Fish of the Week: Fathers and sons

Took my 9 year-old son (Elijah Wooten) and 10 year-old nephew (Ryan Wooten) fishing on Wednesday [Nov. 11] at Starved Rock and my son caught his first Sauger–and what a catch it was for him! The pictured fish was 18.25 inches long and weighed 2.18 pounds a day and a half later when weighed on a grocery store deli scale (may have lost a few ounces from death and dehydration?). Bigger than any sauger I have ever caught. Caught him on an orange and yellow jig head tipped with a medium sized crawler just below the dam. Elijah set his rod down for a moment to untangle he and his cousin’s line, noticed his own line moving in the water, and ended up setting the hook BY HAND! It would make his year if his catch is worthy of your Fish of the Week!