How'd you come ta fish??

[olhillbilly]

I spose I always been around it in some form or anuther. Dad and uncle earl hadda trotline out they cawt carp an buffalo on, when I was growin up. I was pert near a teenager fore I knew that not all fish had teeny tiny bones in em ya hadda watch out for. Last time I set outta line for carp was in early 80 or late 70's. I tried ta find carp line riggins this year an had no luck. Must be a thing of the past.
Then I learned ta fish with a pole. A zebco 202 I think. And sun perch an bullheads an bass became fair game.

Creek fishin. There just happened to be a creek within walkin distance of the house, that had eatable sized fish in it. Course bout any sized fish was eatable. In tellin this I just remembered Dad tellin me that when he was a kid, he dipped chubs outta the creek in his old straw hat an chopped off their heads an gutted em an scaled em an fried em. Rite there on the creek bank.

I think I re-discovered all the creek banks in the area. And some not in the area. Some ya hadda ride yer bike a mile or so to explore. In the 70's, before the dam dam went ta fillin up, Me an jake set trotlines an limb lines out all over the river tween Brownsford and Meyer's Ford. Dont remember ever catchin nuttin of good size but we hadda blast if I recall. Then in the 80's (post dam dam) me an several friends set lines. Not all at one time. Different friends, different times.

Then I went thru a dry spell where I hardly fished at all. Took up golf. hahaha Took me awhile but I soon figgered out it was cheaper to fish an a dang site more relaxing. That was bout the time I discovered B highway fishin. Since I worked night shift, in my off nights I fished. Always managed to catch a couple eatin size. An no, not chub sized either. An this was the start of pole fishin again, for cats. Got me a Penn 209 and a Eagle Claw combo outfit an a couple closed face reels of some sort. I spect Zebcos, an went ta fishin.

Then I went thru a change of jobs an wimmin. Hadda dry spell of fishin. Took a few years and a nuther change of jobs an no woman to find my fishin fever all over again. Started fishin B highway again an got serious bout my catfishin for the last 3 1/2 years or so. Still aint got anything really big. But I been witness to a monster and go regularly. Have started several kids a fishin an tuned their skills a lil an now I got folks all over and all ages, wantin to fish with me.
Guess its an age thing, Cuz I got friends older then me that I go with an look up to for tips an ideas.

[Sinker]

I kinda doubt if I can git a complete recall in one settin, but I'll try ta hit th hi spots fore it's time ta feed th chickens.
Earliest I remember is crick-fishin with worms, cork, an some kinda string on a 'peach limb' pole 3 times longer'n me. Cawt lotsa perch an bullheads, an we was a long ways from a river, so we ate'm all. Mostly they was almost big enuff ta make bait th way I fish now! Got me a Western Auto rod an a Zebco 202 when I's 9 an th first day cawt a 9 lb catfish. Didn't know a flathead from a shark, but it had whiskers! Occasional bass an more bait size perchy-things, which lookin back was anything with scales except carp, til I's bout growed. They was too much work an girls an orneriness ta git into ta git too serious bout fishin.
It's gittin light outside, so I better do th bird thing; sides this is as gooda place ta break as any, cause change was bout ta commence!

[naturelovr]

i felt like my son, aged four, needed to do traditional "boy" stuff even though his dad and i weren't together anymore....so i bought us some rods and reels...probably zebco 202s...musta' had someone show me how to put on a hook 'cuz i'd never even held a pole before that.....and we stared fishin'.....havin' just moved here from a huge city, i loved the freedom of gettin' out and just breathin' fresh air and watchin' and studyin' nature from behind a pole.....if we ever caught anything, it was a surprisin' bonus since i knew absolutely nothin' about fishin'.....

anyway, i continued makin' my son go with me, even though he hated it...stopped makin' him go when he was about 10.....we were on a pond one time in a little aluminum boat and he was not really wantin' to be there....he cast kinda' half heartedly and managed to catch my eyebrow...then he went all hysterical on me 'cuz of hookin' me....i still had ta get us to the bank an' so i rowed us in with a hook in my eyebrow....didn't even have the presence of mind to cut the line 'cuz i was busy tryin' to assure him that i was perfectly alright......we lived next to the pond, so we went in and i got out some pliers and somehow or other pushed the hook so that i could cut off the barb and get it out.....he never wanted to go after that an' i never made him.......i still love fishin', he still hates it.......

three or four years ago, when i was spendin' lotsa' of time at a conservation pond, a couple a older guys "adopted" me probably 'cuz they took pity on me that i was always out there tryin' but hardly ever catchin' anythin', 'cept bait for them.....so they started givin' me lotsa' good tips on catfishin' and i started bein' able to catch 'em pretty regularly....woo-hoo....i'd just thought i loved fishin' before that.......nowadays i can't think of anything i'd rather do than fish......

[chefjim]

Fishin'? Yeah, I do that too. I still remember the first time I fished, too. I was 4 years old, and I was on the wharf at Santa Cruz in California. My grandfather, who was elected to take care of me 3 or 4 days a week (much to his dislike) discovered that if he bought me a rod and reel, he could give me a dollar or so for "expenses" and drop me off early morning at the wharf and pick me up in the evening. He bought me my first Penn reel and a 3 foot wooden handled boat rod and a 2 dollar tackle box with some hooks and weights in it and said "good luck" as he gleefully drove off. He couldn't really show me anything about how to fish, because he never had, so I just watched what other people were doing and tried to copy them as best I could.

I spent a good deal of my childhood on that wharf and I absolutely adored every second of it. I learned about fishing, but I learned about life there too. I learned how to distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys. I learned about sharing. I learned about being responsible when it came to cleaning up when you left. I put hooks through my fingers and figured how to take them out by myself.

I learned about nature. I knew to appreciate a sunset on the ocean, the power of the sea when it was angry with the fury of a storm, and to never waste any fish that I caught.

These days, I am totally focused on big catfish. I do what I can to avoid little ones, and if I fish for 16 hours straight and get just one really good one, then I am well pleased. I release about 99% of what I catch, although I usually keep one often enough to always have a Zip-Lock of filets in the freezer, because I enjoy eating it.

I also enjoy sharing with others what I know about cattin' if they want to listen.

Funny, when I was young, I learned fishin' from the old guys that were patient enough to teach me. Somehow, I guess I must have become one of those "old guys" Time goes too quickly sometimes..............................Chef

[olhillbilly]

Funny, when I was young, I learned fishin' from the old guys that were patient enough to teach me. Somehow, I guess I must have become one of those "old guys" Time goes too quickly sometimes..............................

Well said!
from anuther "Old Guy" according to the kids I fish with.

[rustygril]

Boy all the story's here are great.As far as me.I was born on a lake called Little Ceder Lake.We did all kinds of thing when it came to fishing.One day 3 of us got 123 carp for a farmers garden.He smoked a few of them but the most of them went to his wifes garden(LOL).Those were the good old days.But I'm still learning new things about fishing every year and it's a great time.

[Sinker]

Better'd back up a little. After I caught th 9 lber., seemed like th whole fambly got intersted in fishin. My granma an grampa had a big pond on th back side of theier place an they had put a few fish in it when it was built, probly 30 years before. Nobody had fished it since that I ever knew of. We took a picnic back there an I think I caught a 5 lber ta start things off. We caught several that day. But th lesson came later. Granma would go back there by herself an catch more an bigger fish than when somebody else was along. No snivelin bawlin kids,lol. Nobody runnin up an down th bank, she just sat there quiet fer hours an caught what to us then was monster cats. I think th biggest was around 12 lbs but what impresst me was th quiet; th patience, an perserverance of that woman in her 60s outfishin everbody else.
I had a little experience noodlin, but since it's illegal I won't go inta that. Only that I was greatly impressed with it and th results.
The change I reffered to was river fishin with trotlines an limblines. I'll go inta that a little next time.

[gonecatfishing]

I grew up on a cattle ranch in South Texas and the older kids were being paid to babysit me and she would push me off on her brothers to watch. They would put me up behind them on a horse and to the river we went. They kept their cane poles there all the time . One of the older boys would shoot a rabbit for bait and we would fish and swim untill late afternoon and it would be time to get back to the house. We would catch channel cats ,flatheads and carp. The channel cats always went home with us to eat.Didn't bass fish untill years later while stationed in North Carolina...Now I fish for other fish to use as bait for cats....

[Sinker]

By chasin girls, in a roundabout way is how I met one a th fishinest fellers I ever have knew. He fished bout ever day unless forced ta work (union), an he'd take off an fish when he coulda been workin. I had never run acrost anythin like it yet, but I rilly liked it! Fishermen in this country, an in that time were a real protective sorta species. They guarded everthing they knew an everwhere they done it! It took me a right respectable time ta gain his trust enuff ta let me go fishin with him. Now I know just cause I was courtin his daughter an he probly already figgered he's gonna hafta run me off sooner or later didn have much ta do with that..... Well anyway, I had seen enuff of his catches an picures took over th years of more catches, that I was inclined ta become perty much absorbent. He taught me a boatfull bout times, baits, weather, changin water-levels, backwater, as well as what ta say an what NOT ta say concernin how yer fishin was goin! I can say he didn teach me all I know bout fishin, but bout everthing else I've lernt is grounded in that education.
I got ta fish with'im bout 8 years or so, an then I didn hardly fish atall fer a looooong time! When I git back ta this, I'll bring it perty much up ta date!

[papa]

I was 5 when my mom and dad took my sister and me to the creek and gave us both a big old cane pole to fish with, that was the heaviest pole I ever used, but sat there and started catching bullheads till we had enough for supper, from that day forward I have spent a lot of hours along creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. When I was in my early teens I would leave our house at 6 in the mornin and come home about 9 at night with a stringer full of bullheads, cats, bluegills. If I wasn't married I would be fishing every day, but I don't get to do that anymore, maybe a couple of times a week now.

[hellomud350]

i dont knw how old i was when whin i started fishing but i have ben fishin fir awile but i am still yeng and still have alot to learn

[Sinker]

It don't matter how young ya are in th game; it matters a whole lot more "how ya play"!