We’re going to plane out – hang on,” Scott said. This boat had power and we were flying across the lake! We followed the shoreline to an area across the lake, dropped anchor and started to fish. We started fishing shortly before 8 a.m. In less than 5 minutes, Scott handed me one of his poles to reel in – he had a fish on the line and wanted me to experience it. I reeled in a nice bluegill! A few minutes later, I was reeling in an undersized, but still about 14-inch, smallmouth bass. I was thrilled!

The whole time we fished, Scott was kind enough to take care of me. I’m an independent girl and like to do things on my own. Still, I was grateful to him for the tips he gave me in fishing…they were things to concentrate on. And he always baited my hook and gave me instructions as I reeled the six or so fish I caught .

We fished until just after 1 p.m. Scott got frustrated at the boat traffic. All of the pleasure boaters generated 2-3 foot wake and it was hard to stand up in the boat, maintain balance, and handle the poles. He kept saying I shouldn’t have to deal with this – weekdays the traffic is slower. Sometime after 12 noon, the fish went and hid. They must have known this was one of the busiest days on Lake Delavan, and headed for the deep parts in the center of the lake. I cast my line at least a dozen times with not even a nibble. I was dropping the line down and letting it travel straight to the bottom with no luck! Scott really wanted me to experience the thrill of catching a big fish, so we kept at it to no avail. I was having a blast, but was getting sunburned. So we decided to call it a day.

Once at the launch, I truly appreciated the professional I was with. Boats were 3 deep at the launch, waiting for a pleasure boater who was having engine trouble. Other boaters walked their boats up to the trailers and wrestled them onto the dock. Not so with Scott. He swiftly and surely maneuvered his boat to the pier, and did not need my help to shore it up. He backed the trailer into the water, and motored the boat onto the trailer, something I’ve never seen in my life. We got out to the grass and he meticulously sprayed and wiped his boat down to clean it. “Be good to it and it will be good to you,” Scott said of his work.

We threw all of what we caught that day from Scott’s on-board Live Well into the water. It was fun to see what we had accumulated, knowing we hadn’t kept all we caught in the Live Well. We finished up the day by visiting fellow fishing guide and Sugar Creek Township Chairman David Duwe, his wife Donna, and their two kids. All in all, it was a great day, a perfect introduction to fishing and a great way to close out a holiday weekend! Scott may be my boyfriend and you may consider me to be biased but I couldn’t have asked for a better day!

What I Learned While Fishing With Scott

 Hold the rod in your open palm. Have a finger on the graphite rod itself. It will make you more sensitive to fish biting, and you won’t need a bobber this way if you learn to feel when a fish is nibbling.
 There is a difference to how the rod feels when it is reacting to boat wake, or caught in weeds, or nibbled on by a fish. Setting the hook is not as easy as it sounds.
 Watch the line after you cast it and give it a few minutes to sink to the bottom. When it’s there, you will know…the bale will stop letting line out.
 Set the hook by gently yet firmly moving the rod upwards. It’s not a gentle motion but it’s not harsh either. It takes practice to learn this.
 It’s good to concentrate on fishing, but it’s also good to take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the setting.
 Fishing seems to be like golf. It takes a lot of practice to get really good at it. But no matter what your experience level, it’s a whole lot of fun!