After meeting Captain Bill Whipple at Wojo's bait shop at 5:30 am, we headed to Lake Toho Resort where we'd begin our trip on Lake Toho.
Here's the first of many that my son would catch.
Though we weren't fishing for gar, this big gar with a mouthful of sharp teeth that my son reeled up to the boat was an interesting surprise.
Us mid-westerners were surprised to see bass like this. Bass like these seem to be common on Lake Toho.
The water became choppy as the day went on but the fish were still biting.
My son didn't want to hold the fish, so his uncle helped out in holding the fish while Captain Whipple snapped a photo.
We caught plenty of fish on lake Toho. We kept some of the smaller ones to eat, and the rest including the largest ones were let go. Here's my oldest son learning how to filet.

Something I did over spring break with my kids was bass fishing with a guide on Lake Toho.

I'd gone out on Lake Toho before. It's a huge lake, full of bass that are bigger than the bass I usually catch here in the midwest.

Our tour started by meeting Captain Bill Whipple at Wojo's Bait Shop in Saint Cloud where we would buy our bait - live wild shiners.

My first impression of Captain Whipple was that he appeared super confident that we would be slamming some bass on Toho. I felt pretty optimistic before we even boarded his boat.

After loading up with bait, we followed Captain Whipple as he towed his boat to our point of departure, a lovely camp called Lake Toho Resort that was also home to Wild Willy's Airboat Tours. I'd like to visit this resort again. It had a very relaxing feel and nice direct access to the lake.

We had a great time on this five hour charter. Bill knew exactly where to anchor the boat and put us right where the bass were. We didn't go to any spots where the bass weren't biting. It was during the spawn and the bass were hooking good. My oldest son also hooked a big gar, but bass were the overwhelming majority of the fish we caught.

We all got into the bass very heavily. The kids caught them as well as the adults. Bill Whipple was very patient with my children when instructing them what to do and I appreciate that. The kids had a great time and the smiles on their faces when reeling in the bass were priceless.

Bill was efficient in making sure our lines were in the water as much as possible and that we weren't wasting our bait (live shiners are expensive) or time. Each spot that he anchored at had fish.

The 5 hour tour on beautiful Lake Toho was well worth it. My shoulder is still a bit sore from hooking those bass, but I would definitely reccommend fishing with Captain Bill Whipple on Lake Toho.

Information about Captain Bill Whipple's fishing guide service on Lake Toho (official site)