Freshwater fishing sure can be fun.

When I was 8 years old, I was fishing from a boat one evening on Lake Champlain with my father and his friend. I landed a respectable 5-pound northern smallmouth bass, much to the chagrin of Dad and his buddy, it being the best catch of the trip. According to Bassmaster, the average northern smallmouth weighs in at 3.7 pounds.

A couple years later I witnessed an epic battle when my father hooked a northern pike, a game fish with a lot of fight, in the 15-pound range.