My buddy Leo called me up Friday and asked if I wanted to join him and his family for a day on the Tchefuncte Sunday to try and redeem ourselves from the less than par trip we made out there a week ago. I was hesitant at first because I just can't stand fishing on the weekends but it was our only chance to get everyone out there all at once because everyone was off. So we start kicking ideas back and forth. The weather has been warm for a while and the trout bite should still be there. So we decided to hit the river first and then move to the Rice Fields if that didn't produce. We stocked up on Shrimp Creole and had everything worked out to head out Sunday morning. I was worried about the fog and the gnats I must admit. I knew those gnats would make the kids miserable if the wind wasn't there. We got to the launch at Madisonville bridge around 6:15 and I was surprised to see a few parking spots still available. As we were launching I saw a school of pogies and Leo turns to me and asked 'you got your cast net" I'm glad he reminded me because I had it in the tool box of my truck. So before we left I ran and grabbed it. Good thing I did because as we past the Marina Del Ray launch I spotted a nice sized ripple of shad right in the middle of the river. I told my wife to aim straight for it while I got on the bow and braced for a long hard toss. I waited until they chose a side to break off to and slung it out there. On my first tug I knew I had hit pay dirt when I saw that oh so familiar silver flashes underwater. The kids went nuts when they saw all the pogies and to be honset if was nice having 8 hands collecting them to put into the bait bucket instead of 2. So I am feeling much better about the day now. We open up the engine and not 1 minute after we came back down to idle as we came upon the now familiar line of boats along the east shoreline. So we found an open spot right next to the sunken camp opposite the low bridge on the west side. I anchor my boat and Leo anchors his and the process of getting three kids and the wife situated began. I had their lines rigged with matrix the night before so all we had to do was start fishing. Well I clipped their lines and rigged carolia with pogies for them. They started casting and it didn't take long at all before my oldest starts huffing and puffing. I ask whats wrong Kasey and she replies "this spot is stupid" lol. I knew what she was thinking but I just wanted to check and see if we could get a few specks in the boat. So I say "one more cast" and then we will go to the Rice Fields. So we cruise on down into the Rice Fields and you can see the excitement building with the kids. they are so spoiled fishing there. So we pull up and anchor on the right side of the tranasse before the bulkhead and Leo anchors on the left. I notice the water coming out of the cut and think to myself "that's a real good sign" I put a fresh pogey on my wife's pole first and she cast out on the middle of the canal. I am baiting up my youngest pole and I here Leo calling out for one of his sons to "set the hook!" lol.. I say to myself "YES! they are here!" My wife starts hauling one in as I cast out the line for my youngest and hand her the pole. Well the next 3 hours were an absolute blur and all I did was coach them and re-bait their lines. Bass after bass they haul in and the box is constantly "thumping". Then my youngest said something that I will never forget. She pulled in a bass and Kasey was pulling one into the boat at the same time and I heard her say "We given them a hurtin" I heard what she said but it really didn't set in at first then I thought about it and my wife asked her what she meant. She said she 'that's what Dada says when we are catching fish in the video" Evidently I had a video on my phone that she kept watching over and over. lol. So my wife and I get a big laugh. What she meant to say was 'we are puttin a hurtin on em" lol. Around 10 am the kids got the idea that they wanted to get out of the boat and run around on"land" so I had three little girls running in the marsh of the rice fields canal while I got to take a few casts. I flung my line right in the middle of the canal and waited. BAM! NICE solid hookset and I heard that drag sing to me. I head Leo say "awwww Sh.." from his boat and I hauled in the days keeper redfish. I put two more keeper reds in the box before leaving. Before we got out into the river I stopped by another cut draining into the canal and we tied up to a 2x4 that was recently put there to run a trot-line . My oldest Kasey found a little honey hole and must have put 10 in the boat within a half hour. They were right off the shore in shallow water actually. She was free lining pogies and I watched what she was doing. She threw out then let the line go slack. Then she slowly reeled in to check if the line moved. I asked her what she was doing and she told me "I watch the line when it goes into the water and when it moves left or right I know there is a fish on it" That really made me feel good. My 10 year old is really started to understand some little things about fishing. We decided to head on in around 11:30. Leo had went out to the river and tried to catch some trout around 10:30 but could only muster another bass along the shoreline. We ended the day with 66 fish total. 3 redfish, 3 striped bass, and 60 pan sized marsh bass. Guys get your little ones out there! It may be a lot of work but it all worth it. My little girl just walked up to me as I was typing this and said " Dada..you need to get a "honey hole" like Me and Kasey have" referring to the spots where they were catching fish one after the other. -Keith 12/10/12