Everyone has to have atleast on trip that they remember more than anything else, it may have been a trip with family, when you caught your PB, when you taught someone else how to fish etc.  So lets here about it.

I have a couple of them.  The first on takes place a couple years back.  I was engaged to this girl named Melissa.  She had a 2 yr old son when we first got together.  His name was Drew, he was fascinated with my boat and some of my lures.  Thats all that it took to get it started.  He would always ask to go with me on the boat or if I could take him fishing and mom always said "No, your too little".  I thought he would of been fine on the boat, I had a life jacket just his size and I would of taken him some where there was a very low speed limit and hardly any boats.  So he kept at it and I asked her a couple more times and finally after some convincing that I would not take the boat she agreed.  I took him to Walmart and let him pick out a rod just for himself.  The look on his face when he found Spiderman was priceless.  So I got him the spiderman rod, some bobbers, hooks, and a pack of worms and we went to Lake Mira Mar in San Diego, CA.  I took him to one of the float docks where I knew there would be baby bass and bluegill.  First cast he caught a bluegill that was about the size of my hand.  And that Ladies and Gentleman is how the monster was started.  We spent a couple hours there and he caught probably 30 little bass and some bluegill.  I know hes hooked because he always wants to go.  Unfortunately due to some unforeseen circumstances that was the only time I have been able to take him and his mom and I dont speak anymore.   Anytime he does see me which is once in awhile he asks if I am there to take him fishing and to play.  I miss the little guy, he was my buddy, you would find the two of us up to no good everywhere we were or went.

Sidenote, thats what happens when you come home early from work on a saturday and find her with another man.

One of my other memorable trips was when I caught my personal best Largemouth Bass.  I live about 15 minutes from Lake Dixon, which is nestled in the foothills of Escondido, CA and it is well known for crystal clear water, huge fish, lake has been in the news a lot.  In the last 10 years it has kicked out a handfull of bass over 20 pounds with many high teen fish.  A couple years back you may of heard about the 25 pound fish that was foul hooked.  It came from Dixon also.  Anyway back to the originally schedulled program.  It was the spring of '03 and I took four days off from work so that I could fish the spawn which was in full swing.  There had been many large fish taken in the last couple of weeks some over 15 so like any bass fisherman I had to go.  I rented a boat, Dixon is too small for private boats, and I set out to search for some fish on beds.  I had seen many small males sitting on beds in the shallows.  So I just kept slowly working along searching for that sow.  I had seen a nice looking fish so I stopped and pitched a jig right to where I had seen the fish come up out of to chase another fish off.  The jig never hit the bottom, as soon as it hit the water my line took off and I swung.  Game on, I thought I had picked up the male because they tend to hit first.  I then realised it was a decent fish because of the way it hauled ass for deep water.  After a brief fight I boated a fish that went 6.7 not a bad way to start the morning.  So on I continued and about an hr later I found three beds within 15 feet of each other and what looked like a giant watermelon sitting in between them.  I backed the boat off and set the anchors so that I could stay in a position to pitch to that fish and watch my jig and line.  I sat there and made flip after flip after flip to that fish and all she would do was swim over and look at my jig then turn and swim off coming back to see it still there and then flare her gills and bail again.  One time she came right to the boat and I got a good look at her, she was every bit of 10 pounds.  I sat on that fish the rest of the day until the ranger came and told me it was time to get off the lake because it was closing.  So I packed it in and went home, eager to get back on the water the next morning.  I got back to Dixon the following day and was the first boat out.  Guess where I went, thats right back to that same spot.  I did not see the fish at first because it was overcast and she was sitting in the shadows.  So I patiently flipped my white jig back to that spot and continually did so for about an hour and a half.  I switched to a plastic worm and that was a no go, the male kept biting it but I would not swing because I didnt want to spook the big fish.  Finally an idea I hadnt thought of donned on me, why not throw my 9" trout swimbait.  First cast that fish charged it and bit the tail.  So I repetedly kept buzzing that swimbait over that spot.  She really was getting pissed but would not commit.  I must of threw that thing for a good two hours.  I decided that she wasnt going to eat it so I picked up my jig, felt the line, cut it off, cut off a couple feet of line and retied it.  Made one pitch to the bed closest to that bass and that was the straw that broke the camels back.  She hit that jig with such force she almost yanked the rod out of my hand.  I swung and got a solid hookset worked her and gently got her in the boat.  I was shaking so bad you would of thought I had Parkinsons disease.  I took her to weigh her and she was 13.3 and broke my old PB by 5 pounds.  The funny thing about that fish is I didnt even get my name in the paper in the outdoors section.  That day three other bass were caught bigger than mine with the biggest being over 17 and with one being 19 that was caught also that week.  Since then I have caught 3 other fish over 10 pounds, a 10.3, 11.5, and a 12.6 all of which have come on plastic worms and in the summer.  I have lost a fish much bigger at Dixon, one I would of estimated being no lighter than 19.  That fish had a mouth as big as a basketball and a gut everybit as large.  Unfortunately I lost her do to a hook straightening out. 

I have a couple other trips I will bring up after I hear some of yours.

I have somewhat of a funny story.  My good friend and his brother had taken a trip to Lake Erie.   Fishing on rocky bottoms they caught what must have been 30 or 40 smallies.  He had several different pictures and I could not tell one fish from the other.  He told me about all the fish and how much fun he had catching them.  I got goose bumps just listening to him talk about it.  Well it would be about a year later before I would get my turn to go on the trip.  My goose bumps became goose pimples when my friends brother asked me to go.  He is an extremely good bass fisherman.  Finished just out of top 10 in the Red Man tournament in the State of Ohio in early 90's. Had he finished in top 10 you then got to go to Bass Masters.  Back then top 10 from each state went to tournament.  Well back to my story.  We leave early am for the 2.5 hour trip.  We arrive and launch the boat along with several other boats.  First thing to note is the temperature is low 50's to high 40's.  Dreary clouds and chance of rain.  We get out maybe 3 or 4 miles off shore and find a nice area to start fishing.  We tie on I believe if memory serves me correctly a 3/8 oz yellow led head.  Now when fishing this way you don't cast you simply drop your jig over the side and pop it up and down once in awhile.  Well you know it is cold and now has begun to rain.  I have been focused on what I was doing and did not realize the weather approaching from the north. We had been fishing for about 3 hours and not a single fish or even a bite.  We had no radio but we did have life vests.  These would prove to be crucial.  Well now that I have seen this weather approaching I am getting concerned.  I say to him and I quote" These waves are getting kind of heavy don't you think" again I will quote his response" You must have the 3 c's of fishing.  Confidence Courage and Cash"  When I heard the word courage I did not feel to much like fishing any more.  I was more focused on the approaching weather and something I did not notice before my conversation with him. Lookin around, all and I do mean all the boats that were there when we started were no longer there.  My concern began to grow even more.  Now he is older and a much more experienced boater and fisherman than me.  I do not want to be the woussie you all know what I mean.  So I get my game face back on, after all I can still see the shoreline and figure I can make it.  Well after about 2 or 3 more hours we are now in 4 foot waves and I must break silence and again ask are the waves to heavy now or do we just keep fishing.  He looks around and now he realizes there are no other boats around either.  I will quote once again "There must be a small craft warning or something". Ok I left this part out on purpose we are on a v-bottom 16 foot bass boat.  Nice boat but I do not remember the brand.  He begins packing his gear up and I do the same.  It begins to rain even harder now and still cold.  We get the gear packed up and he brings in the trolling motor.  He does forget to strap the motor down however. We start for shore and he is driving and riding the waves like you should.  There is a problem however.  I am no small mass of humanity.  Each time we cap a wave the boat plunges into the water my side first.  I am scared and cannot stop laughing.  This does not please the driver at all.  He proceeds to pick up speed and then we hit a wave the wrong way I guess.  I was wearing a brand new gift from my parents a wool  Ohio State hat that cost 25 bucks.  Well the wave took my hat and head back like a rear end collision.  If you thought I was laughing before it was uncontrolable now.  I was complaining about my hat and well he just lost his trolling motor.  Yea this was no laughing matter to him.  Now he asks me to scoot to the center of the boat so when capping the waves it will hit nose first.  The rest of the trip to shore was like riding a motor cycle hanging off the back with the throttle twisted wide open.  I was freaked out of my mind and just could not stop laughing.  The entire trip took about 30 or 40 minutes but I was wore out.  My buddies brother was mad and wet and needless to say never asked me to go fishing again.  I have to give him all the credit though he new exactly how to ride the waves to shore.  Had I been out there the boat would not have made the trip back to shore.  To this day I am unclear why I looked this fear in the eye and laughed my butt off.  Well that is one of my most memorable fishing trips.