Well I got to do " A Jr Day On The Water" today, and let me tell you it was a blast. I took Zach Starling a member of the Tawakoni Bass Club, out to Purtis Creek. His dad Ken Starling who you may have seen on "A Day On The Water" earlier this year was with us to be the Proud Papa.
I meet Zach and Ken at there house this morning about 5:00 am. If you ever want to see a nervous 12 year old kid meet him at 5:00 am and remind him thousands of people from around the US and World will be looking at the Texas Fishing Forum and may check this post out.
We arrive at Purtis Creek State Park, after stopping and getting breakfast and ice.
Zach fishes from 6:20 Am to 11:20 AM, to beat the heat.
6:20 We get to the ramp and it's quite so Ken starts unloading the boat and me and Zach talk about how he plans on attacking the lake. Now let me remind you towards the first of the Day he's really nervous and heck 13 years old and is being thrown into the spot light. ( it didn't help me and Ken were giving him heck all the way to the Lake.
Zach starts off around the ramp and starts throwing a yellow magic up to shallow banks that have a slight slopping drop off to them.
At the first of this video, you will hear Ken try to start the boat, it wont so he says it's out of gas........Well in about 10 minutes he will realize that apparently you have to have the KILL SWITCH in for the boat to start. LOL
It takes Zach all of 15 minutes to have his first in the boat it's a nice 1.03 lb fish. It came in about a foot of water as soon as his Yellow Magic hit the water.
7:05 After no more luck around the ramp Zach goes across the lake and finds some rock shore lines. He starts to attack the rocks with a 7 1/2" Tequila Sunrise Yum Ribbon tail worm.
7:07 Zach feels pressure, reels down and sets the hook into his second fish of the day. He skillfully swings the fish into the boat and weighs in a 1.04 lb bass.
7:09 Zach is now gaining confidence and has settled down, his cast are getting better and you can tell the pressure of catching fish is gone. He has made about 3 cast since his last fish when he..............Well check out the video below, it picks up while he is fighting the fish from 7:07 AM.
Zach fishes the rocks for about another 45 minutes to no luck, he moves around the point and starts fishing Standing Timber and lay Downs. He does this using a Green Pumpkin Jig with a trailer dipped in Chart. Spike-It.
8:35 Zach has fished Timber on Main Lake Points using LMS Albino Shad color he has dipped in Orange Spike it to mimic a Goldfish, Watermelon Seed Wooly Hawg, Watermelon red baby Brush og. He hasn't had a bite since the last fish and now has moved to the dam.
He attacks the dam with a Bomber crankbait. He has little success there and moves around to the side of the dam and finds some shallow grass and starts casting the Yellow magic to the pockets in the grass.
9:30 He has fished the grass and lay downs around the dam inside and out, and decide to move down to a point he had seen earlier.
After idling down the lake he picks up his Tequila Sunrise worm and start fishing the Timber off the point. He reels down and sets the hook into a fish that takes off straight to the boat, once under the boat the fish comes uncorked and Zach looks at his dad and says" I know I didn't get a good hook set, and I bet thats why he came off"
11:00 It's starting to get Hot, but Zach has continued to plug away keep his head up and grind away at trying to put another fish in the boat.
11:05 He has moved back to the rocks and tells us he has confidence in this area and will end his day here.
He fishes the rocks bumping a crankbait off everything he can, and worming with his ribbon tail worm.
11:15 5 minutes left he pulls off his Brush Hog and puts on a creature bait, ( I will check soon to see what is was) He goes to a dock right off the rocks and flips the inside and out of the pilings.
Ken and I are sitting down talking when we hear some rustling around on the front deck, instantly we here Zach yell i got one, It's wrapped up in a cross beam and looks like a giant. Ken and I both fly to the front I grab the trolling motor, Ken grabs the net, and Zach keeps pressure on the fish. We finally get it in and it's long and has a big ole head on it....Just no belly. Still a great fish to end the day. It weighed 2.9 on the scales which is 2.14 after calculating the 10th scale.
Well, Zach you keep it up and you will be a angler everyone will have to deal with soon. Zach's biggest weight he has ever weighed in at a Bass Tournament was a little over 2 pounds, he finish today with 6.06 pounds and was BEAMING all the way home. Way to go Zach and way to keep your head about your self and chunking away.
Zach Fish #1.....................(1.03 lbs) #2.....................(1.04 lbs) #3.....................(1.00 lbs) #4.....................(2.14 lbs)
Great job Zach, Casey you just made him a Moive Star. Brings back old memories, my son at 13, he's know 36 and we're still fishing buddies. GOOD JOB GUYS.
Way to go Zach! Very well done. You have set the bar very high for the Jr. Day series! heck you did better than some of the " big guns" Congrats!
Casey, Thank you for the willingness to spend so much of your time and own money so we can sit here and enjoy it. We truely appreciate you dedication to this!
Ken. Congrats goes to you as well. Looks like you got yourself a great young man to share some good times with. That is something special. I wish I could have had that with my dad and I hope I have it with my boys. You must be very proud.
Registered: 02/24/08
Posts: 1407
Loc: lake tawakoni
I am very proud, that boy loves to fish.And by the way Casey he's 12,not 13. Thanks for all you do alot of people really don't understand the time you spend on these.It takes alot of time to write these up.
Registered: 02/24/08
Posts: 1407
Loc: lake tawakoni
Casey, We knew at an early age that Zach was going to be an awesome fisherman. One night at midnight when he was only 3 years old and everyone was asleep, we caught him in the living room standing on a stool with his little fishing pole fishing in the AQUARIUM. and he has been fishng ever since!
Casey, We knew at an early age that Zach was going to be an awesome fisherman. One night at midnight when he was only 3 years old and everyone was asleep, we caught him in the living room standing on a stool with his little fishing pole fishing in the AQUARIUM. and he has been fishng ever since!
I am very proud of both of my fishermen!
A proud Mom and Wife !
Now thats funny. A Pick of that would have been awesome. LOL
And as always great write up Casey. 
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