My daughter, Samantha, and I won a trip with Reel Time Guide Service at the Mini Me Classic. We met Capt. Mark Smith at 6am to start our day. After a 15 min. boat ride, we were at our spot and getting set up. Before we could even get all the rods baited, Capt. Mark says "fish on!". Samantha goes over and reels in a catfish. Not what we were fishing for, but to an 8 yr old, a fish is a fish. We reload all the rods, and get ready. Capt. Mark and I were talking, and Samantha yells "FISH ON!" It's a nice 1 lb striper. Just a few minutes go by, and the rod loads up again and Samantha reels in a 3 pounder. I can't take it anymore, so the next fish is mine. The rod loads up and I start to reel it in. After a little fight, the fish breaks me off. Capt. Mark tells us again the fish are here, and the rod loads up again. Samantha reels in a nice 5 pounder. Within no time, Capt. Mark tells us there's a big school under the boat & to get ready, but no bites. So Capt. Mark makes some adjustments on the rods and depth to aggravate the fish to get a reaction bite, and it works!! One of the back rods loads up, and Samantha takes it. Within seconds, another rod loads up, so I grab it. How cool is that? A double! I reel in a nice 2 pounder, and Samantha is still playing with her fish. Oh, she's not playing! She's working her fish all around the boat, and Capt. Mark has the net ready. He's telling Samantha, "it's a nice one, just work it easy and let him take some drag." After a good battle, she reels in a HUGE 8 pounder all by herself!! As a Dad & a fisherman, I let out a big WOOHOO!! We were all excited, and Capt. Mark tells Samantha he is going to put her picture on his website. She tells me, "Daddy, I'm going to be famous!" The fish are biting and we catch several more 2 & 3 pounders. We have lady luck on our side, and her name is Samantha! Capt. Mark tells Samantha her next fish needs to be an 11 pounder since she already has 1, 2, 3, 5, & 8 pounds. Well, we never caught a bigger fish, but several more came after that! Eventually, the fish just stopped biting, and after several attempts to locate more, we decided to call it a day. Capt. Mark gave us a tour of the lake, and a nice long boat ride. What a wonderful trip! The fish were there with the early morning bite just like Capt. Mark had said. He kept us in the action all morning, and always took care of Samantha and made sure he landed all of her fish. He was always there just in case she needed help. We ended our trip around 1pm and we have a lifetime of memories! Thanks Capt. Mark Smith of Reel Time Guide Service for a GREAT time!!

"Fish On"

Steve & Samantha