August 29, 2019 – Camp Dad Explores the Mighty Delaware River - Northampton County

Pretty spot.

The boy and I took a scenic ride up the river towards Northampton County today.  We didn’t leave home until after 2 PM, and we stopped for late lunch/early dinner on the way.  I was hoping we could stay out and make it close to magic hour with some exploring, wet wading, and hopefully some smallmouth bass.  After rigging up a couple spinning rods, I spent a little while in the garage packing a vest with some small cranks and soft plastics.  I had the idea that a drop-shot with some of Kenny’s Fitt Premium Lures would be effective and nearly snag-resistant for the boy, so he could just cast and take care of business himself.  Before walking to the river, we first explored a little Class A creek to see if we could spot any wild browns in the high sun and low water.  I saw only one, and the boy only saw minnows and maybe some fry.  It was my fault because I stepped up to a likely spot first instead of letting the boy go ahead of me.  I remembered to give him my polarized glasses but still rushed ahead like an excited kid myself in order to spot some trout in a tiny trickle!  When things started getting too brushy, we decided to go fishing.

He bested me!

The river is low, clear, warm, and wadable.  It is also loaded with shad fry, which were jumping and feeding all over the water.  Avoiding the stench of a deer carcass, we targeted a decent hole at the mouth of the creek, before bushwhacking and rock hopping our way along about 800 yards of river to a couple spots where I figured there would be fish.  We spent a lot of time finding random flotsam (sharpie markers, a Nerf dart, salt water lures, you name it) so fishing was only part of the adventure.  At one point, the boy said, “Oh, there’s a mountain, and another one,” so I think he too noticed the beauty of this little spot!  My fishing plan lasted about 10 minutes until Lukas realized that he could cast like a hero with my rod, loaded with braid and a shallow running crankbait.  I ended up fishing the drop shot rig on copolymer line.  My hooksets sucked on long casts.  I am used to braid or the fly rod, I guess!  I dropped at least three bass after a short fight, one decent bass after a longer fight.  The boy, however, beat me by landing his bass on the crankbait.   

Not a fish day, but a good day outdoors.

After a good two hours on the water, we still hadn’t made it to the magic hour, but I had to be grateful that we lasted two hours.  We talked to another father and son in the parking lot who tried for some catfish, and they lasted about 20 minutes, according to the other dad.  There were snacks and the Nintendo Switch waiting at the car for a good ride home—and the boy is always looking for bonus time on the device.  Not a big fishing day, but a good way to spend a late summer day, the kind of day I hope my pre-teen remembers when he becomes a more sullen teen, you know?