Guys,
Yes, we've been doing all right for ourselves this summer, and it's been exciting to see the kids getting into some quality fish (especially Ty's lunker

). We really got our groove going mid to late summer and have been able to fish a little more than last year, which definitely helps. The cottage still has work to be done, but summer is short and I made an effort to get us out on the lake while the timing was right, as the cottage work will still be there waiting.
I'm looking forward to some early fall fishing for the bass, but it'll be on stolen weekends...not quite the same leisurely pace of the summer stretches, but who can complain?
Ratsotail, thanks for the interest. I guess I started fishing when I was around 6 or 7...mostly in Pennsylvania with my Dad and brother. I remember my Dad literally hacking a path by hand with his pocket knife along a small private pond in the Poconos that we had permission to fish. That's where I got acquainted with BIG snakes, BIG snapping turtles, lots of BIG panfish and perch on BIG bobbers...and some half way decent bass.

My Dad would always exaggerate the weight of the bass we got and make us feel like champions. I definitely inherited my shutter-happy camera itch from him. How priceless are those kiddie pictures? I see how fast mine are growing and it scares me.
There were other outings on local New Jersey lakes, and one of my most vivid and pleasant early memories of fishing is with my Dad on Farrington Lake in the pouring rain. Me in my Lee overalls hauling in dinner plate bluegills with my Dad smiling and encouraging me from the shelter of the big trees. My brother and I would wake at sunrise and walk a mile or so to a pond to catch bullheads and shiners.
And then, from 11 yrs on, our excursions into Canada to fish Wolfe, Bob's, Elephant, Moira, Big Gull, etc....which just changed everything for me and started to shape my dream for my own cottage in Ontario.
Never looked back, and to be able to carry on that family tradition and tell those special childhood fishing stories to my kids...again, PRICELESS.
"Take a Kid Fishing..." that's a great little motto that can really shape a life.
W.