The Story from Havasu (Long)

[Mick Karshner]

Just got back from an 8 day trip to Havasu. It was my first time on the lake, so I had a lot to learn. I took my 79 year old Father with me. He had just had a complete knee replacement. Dad was a trooper and was up and on the water with me everyday from start to finish even with the recent knee replacement. On the 8 hour drive there from Fresno I told myself we would get to Havasu and not put the boat in the water. Just get checked in to the hotel and find our way around town. Not! Got to the Havasu City at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon and thought, "Man we have 3 hours of daylight left!" Let's go fishin'! Got to Windsor boat ramp, bought a season launch pass and Dad and I were on the water. The water at the ramp was crystal clear. We ran up toward the river and started fishin'. Dad had not fished in 10 years at least. I rigged him up with a split shot and Robo worm on a spinning rod with 6lb. Maxima. So the first hour or so was spent like this. Dad, turn the reel over, you have it upside down. No Dad, it's not a bite, it's grass. No Dad, it's not a bite, it's rocks and so on. We were both smiling and cracking up, so it was all good. After an hour he was casting and dragging and even keeping it on the bottom. I had 3 bites and caught 2. Both smallies. Both came on a 1/2 oz. brown jig and they whacked it! Got off the water and stopped at Anglers Pro Shop and bought a few sacks of tackle that I just HAD to have. Three quarters of it I never even opened. Isn't it funny how we are as fisherman. We catch fish all over the nation on pretty much the same few baits and when you get to a new lake and hear about the hot bait you just HAVE to have it. Then 9 times out of 10 we end up catchin' em' on our same ol' confidence baits. Then we got all checked in at the Days Inn on McCulloch Blvd. Thanks to George, Brent, Vern, Murph and Ray L. from the Southern forum for pointing us in the right direction. Days Inn parking is great and we were able to stay hooked up and have our prop right at our rooms door for charging and rigging. There is a Safeway, Denny's and Starbucks within walking distance of the hotel.

Day two we head out with map and GPS and I decide I will spend the next 7 days running my graph a lot, fishing a little and getting familiar with the entire perimeter of the lake. We started at Windsor, headed toward the mouth of the river, cut across (very shallow sandbar) hit the California side and ran the graph all the way til we got to the chalk cliffs area. There we started fishing. I with a 1/2oz jig and Yami trailer and Dad with a trusty drop shot. Lot's of casts and a lot of nothing. Decide to run the graph some more. I ws crossing one of the bays and came across a hump out in the middle that had 10 feet of water on top and some chunk rock. Spun the boat around, dropped the trolling motor and fired my jig across the deep side of the hump and TICK, a nice fat smallmouth. I just released the fish and heard zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and figured Dad was hung up. About that time a 3+ smallmouth shoots straight up in to the air! He fought it for a few seconds and then straight up again. I leaned over to lip it for him and there were 3 other smallies just as big trying to get the bait out of it's mouth. So I lipped it handed it to Dad, leaned over and hit the Waypoint on my GPS, this hump was loaded, and then took a couple of pics of Dad and his first smallmouth bass ever. He was smiling from ear to ear and giving me the play by play of how it bit, how it fought etc... We released the fish, high fived and right at that moment I knew this whole trip was worth it. Dad's face was beaming, it was priceless. I had a moment there with Dad and realized that he was really showing his age. I finally had to admit my Dad was old. This strong man that I feared as a kid, now needed me more than I needed him. It's a trip how this transformation occurs of our parents taking care of us and the next thing we know, we are taking care of our parents. I felt very blessed to have my 79 year old Dad in the boat with me for a week of fishing. We got out of that area to leave those fish for later, and worked the California side graphing and finshed the day at the mouth of Copper Canyon.

Day three we arrived at the ramp the same time as Thanh Le. I got to spend some time talking to Thanh about the fishery. What a great guy. He gave some very good basic information about Havasu that ended up helping me in learning the lake. We launched his boat first and I hopped in his ETEC powered Z20 and put it through the paces. I told him I was thinking about making the switch fro Bass Cat to Ranger for the NG Series. I ran the boat pretty hard in the 2 foot chop and it performed flawlessly. He dumped me back at the ramp and Dad and I put the Cat in the water. Dad was stepping in to the boat from the dock and kept right on going. He ended up with his head on the floor drain and his legs going up the back deck and feet straight up in the air! FUNNY! We were both cracking up. I got him dusted off and set up straight and we were off and running. We resumed where we left off the previous day at Copper Canyon and headed graphing and fishing down the California side toward Parker dam. Made it all the way to the bridge in the Bill Williams arm and about a mile back out on the Arizona side and it was time to call it a day. Man, this lake has a lot of shoreline! We caught 3 good ones in the BW river on jigs and 1 on a spinnerbait.

Days four and five we covered the lake on the Arizona side all the way from Parker back to Windsor. Fished a little, marked a lot of areas to check next month and caught a few fish on shad pattern Norman little N and shad colored spinnerbaits.

Days 6 and 7 were dedicated to the river only. Thanks Ricky Shabazz for giving me the heads up on the sand bar at the mouth. I talked to a couple of locals about the best possible route in there(the lake was down over 3 feet) and there info proved reliable. Just don't look at your graph or over the sides of the boat when you're flying across that thing! It was 12 to 18 inches deep. Talk about puckering up! The river was a whole different fishery and an adventure in itself. We caught all largemouths up there, although I did see some smallies too. Biggest fish I landed was a 5+ largemouth. Nice healthy fish on a spinnerbait. Shad colored with double nickel willows. We ran the river 2 days and made it all the way up to a place called Topock. The scenery cruising up the river is woth the trip in itself. It is truly spectacular if you have never been there. While I was fishing sometimes Dad had the binoculars out just checking out all the cool stuff on the hills. Saw a few big wild pigs. Anyway, we go in to the entrance at Topock, go past a marina then head to the left up a channel. We get almost to a cement weir and the water gets to about 10 inches deep. So I'm pushing us a long and leaving a big mud trail and then we have to navigate through the rocks and current to get through this tunnel. We get through and it opens up in to another channel and then there is the second weir. We caught some good largemouths on black and blue jigs and decided we better head back to the main lake and get ready to go home. We were idling out and Dad commented on how he never knew about all the things I went through to get to these little green fish. Dad learned a lot and has a whole new respect for what we go through to try and win these tournaments. The vision in his mind of a guy sitting in a chair, drinking beer and waiting for a bite is long gone now.

This was not a serious pre-fishing trip but I still ended up learning a lot about the lake and was very productive. The best part of all was seeing my old Dad enjoy himself and having him thank me over and over for bringing him along. He left me and went to see my sister and she said that is all he talked about for 2 days. Fishing at Havasu. That's what it is all about. Life is precious. Remember to not take our loved ones for granted and give them a hug the next time you see them.

Going back to Havasu Jan. 6th thru the 14th for round two. Then back on the 26th for the FLW. Can't wait!

[Ron C]

Thanks for sharing. By the way, I'm hearing that the fishing is getting real tough up there right now, so you had a much better pre-fish than you think.

That upside down spinning reel thing had me in tears. My dad did the same thing.

God how I miss him!

Thanks again!

[Ricky-S]

Great post Mick. Lake Havasu is one of the greatest places that I've ever been. It is two lakes in one. Did you run any backwaters? There are hundreds of backwater lakes (ponds) off the river heading to Topock.

Havasu is loaded with fish. It just doesn't handle the preasure well. Your first trip sounds about like mine. My first trip out I caugt a 20 pound limit up in Topock and that things would be easy. I ended up weighing in one fish that tournament.

That place has beat me pretty good.

I'm heading over for two weeks on Friday.

[Mick Karshner]

Yep, the old upside down, reel it backwards spinning reel trick! Shows that even at 79 years of age you can still learn something new

It was a great trip Ron. We will both remember it for a long time. I had fun writing the story and sharing.

[Long Nguyen]

Great post. I love fishin with pops.
Thanh Le is an awesome dude and a great angler.

[Mick Karshner]

Hey Ricky! Yah I went in to lot's of backwater areas. Saw a lot of fish in most of them. I got stuck in one of them by Devils Elbow about a boat link in. Up about 40 yards it turned to the left and I was dying to see what was around the corner. So I took my shoes off, left Dad sitting in the boat and in the water I go. It's only about a foot deep and I make it about 10 feet from the turn, take a step and sink all the way to my waste in water and mud. I was already soaked so I kept going an there is a cool lake back in there. The things we do to find fish!

[Ricky-S]

Been there done that. I am pretty sure I know eactly where you are talking about.

Thanks for the story.

See you on the water

[JGB]

Mick,

Enjoyed the story, my father is only 57 but I can swear he thinks he's 107. He taught me how to fish although, now I think to myself "I can't believe this guy taught me how to fish!" I do cherish every day we get to spend out on the water and your story reminded me of our many outings together.

Thanks and Best of Luck,

JGB

[Mick Karshner]

Hey JGB,

My Dad is just the opposite. He's 79 and doesn't think he is old. I had lot's of time to talk out there and brought up a senior living arrangement and he said, "I don't want to go to one of those, they are full of nothing but OLD people!"

[Marlowe]

Mick:
Thanks for the sharing the story about fishing the lake with your father. Even more thanks for not mentioning the juice!

You were MIA for a while. Good to see that you are still around.

[Mitch]

Great story !!! Glad your Dad was able to make the trip, I only wish mine was still here to go with me. Keep him close, you don't know how much you'll miss him till he's gone.

[Slippy]

Great story Mick, I usually dont read the long storys posted on forums but something told me to read this one. I work with my Father in a family owned business, so there are times when i take advantage of the situation of seeing him everyday. My Dad just turned 64 and even tho i dont tell him, he (and my mother) are the greatest parent i could have ever asked for.

[Mick Karshner]

You're missing it Marlowe. The juice, is the whole reason I was able to spend that quality time with my Dad. Unfortunately Dad was not so smart with his finances throughout his life. I on the other hand was able to retire at age 44 because of that juice. It enabled me to take Dad and pay for every penny of his trip expenses and have the time and money to do so. Glad you liked the story. We need more of that type of fishing info on here. It's funny how our fishin' trips remain so vivid in our memory banks when I for one can't even remember what I had for dinner last night! But ask me which tule out of a thousand I caught that 3 pounder and I can remember it 10 years from now!!!

[Mick Karshner]

That's cool you get to see your Dad a lot Rich. Sometimes it's hard to speak up and tell the one's we love how we feel. You could tell your parents what you just said here. You will be glad you did. There are a lot of people that would give their left arm to be able to bring their loved ones back and tell them how they really felt. Man, I'm becoming such a softy as I get older!!

Take time to take the people we care about fishing.

[ONTHETHING !!!]

Hey Mick I dont know you from Adam but I really enjoyed your post. I have had my boat going on 6yrs now and have never had my father out with me. Between him and grandpa they got me hooked on fishing when i was just a little guy. Trips to San Luis,San Antonio and the there favorite the Delta. They were bait dunkers who love to eatem so we didnt fish with artificials very often. But the love of being out on the water with them kept me hooked. Now its my turn to show the same great sport to my son and I cherish every moment on the water with him. We have fished team events together with a group called Christian Bass Anglers Fellowship. What a great time we have had, but after reading your post I gotta take pops out and see the reel turned upside again! ON THE THING !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marlowe]

Mick, Mick, Mick. I knew I could get you started with just one word. Thanks for confirming my intuition. The only thing that puzzles but at the same time confirms my earlier conclusions is that you didn't fire away and talk about how your dad should have drank the juice in the first place in regards to his knee. You validated my and all others conclusion that your prior rants on here were merely based on putting money in your pocket. Just to give you a heads up I will not responds to your reply to this post. You can have the last word on this one.

PS Congratulations on your retirement!

[Mick Karshner]

Marlowe, I appreciate the input. Thank you!

Fish On Buddy!!!!!!

[flipthatjig]

great story man.
i grow up without a dad and this stuff brings me to tears. but hey somehow i found the love of bass fish. my mother never gone fishing before so i took her out about 1 year ago to CL the reaction on her face after i netted the bass was priceless. we took a picture and that same picture is still sittin at her desk at work. also the look on my moms face when she went to my tourny the future pro @ CL. her eyes were wide open with amazement of how many ppl were there. ever since then ive taken her fishin 10-12 times its great spendin time with ur parent. most 18 year olds wouldnt take there parent fishin. but there is nothing better than just spending time with ur parents. love them or hate them they will alway be family.
mick thanks for sharin, hope u have a lot more wonder times with ur father.

[Mick Karshner]

Hey Flip, back in the early 90's my Mom's husband (my stepdad) was killed in a car crash. It was a very tough time for Mom and I introduced her to bass fishing. I started taking her pre-fishing with me a lot and she started catching fish. She was hooked. So much so that she joined a womens club called the Bassin Gals here in Central Cal. The Gals club is no longer around but Mom borrowed my Ranger several times and fished as a boater in her tournaments. Even to this day Mom shows up at all of my weigh-ins and loves it just like your Mom.

Good job sharing the world of bassin' with your Mom Flip. Thanks for the story.

[Guest]

Mick,

Great story and thanks for sharing.