Hey all..................
Been fishing for 57 years. Started at 5 trolling for King Salmon with my grandpa. After the first time, I scrounged up $.25(soda bottles) and bought a fly rod with a broken tip and started stomping cricks on the island of Wrangell(SE Alaska).........by 8 I had progressed to a spinning rod and moved to crick mouths for Dolly Varden and the occasion Coho Salmon. We also did subsistence fishing for Humpies when they were running. After a couple of moves ended up in the Pacific Northwest where lake and river trout and steelhead fishing....still with a spinning rod, thru my teens. Then the Army for 4 years(not much fishing). After seperation, returned to SE Alaska and took up commercial fishing......salmon(seining, handtrolling, gill net), halibut/black cod(long line) crab/shrimp(pots and trawl) and when not commercial fishing, beach casting for whatever I could hook(young king salmon, coho salmon when running, dolly varden) and till crick stomping plus lake fishing for trout. When I was 30, the cold had gotten to me, so moved to Hawaii. Still crick stomping, but now gigging for freshwater shrimp. Also cliff casting for nanue and night cliff fishing for barracuda and ulu'a(best ulu'a was 67lbs). Still with spinning gear. After 12 years, moved to Mississippi(20 years ago last spring). After a year of no fishing, I bought a Zebco 33 (spinning reel, 5'6" rod) and a hand full of different baits for like $11 at a salvage store called "Walls". A neighbor(who ended up being a great friend) coached on bass fishing. Took me to Oktibehha County Lake...........and just at dusk I was sold on bass fishing. Using a popping scum frog, hooked a 7lb6oz bass. Destroyed my Zebco spinning reel but I was now a bass fisherman. For the next couple years my bass fishing was done with fiberglass rod(groan) and spinning reels. Then my brother in law found me a used Shimano Citica for $10. It was left handed. Got me a Walmart 6'6" graphite rod and haven't looked back to spinning gear since then. The last couple years, been so d**n busy, I would only fish maybe a half dozen times a year. But this year(late summer) I decide that I was gonna make time for serious fishing again. So since early September, fishing at least a couple times a week. That's the basics for me and fishing.