Pretty much fished by myself as a kid in small tanks and ponds. Later on in life, I had the privelage of fishing with my Father in Law which guided on Lake Fork for 17 yrs. These were the most memorable years of fishing. Most of the time we fished at night. I destinctly remember when he would get a bite, he would hollar "Hold em Little Hook".

My Dad started me so young I really don't remember when exactly. But I do remember the first big fish! A northern pike about three feet long caught out of the cedar river in Williamston Michigan about 1968. We have been fishing ever since... Dad is just now getting on in years and having some trouble getting around so I might have to buy a nice boat so we can go fishing in comfort!

Fishing the shores of lake Erie and waiting for april when trout season opened
and in the fall when the coho were running in the creeks coming from Lake
Erie to spawn.

I'm sure some of you forum old timers have heard this before, we have had simular threads in the past. I grew up in Arkansas, and started fishing at the age of about 3. Fished a Mississippi oxbow called Maddox Bay, and also East lake and green lake. We fished out of an old aluminum boat me in the middle between my mother and daddy, with nothing but paddles, and would skully the banks. We hauled in the biggest bream you have ever seen, and to this day can go back and catch those slabs big enough to fillet. I still say bream fishing is one of my favorites. We of course only had cane poles, and would throw the bobber as close as we could to cypress knees, and honestly you never knew what you were going to catch. Grennel was one that was always a surprise, and would certainly put up a good fight. It was just getting rid of the thing that was bad. These lakes were almost prehistoric, it was nothing to see big water moccosins sunning on a log bigger than your arm.

The (back then) clear, cool waters of Five Mile creek, complete with woods for hunting squirrels with a .22 or a .410, a swimming hole that had a small waterfall, and the fishing "hole" with some fat crappie(white perch back then), black bass, some surprisingly big ones, and fat, ruler of the roost channel cats!

The clear, limestone bottom stock tanks of southern Ellis County, near Italy, Forreston and Milford, with bluegills the size of the ones Sharon is talking about!

The "cutoff" between Ennis and Rosser, with all \manner of fish in it, including 100 lb plus alligator gar! Mom says i was in training pants when i started fishing, so it's been awhile, lol!

Rudy

Never expected to see that on here! I moved here in 2000 from St. Francisville, right across the river. Used to fish False River, the Mississippi River and some private ponds. Man that was some fun. When I was younger we lived in Birmingham, Al. and would drive up to Guntersville or Muscle Shoals a lot to fish with my grandparents and Uncles near the damns for catfish. My uncle still can bring home a boatload on any given day no matter the conditions. I have been fishing since before I can even remember. The best memory is literally dragging a #20 lb cat out of my uncles pond with a cane pole thrown over my shoulder. Now I fish for any species, they are all fun to me and I still have a few of my Zebco combo's too!

Started by fishing for bluegills off a pier at a small lake in Wisconsin. We would use bread balls or Velveeta cheese balls on the hook and it was sight fishing - - caught a bunch, and what a blast!! Sometimes we had to go back to the cabin, because we ran out of bread feeding the ducks and geese on the way to the pier. We would get Dad to take us out in the row-boat to do serious fishing - - funny, my memories of that aren't as vivid And then there was snipe hunting . . . . .

Lake Livingston- Catfishing with frozen bloodbait in the river channel near Pine Island. Catching white bass not too far the same spot throwing lead slabs. Catching white perch in about 18" of water so fast we just started hand-lining minnows and pulling them out.I watched my Dad and Uncle clean fish for HOURS. Another Uncle had a place in Chappel Hill off 290 with a nice Lake. Didnt realize how good it was back then (70's).

In the late 40's and early 50's there weren't too many lakes around Dallas to fish, so much of my early years was spent going with my mom and dad to the Trinity river to fish for whatever would bite. We were as poor as dirt and fish was our meat.

First fishing trip I can remember was in the early 50's with my dad and uncle. Fished from the bank and ate crappie for breakfast on Lake J.B. Thomas.

great thread and stories

My grandpa and dad were cattle ranchers and also ran a dairy farm.There was a large round rock water tank which fed a shorter trough below.Grandpa would stock the taller large tank with perch and catfish and I would walk around on the shorter trough and fish.They made me use a bent straight pin and sewing thread to make the fish last longer.Also fished a lot in stock tanks,the South San Gabriel River and the Highland Lakes.Dad always took me fishing and now I take him every chance we get.

HAVE YOU EVER MADE YOUR OWN FISHING ROD OUT OF BAMBOO?
WE USED WHAT WE CALLED CALCUTA MUCH THICKER AND STRONGER
THAN BAMBOO.USED PEN REELS AND FISHED FOR CATS BELOW THE
DAM AT LAKE TEXOMA.
HOOK-EM

Man what a great thread! I grew up in the Texas Panhandle near Clovis New Mexico so you really had to have a STRONG DESIRE to be a fisherman. I was lucky because my Grandad would rather fish than eat and he passed on that passion to me. I can't remember my first fishing trip---I was only 2 and I was catching trout out of small stock pond outside my Grandad's cabin in Tres Ritos, New Mexico. Grandad sold the Cabin when I was 5 or 6 and bought a boat so our fishing trips shifted from Trout to "pike" fishing. Most people probably don't know it, but Lake Meredith, Ute Lake in New Mexico and Conchas Lake in New Mexico used to have some pretty nice walleye or "Pike", like my Grandad called them. We'd troll hellbenders for the Pike and "plug the bank" for black bass. Grandad would always holler out, "Son, you gotta shoot the bait to the Finny Tribe"

Hook-em, I remember seeing guys fish with those below the dam many years ago.