Okay, In another post about line, leaders and such, I got to thinking about the gear I started with.
My first casting reel was a Pflueger AKRON (I still have it). There were no buttons to push. When you cast out your Creek Chub,Pike Minnow, or Hawaiian Wiggler, attached with a wire leader to the black nylon braid, the handles spun like a fan blade. There were no fancy brakes on it. Everything was controlled by your "Educated" thumb. You used that thumb to control the cast, and pick out the back lashes on every third cast. The reel was mounted on a solid steel rod. You could tell how much a guy fished by the "Set" in his rod. Some guys fished so much their rods looked like a strung long bow.
I don't believe I ever saw a spinning reel until I was 12-13 years old. The well heeled guys had those fancy Mitchell 300's. Although some of the WWII guys had some they got in France. They brought those back along with some of those "French Spinners" (at the time I thought that was what they were calling the gals on the post cards I saw, in the cigar box behind the old mans tackle box). Those were usually mounted on a solid fiber glass rod (the reels not the gals). By the time I saved up enough cash for one they came out with a tubular fiberglass rod. We had a new line for those called Monofilament line. It was nice line, but pike could slice it like a hot knife through butter. We got some new lures about then, Hula Poppers, Jitter Bugs and an old stand by the "Bass-A-Reno" made out of a new material..,plastic. They also came out with something I never thought would work, called a rubber worm. The darn thing had a propeller front, and back with some red beads fore, and aft. It had some of that monofilament stuff running through it with a loop on the front to attach to the snap on your line, and hold the three hooks, front, middle and rear.
My first boat was a flat bottom homemade fishing boat propelled by oars. Later on it few across the water with a 1 1/2 hp outboard by "Damned If I know". I then moved up to 5 hp Scott Atwater. That one vibrated the slats when I gunned it. From there I got a 14ft Mirrocraft open fishing boat powered by 12 hp Johnson outboard. It was brown with white trim and the most reliable outboard I ever owned. The only thing I ever put in it was gas, oil, (mixed of coarse) plugs, lower unit oil, and that's it. I gave it to my nephew for his 18th birthday (he's 50 now), he kept it for years. He gave it to his brother in law, who still has it, and still runs it. I graduated to a 15 hp Evinrude. It got me on the road to my first bass boat.
I got the idea from a neighbor kid, who's dad fixed one up for him. I put a indoor/outdoor carpeted plywood deck on the front half of the boat. I screwed a black post (they still sell them) to the floor and the other end to a padded seat. I started with an Eska electric motor, then a Shakespeare, and finally a Minn Kota.They were attached to the bow using a mini deck over the front gunnel's. Brother it was the "Nuts" and did I catch fish. Later I added electronics to it. A Lowrance flasher that you could set at 30 or 60 ft. I liked that flasher unit. I could read bottom content (wide bright line hard bottom, narrow weak line soft bottom. weeds (flickering thin lines). I used that thing until a couple of years ago for ice fishing (I still got that and it still works).
Bass fishing knowledge came from two sources, a TV fisherman named "Gadda About Gaddis", and a kid named "Homer Circle" who dressed in a red jump suit (jeeze).
Today I have a real bass boat, modern rods, and reels, modest electronics, and good trolling motor. It's getting old now too, but it will last me until I take a dirt nap (that may be, or not, as far away as I'd like it to be either).
We have come an awful long way in fishing since I started as a kid. How about you? What are your recollections.
