Fremont State Recreation Area – I took my 6 year old son out on Monday afternoon (5 July) … in search of a good time on some new bass-fishing water close to Omaha. We took a short drive to Fremont and fished Fremont State Recreation Area. We arrived approximately 1:00 PM at the main gate to the “south lakes” at the state park and were greeted by a young man who was knowledgeable about the area. After a radio call or two to a few of the park rangers, they suggested #20 based on the recent restock and renovation to Lake #20 that occurred in 2007 (they said there were “good” numbers of bass). Additionally, we were told that Lakes #1 and #2 held some decent size bass, but not quite the numbers. After consulting the map provided, we decided to go to lake #20 as it allowed a boat and motor to be used whereas #1 and #2 Lakes only allowed electric motors (and I believe only Lake #2 had a boat ramp). Additionally, I wanted my son to have the best opportunity to catch fish … so “good numbers” sounded “great” to me. So, with our minds made up, we briefly rigged out and were fishing by 1:30 PM. Lake #20′s water was relatively clear for about 2 feet vertically and light-tea-stained after that; water temps ranged from 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit; the skies were overcast with a light mist on occasion (clouds at 5-8 thousand feet); wind was light (less than 5 mph). For the most part, Lake #20 has good vegetation and lay-down around the perimeter of the water with trees, logs, and other stick-ups scattering the clay and sand banks. Additionally, there are hydrilla and other aquatic weed scattered around the lake’s banks … but not too much … just enough to provide a nice forage base and cover for the fish. From what we could decipher on the fish finders, the weed line ceased on average 5-20 yards from the bank and the lake had some good coves and points with good shade and cover. We started with a 6 inch root-beer Senko and a 6 inch “christmas-flecked” Senko (dark Senko worm with red, green, and gold flake) rigged without weights and Texas-style. We each caught a 14 inch bass after about 30 minutes – tucked in close to the bank and throwing to any structure, twitching our retrieves with pauses to get the Senko about a foot or so beneath the water … all the way to the boat. The little bass hit about half-way from the bank to our boat (or about 10-15 yards off the bank). As there were multiple jet skies running rampant in the lake (another post for another day will involve “water courtesy”), we fished a little faster around the northeast and southeast sides of the bank on the larger portion of the lake than I would have liked, but I wanted to make our way around to the western end of the lake where there were no jet skiers and a bit more “peace and quite” in the smaller portion of the lake. As we thought, once we got to the back of the lake, slowed our fishing down and began to pick apart the banks and any structure we could find using black and blue Berkely Power “Flappin” Craws with a 1/8 ounce pegged-weight in front of the lures. My son worked the outside of the weeds and lay-downs and I worked flipping, skipping, and casting to those “hard-to-get-at-spots and cover.” We were pretty successful with this approach and ended up catching 6 bass … all between 13-16 inches between 3:30 and 5:00 PM. After making our way around the bank perimeter to the boat ramp, we decided to pull the boat and head over to Lake #2. We wanted to use the same strategy we used in Lake #20, but were looking for bass with a bit more size. Well, wouldn’t you know it, but I noticed when I was doing my walk-around on the trailer noticed that my trailer lights were out. So I troubleshot the wires/lights for about 30 minutes and made the call to head back to the house in the daylight versus at night (as I was able to get the lights up and working with my main headlights on). I didn’t want to chance the drive at night with questionable lights … or worse, losing them completely. So we called it a day and headed to the house, main beams on, and with trailer lights.

In all, we had a blast and caught 8 bass total in the Fremont State Recreation Area, Lake #20 … all bass between 13 and 16 inches. My son ended up catching half of the fish and reeled in all of mine for me … so the trip was a success … he had a blast fishing and “catching” … and I got to spend some “dad-time” with my youngin’ … a win-win for both of us.

Here’s a few pictures of my son and his fish … notice the “Big Smile” of success … can’t beat that and it’s the type of “fishing-smile” that will turn a kid into a fisherman for life.

Feel free to check out our website at: http://www.cajuncustomrods.com/

Take a kid fishing, be safe, and “Tight lines!”

Jaesen V. Yerger
Cajun Custom Rods, Inc.