On Thursday evening of last week I set out to get my whole family fishing on the Red Lake River in our back yard south of town.

My kids and I gathered a nice pile of firewood, and my wife brought down beverages and all the makings for smores. We had the two of us and all four kids.

The weather was beautiful. I had nightcrawlers and cut up suckers for bait. I set up three catfishing rods for the six of us and explained to everyone that we would "take turns" catching fish.

The evening started out with my 5 yr. old son catching a perfect "eater" channel cat - about 2 1/2 pounds. Then we simply rifled through sheepshead, and a few cats, suckers, and an occasional rock bass, with one smallmouth tossed in for good measure.

Once the sun set it was straight catfish, and it was steady. We had fish biting at least every 5 minutes, and had many doubles. Several times I found us with no lines left in the water after landing fish, helping reel in, and re-baiting lines.

We landed several quality fish between 5-8 lbs. and numerous 3-4 lb. fish. No giants, but I'm betting they'll show up by the tail end of July.

At one point my 5 yr. old son was landing a nice cat when he yells to my 8 yr. old daughter, "Hold on to me from behind Abbey, he's going to pull me in the water!"

We had an absolute blast! My daughter and I stuck it out until 12:30 a.m. She's a die-hard angler like her Pa. I'd guess we ended the night with 25 cats between 2-8 lbs., and almost constantly had fish biting, and banging rod tips.

Now we need to dial in the walleyes!

It was a very pleasant evening with family on the river. We'll be putting in a small dock soon, and I'm looking forward to exploring some of the area for smallmouth and walleye from the canoe.

Great to hear the fish were biting good. Plus it's even sweeter when the young ones get into the act. I;m guessing you bought the house you were telling me about? You're gonna get spoiled just walking down to the bank and catching fish...No driving anywhere, must be nice!

I'll have to hook up with you sometime and give it a try by your house...It's always fun to try new areas.

Hey Lee! I have to admit, it is going to be convenient. I'm planning a small dock for landing canoes.

How are you at fishing from a canoe? I'm anxious to get into the river and start seeking out holes and riffles for walleyes and smallmouth.

I figure on canoeing to good spots then wading the rapids as current allows. Give me a call at the hospital lab whenever you want to get out. I'm always game.

I can't say I have ever actually fished from a canoe...I have always got out and fished the area once I arrived like you mentioned...Sounds like fun though.

My weekends are pretty booked through July and the first weekend in August. I have a couple of Catfish Tournaments coming up, but will have some time on weekdays after 5pm starting next week. If you can get out on a weeknight, let me know. I would like to find a "fun spot" for the TRF Lions Tournament on August 16th. I might have a day available this weekend?

I'll talk to you later.

Honestly, weeknights are about all I've got for much of the remaining summer. With kids in baseball, and VBS, my best chance to get out is evenings during the week.

You know what might be fun is to drop the canoe in below the [PoorWordUsage] and just float down to my place. I'd venture it'd take less than two hours, and we could stop at different holes, and riffles to see what's hangin' around.

This would give us a chance to know the stretch of river between the [PoorWordUsage] and the airport pretty well. Finding those honey holes that no one else can get to is HUGE!

Just give me a call whenever you've got time.

Is your cell number from before still good or do you have a new number now? I still have the 612#, just let me know.

If you don't want to post your number on here, e-mail me the number at: tsmartin@mncable.net.

I went down to the river the last two nights and caught a few smallies each trip. All were caught on a jig and twister tail...Nothing big, but still fun...No walleye's.