Glen Hunter and I hit the waters of East Grand Lake for some early season smallmouth action. Despite the early spring that we have experienced the water temperatures were still at a seasonally normal temperature of 61 degrees. It was still a little nippy , at fifty one degrees, when we slid the boat off of the trailer to cross the lake. Not bad on shore but when we kicked the Stratos up on plane it was on the cool side. It was enough to just stay up on the pad as opposed to a bone chilling high speed run.

Our first stop was on a main lake point where I have encountered prespawn fish staging in prior years. I went to work with a Husky Jerk on my new Crucial 6’ 3” rod and Stradic 2500 reel spooled up with Seige green line in 8lb test . I still prefer mono for a jerk bait...

On July 10, 2010 I fished my best tournament of the year with my grandson Ricky. There was no big prize to be won or glory to be had. There was however some serious fishing going on as Ricky fished his heart out for four hours looking for that one killer Yellow Perch that would put him in the trophy winner’s circle. Not a thousand or ten thousand dollar prize but an eight inch high trophy with a Perch on the top.

This was the seventh annual Kids Fishing for Charity tournament that is hosted by the New Brunswick Sport Fishing Association. This is a dual purpose event that we use to get the kids out on the water in a mildly competitive format while at the same time raising money in support of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The kids are split into three...