lil mutt Loc: North Texas

After visiting with Mr. Samples here on the forum for the last few days, I began wondering how others began their fishing life. So, how did you start fishing? I'll include an excerpt from "the Early Memories of Lil Mutt" and explain my start.

" Somewhere around four years old, somebody introduced me to the thrills of crawdad fishing and since PawPaw lived on a farm just a short distance away, I partook often. The farm my grand parents lived on was just west of Keller on Keller-hicks Road on the north side. You might have notice I said that they lived on the farm. They didn't own it. They were sharecroppers, all be it, PawPaw managed it for a man who lived in Dallas named Williams. the farm was called the 'the old Cartwright place' and had several pieces of land almost to Roanoke. PawPaw farmed about 600 acres and did it all with an old 9N Ford tractor. However, there was a little branch that ran diagonally N.W. to S.E. and was about 400 yards long across the middle of the farm. PawPaw had put up a barb wire fence on either side of the branch and ran his cows there. I knew every little hole in the branch and which held the best crawdads. MawMaw would give me a little piece of bacon and a piece of string and then I'd go to PawPaw's work bench for a nut to use as a weight. That's where I learned to tie my first knots. I would walk down to the branch with a coffee can that had a wire through the top for a handle, pick a hole, swing the bacon into a muddy puddle. I'd wait for a while, then pull the bacon in ever so gently. I didn't know then , but I was learning patience. After I had a goodly amount of crawdads, I would return to the house and MawMaw and I would feed the crawdas to her chickens. My, my, how those chickens loved crawdads."

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Great report Mutt. My father was a boat motor mechanic and got a boat when I was 5 years old. First fishing trip was in the Charleston Harbor at the Pitt Street Bridge. First thing I caught was the anchor line of the boat next to us. Laugh now but not back then. Did catsh some Spots also.

Flytier Loc: Wilmington Delaware

I guess I was about 8 years old when my Dad took me on my first fishing trip. Went put on a party boat that used to be a WWII PT boat. Went bottom fishing off Brielle NJ. Didn't have a rid on the first trip. Used a tarred hand line with a 2 hook bottom rig and clam baits. Caught a bunch of porgies and seabass which became Friday night dinners that winter.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

My dad never fished but was an ardent hunter, my Uncle John (his brother) and my grandfather were both hunters and fisherman. I was introduced to fishing through them. My grandfather was a member of a club in the Poconos called Lake Maskenosa that held an annual fishing contest for panfish each spring. I well remember stopping along the way in a deep valley to gather moss to keep our worms well hydrated and feisty and the crackerjack popcorn for the ride home. Prizes were given for the most and largest fish and a big fry after the contest. It was magical and has forever left an indelible presence in my mind. I hope to soon replicate that memory for my as of yet nonexistent grandkids, in the meantime I’m able to get my great nephew out with my boys and share those same experiences.

bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

My dad took my brother, age 9 and I, age 5 to a small pond separated from the main lake by a bridge. My brother and I fished that lake, Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis every chance we could. We even skipped school on occasion when my brother reached the responsible age of 11 and taught me how to hitchhike to the lake. We would also hike to Minnehaha Creek and turn over rocks for mud puppies. worms and bluegill were the catch of the day, but I one time found a box of mini poppers and fished them wet under my weight and float. I caught several perch and a 4 inch bass. That was a day to remember. Side note: You get pretty good at scaling cleaning fish after three summers of cleaning thirty to forty 4 to 6 inch bluegill (some 2 to 3 inch thrown in) several days a summer. I did not start filleting fish until the 60's.

Retrieverman390

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Dad took me when I was 5 to. He was smart and took me when the bluegills were on the beds. Lots of action. I was hooked from day one. We went often and he managed to take we when and where he knew there would be some action. He had Mom pack a lunch and had plenty of other things to do if the fishing got slow. I did the same with Meg daughter, I have to say she was a better fisher person than I was at that age.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Great stories Y,all. Hope to read more. Good post Mutt.

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

When I was about 4yrs old, my dad took me Bullhead fishing in the evening after supper. We went to a local pond and fished worms on the bottom. There was a streetlight behind us drawing the bugs away, but pulling fish out of the dark pond was kinda spooky. Sometimes we stayed out till midnight, and left the fish in a bucket till morning, with a wet burlap bag over them. The biggest surprise was when we went to clean them the next morning, and they were still alive.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

First I have ever heard of a bullhead. Had to look it up

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

We have 2 types here, Brown and Yellow, we always caught the Brown ones. They don't grow very big, our biggest were 2-3lbs, and the state record is 4lb 15oz.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Thanks Fred. Always learning on this site. Last time I went down here I got a catfish slam. Channel, Blue and Flathead. Never heard of that before so I made it up myself. LOL

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

Me too buddy. There you go, you're a pioneer with the first ever Catfish slam!

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

HaHaHa. LOL

Eagleclaw-06 Loc: Russellville, AR

I was three, maybe four, when my folks took me fishing in our farm pond. I was four when I caught a three pound bass and I’ve never forgotten it! (Moving ahead many years, our son broke my record when he was three with a six pounder! Then our daughter caught a three and a half pounder on a cane pole when she was three!)

We lived in the Ozark Mountains, and would take a carbide lamp and snag suckers at night in a local creek during the spring. We would also catch frogs with a patch of white fabric tied above a treble hook.

I’m like bapabear above; I didn’t learn to filet a fish for years. Mom told me if you’re going to catch those things, you’re going to clean them! So by seven yo, I was cleaning fish. I’m sure the first ones looked like I had used a weed eater on them!

Here, almost seventy years later, I’m still throwing hooks at them. 🎣

1Oldboat42 Loc: Kearney, Nebraska

I was #4 of 6 kids in my family and I think I must have had a cain pole in my hand before I could walk. We were dirt poor in Mississippi with a dad who liked to drink to much. So we ate everything that would take a hook. In 1965 my parents bought a new Dodge truck and my spot to the lake when it was cold was on the floor under the dashboard. We would spend all day going from one pond to the next. Everything was fried and you could always count on my older brother to choke on a boon.