Either lightning does indeed strike twice or maybe I have stumbled on a tactic that works. I don't know. For me, personally, the threshold for finding a pattern is if something happens three times. So it seems just a little premature to say I have found a pattern but things are trending in the right direction. Last week, I posted a video on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram where my good buddy Jake caught two hybrids on a tandem streamer rig. This was a feat that I had never pulled off, seen, or even heard of. It was exciting and if you watch the video, please believe me, the excitement was genuine. Almost a week passed before I got to fish with my sons in the same place.
The place that I am referring to is Watkins Mill State Park between Kearney and Excelsior Springs, Missouri. I communicate that without any apprehension because it is a public place that is beautiful. It is also funded by your taxpayer dollars so you are entitled to enjoy this place as much as I am. I love this place and if you visit it, I bet you would find the same beauty that I appreciate. It is a no wake lake that accommodates kayakers, jon boats, and larger vessels. There is a walking trail all the way around the lake, a campground, and a very nice visitor's center. It's a pretty place with good fishing that many folks enjoy.
As I was explaining, my sons and I visited Watkins Mill on the evening of Father's Day. They aren't always excited to go fishing but they didn't complain about our plan. Maybe they felt compelled to go along with my idea or maybe they just felt like fishing with dear old dad. Regardless, we hit the water. Both boys got to control the outboard as well as the trolling motor. Both Mason and Cody also landed some bluegill on a fly and things were going well. My oldest son, who just happens to be a teenager, even said that he was having a lot of fun bringing in some fish. This was a great Father's Day present and I didn't investigate his sincerity. Maybe ignorance is bliss?!?!
As the sun started to set, we saw a few schools of hybrids chasing bait to the surface of the lake. This was a little surprising to me because it seemed a little to windy for such an event, but there they were. The boys had tired a little of the bluegill and I thought that trolling for some of these active fish was worth a shot. We navigated to the middle of the lake and I set the boys up with two different fly rod set-ups. Mason was given a 6 weight fly rod with sink tip line and a four inch streamer, called The Brave, that I have caught hybrids on before. Cody was handed a 3 weight fly rod that had two small baitfish flies. I call these flies unhackled buggers because they are simply wooly buggers without a feather/hackle wrapped around the body. They are easier to tie, cheaper, and (in my opinion) have a little more flash than a wooly bugger.
I fired up the outboard to a trolling speed that had worked with Jake and off we went. It took all of a minute for Cody to hook into a hybrid. He reeled it in like a veteran and I felt like this was a sign of things to come. After a successful release, we started trolling again. Mason hooked up with a hybrid a few minutes later. This felt good for a couple of reasons. For one, I didn't have to worry about any sibling rivalry. Second, it was nice to see a hybrid hit a larger fly that was lower in the water column.
We continued dragging flies behind the boat and caught a few more fish. Everyone in the boat was having a good time and smiling. It was one of the best parts of my Father's Day. There are few things that I enjoy as much as catching fish with and sharing a boat with my sons. What we didn't know, was that there was one more highlight left for the day.
The sun was setting faster than I would have preferred and our time on the water was coming to an end. We decided to troll back to the boat ramp. As we neared the ramp, Cody informed the boat that he had a fish on. His rod seemed to bend a little more than it had with previous catches and he strained to bring the fish in more than he had earlier. My brain automatically jumped to the conclusion that he might have a bigger fish on. I instructed him to not try and horse the fish in, then explained what horsing a fish means, and finally told him that he was doing great. As the fish got closer to the boat, I prepared the net. I saw the fish, netted it, and felt resistance from the line that held the second fly which was still in the water.
I hoped that he had a second fish on but also knew that he might have some grass/moss attached to the second fly as well. I tempered my enthusiasm and didn't announce my hypotheses to the boat. I didn't have to control my behavior though when I saw the flash of a second fish below the surface of the water. I told Cody that he had a second fish but that we still needed to land the fish. Quickly and deftly, I grabbed the line and pulled the second hybrid out of water and dropped him in the net. Yells of excitement, high fives, and fist bumps ensued. The screams echoed around the lake and the folks on the shore probably saw the high fives. This was, without a doubt, one of the most memorable experiences that I have had with my boys on the water. Mason even congratulated his younger brother with sincerity and without an ounce of jealousy. I took a moment to revel in the moment and tried to commit as much of the event to my long term memory as I could.
What I had experienced with Jake, almost a week prior, seemed like an exceptional event to me. After witnessing my 9 year old son pull off the same feat, I'm starting to think that maybe there is something to this trolling a tandem streamer rig for hybrids! Only time will tell but I'm excited to investigate this phenomenon further! If you're interested in conducting your own trolling tandem streamers for hybrid striped bass experiment, just click the link below to get your own streamer which is the same one that I have been using.
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