July 9th, 2005 began with the boys wanting to go fishing for
muskies and use big guy stuff, as they put it, "muskie rod and tackle". Little did I know my answer would turn out to be a crucial one when I said, "Are you kidding, if you ever caught a big fish like that it would pull you in."
After 2 hrs of fishing in the hot July sun my patience was running out. Like always I didn't prepare enough for two growing boys and they were fighting over the last bit of food in the lunch. I'm sure it had something to do with sugar. I decided to call Eva at work to tell her we're going home. As I'm telling her about the fun filled day I was having with the boys fighting for the last hour, RJ yells "DAD I GOT ONE, I GOT ONE." I looked and saw his line out about 50 yards up in the weeds. As I turned the boat around I told him he had a weed and to remember to trip the bail on his reel so all his line doesn't go out. Which he has a bad habit of doing and then gets caught in the weeds. So I told him to just keep reeling, you got a weed. "No dad its a big fish." Well it didn't take long to realize what he had. I could see the fish way up there in only 4 ft of water.
Now, back to that crucial answer about using big guy stuff. Once they found out it was a muskie, they both started to cry because I told them "Are you kidding, if you ever caught a big fish like that it would pull you in." So screaming for RJ's life they wanted me to hold on to the back of his life jacket and " DON'T LET GO DAD, DON'T LET GO."
As we got closer to the fish I shut the trolling motor off to help. Robert would have nothing to do with dads help. "JUST DON'T LET GO OF ME DAD!" As the wind blew us out we hit the drop off and that was a mistake. The fish headed for the bottom which at this time was 18 ft deep. So I turned the motor in toward the shallow and with luck on our side, RJ brought the fish back into the shallows with us.
With the fish now under the boat in only 6 ft of water I told the boys to take a look at it just in case it got off. Robert wouldn't go near the edge of the boat. Jeffrey on the other hand could not believe his eyes. "Holy man look at that big fish." he says, as would be expected from a 7 yr old. Hell, thats what I was thinking! But not RJ; he finally looked over the edge and says, "Ha Haaaaaa I got ya now". In all the excitement I suddenly realized I didn't have the net out. I told jeffrey to get the net because I couldn't let go of RJ. At this time the fish is going all over the place getting tangled in both my rods that were hanging over the side of the boat. As Jeffrey, who is 7 going on 20 when it comes to fishing, gets the net and turns and automatically begins to untangle the rods in a matter of seconds. You couldn't have asked a 20 yr old to do it any better.
Now the fish couldn't go anywhere. Back where we started in 4 ft of water the fish could only go down and hit the bottom and come up. As it came up for its last time, I got it in the net after a 20 minute fight.
If you look close in one of the pictures where Jeffrey is holding the fish, RJ still wanted nothing to do with this fish even though it couldn't pull him in anymore. It took some convincing but as you can see we got some great pictures of him and his first muskie.
Robert John Moore
Age: 4 39" tall
Fish: muskie
37" length
The most amazing part of the story was after all the pictures were taken and the tape was stretched, Robert said "AW, he's not big enough. Can I help you RELEASE him dad?" Spoken like a true sportsman!
Thanks again, JustNorth Outdoors, for the great fishing trip and once in a lifetime experience for RJ. He's still telling everyone about it. Thanks again for everything; it was a very memorable experience.
John Moore
Editors Note:
The above story and submitted picture won R.J. the 2005 JustNorth Outdoors "Take-a-Kid-Fishing" photo contest. His prize was a day on the water with a professional fishing guide and a beautiful sand carved, glass plaque. Click here to read more...
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