Most Memorable Fishing Moment?

[Ski213]

What's the fishing memory that always sticks with you? For me there are a thousand. But there's one that always comes up. Doesn't have to be the one that got away or the biggest one you've ever landed. Could be the day grandad sank the boat. Whatever. The one that is the most vividly burned in your memory. I've done a lot of different things but for me, for whatever reason, fishing memories stick with me.

Mine is a one that got away deal. 24 ish years ago but i remember it like yesterday. It was mid summer. Farm pond fishing. It was a slow day. We were kids and we were frustrated with fishing that day. Walking on a farm road that separated two ponds. Heading out. I had a cpl rigs and a tackle box. I threw a Texas rigged tequila sunrise worm out with a zebco .38. I love my big fancy equipment now but in my mind there is still nothing that casts like that combo did back then. There was no me tricking her into taking it. I went to reel and she was on there. I set the hook and she jumped. I flipped out. I had it on for maybe 10 seconds. She came towards me then turned. On the second jump she snapped my 6# test mid air. I was crushed but that fish was it for me. Anytime I'm ready to give it up that memory keeps me from quitting. There is no feeling like it. She probably wasn't a new state record or anything but she was an absolute monster for a 14 yr old. That's what it's all about.

[lectricbassman]

The day i caught the fish in my avatar. We were in kansas fishing a private pond over the 4th if july weekend. I had just gotten into bass fishing and was i OBSESSED! I spent the whole morning beating the banks by myself as everyone in the family slept in. I also spent a fair amount of time on an old dock that was perfectly positioned between two trees that were partially submerged. Later in the day, after everone woken up and made their way to the pond i made my way back to the dock. I stepped on the dock and made a cast. As i started to retrieve the dock essentially exploded beneath me! The entire thing collapsed without warning! Luckily the water was only chest deep and i escaped (minus my wrist watch and a little pride) relatively unharmed. The funny thing was while i felt bad for destroying the dock the owner (my brother in laws grandfather) was glad it was gone and was sorry for not warning me about the state of the dock. It was a great weekend otherwise and definitely the most memorable yet!

[Ozark_Basser]

The first "big" fish I ever caught.  Went a little over five pounds and came out of a little cow turd pond.  I was fishing with a 6' medium action spinning rod with a broken tip and a arky lures salty craw hula grub on 6 lb test.  I was determined to catch a big fish that day, and I did lol. I sat down there for hours focusing on dragging that grub as slowly and perfectly across the bottom as possible until, THUMP.  Never had even seen a fish that big at that age. When I saw it jump out of the water my eyes got huge, and I remember muttering, "Please don't come off!" Haha good times. 

[BasshunterJGH]

Catching my PB largemouth is definitely one of my favorite fishing memories. Also the day I caught my PB smallmouth. Catching panfish and my first bass on crickets and panther martins down at the river a couple years ago when I was getting into fishing. Fishing in Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada on family road trips. To name a few;)

[BooyahMan]

This is an impossible question to answer because there are just too many to pick from, and if I answered this thread every day for a year I would have 365 different answers. In saying that, are we allowed to post multiple times in this thread or do we get disqualified?

 

Since you are forcing us to choose, my pick for today would be my girlfriend's first Bass on a hollow body frog. This fish was by no means a lunker of any sort (it was maybe just over a pound), but up until that point she had never had luck sticking them on the frogs. On the previous trip she had come with me, she actually got more blow-ups than I did but lost all of them. Then one chilly November evening, right before a storm rolled through, she got one on her second cast. The rock that she was standing on was cut off from land as the water was quite high that day, but when I heard her holler and saw that rod bending I ran through the water in case she needed help. I bought a pair of rubber boots the day after haha!

[Long Mike]

Catching a PB is right up there, but the Bass Resource road trips are by far, my most memorable.  Meeting old, and making new friends can't get any better than that.

[BammerBass]

Mine is two different occasions. First one came while I was in elementary school and we went fishing at a local creek on a saturday, hooked up a 19 lb carp in a steel brim hook that I know fought for a good 20 minutes. It was on a zebco 33 reel on a zebco red rhinos glow tip rod. Every time we wouls get it nearly up to the net it would take back off sown the creek, and on that 10 lb line, thought for sure it was gonna get off. But finally, after many attempts 20 minutes later we netted it and it was as long as my legs back then. Heck of a battle, and to this day, that is my personal best fish of any species.

Other occassions came a few years later, senior in high school, went fishing for bluegill and crappie by an old pump house, and behind us, there was some backwater. Anyway, as i was retrieving my line to make th next cast, while straddling the tile, some big fish comes out of absolutely nowhere and darts through that tile and jumps a good foot and a half out of the water....... scared the ever living daylight out of me, and made me fall back on my keister, and got me soaked in the process. I remember a couple older gentlemen laughing it up pretty good, saying theyed have probably looked every bit as scared as I did. I mean i could have touched the thing it was do close, not sure what it was, carp most likely, but it was a good 2 feet long, and possibly more. All i onew at the time was shock because i absolurwly was not ezpecting a fish to come barrelling out literally under my feet like that, and especially not a 2 foot long fish.didnt catch much thst day, but boy, that ordeal sure made it wuite memorable.

[geo g]

I've been doing this for over 40 years so there are quite a few memorable trips.  Several that stand out are not all about big fish.

 

1). My favorite ever is a trip to the glades with my best buddy.  This happened a couple years ago.  My buddy came down from New Hampshire where he moved after 40 years in South Florida.  We fished together almost every weekend for 25 years.  We had two days of fishing in the glades, and had a great time together talking about all our old trips and life.  We caught lots of fish and Tom caught a 5.5 on his last cast.  We took some pics, and we called it quits.  One week later while I was out fishing, I got a call from his wife Gloria, that Tom was walking home in NH, and had a massive heart attack and fell dead.  That last trip together was worth everything to me, and couldn't believe it would be the last time I would see him alive.  I never fish without saying hi to Tom every time I go out.

 

2). An 8 pound peacock from the bank in Weston Florida.  Pound for pound, they fight better then anything in fresh water.  We are so lucky to have them down here.

 

3). 1988 trip in my new boat to Okeechobee.  It was the maiden voyage.  I fished with an old timer that was a great fisherman, and new the lake well.  We were back in Winnies Cove and Charlie was throwing a black worm, and beating me about 20 to 1.  I was throw a jig and pig and just getting whipped bad.  All of a sudden I hooked into a monster bass, one of the biggest hawgs I have seen in person, it went airborne twice  in 3 feet of water.  In my stupid days I was convinced 10 pound mono was enough anywhere in Florida.  What a mistake!  At the peek of the second jump, 10 feet from the boat, the line snapped.  My lifetime personal best waved bye and left the area.  Old Charlie went out and bought 5 of those jigs the very next day.  I went back to that spot week after week and never saw that big fat girl again.

[SirSnookalot]

I've many bigger fish but those aren't the most memorable.  The memorable ones are fish that were tougher than ordinary to land.  Recently I cited a permit I caught, ran it down about 300 yds, but not my toughest.  Pay no attention to the fish in the picture, it's snook and not that large a one, look at the rocks.  I caught jack in the 25# area that I had to crawl over 4 or 5 slippery rock piles, don't know how far down on the beach I was but pretty far.  I landed on a med spinning rod, maybe my toughest catch ever.  These rock piles go along way down the beach.

[Catch and Grease]

Me and my grandpa worked on the bought trying to fix the gear shift to make it go in reverse and we were certain we fixed it, so the next day we're at the lake and I push the boat off and get in with him. He starts it up and thinks he has it in reverse and guns it, so we get beached way up on the bank... Pretty embarrassing but very funny!

[Sam]

At my Double Secret Pond sitting in the sinking paddle boat when after setting the hook she came to the surface and "tried" to jump.

 

She was over 8 pounds.

 

I almost had change my underwear when she came partially out of the water.  All I remember seeing was her mouth.

 

My heart rate must have doubled.

 

The poor girl was so fat she could not totally jump out of the water which I believe helped me land her after a short fight.

 

The good news is that she is still in the pond with others her size and I plan to go back one more time before the weather gets nasty in central Virginia,

[skeeter1980]

What always sticks in my mind is my Dad catching his PB 5lb.,one Oct.morning.I got to net it for him.The next summer,dad and I was night fishing.About 6am,I caught my PB on a buzz bait.6lb.Dad netted it for me.Dad passed in 1995,I miss him.

[Mr_Scrogg]

My son catching his PB, and big fish of the weekend at Grand.

[geo g]

My son catching his PB, and big fish of the weekend at Grand.

That's a great picture and one happy boy! Making memories he will never forget. Congrats Dad!

[Lund Explorer]

Catching a PB is right up there, but the Bass Resource road trips are by far, my most memorable.  Meeting old, and making new friends can't get any better than that.

 

Same with Jackie.  After she caught this one, she couldn't wait until we met up with Deb so she could tell her all about it.

[everythingthatswims]

I'm gonna be the first to share a BAD memory, I have too many good ones to pick from.

 

There was a really hot bluefin tuna bite off of the Outer Banks one year in February (I think) and the weather was nice so we decided to go. Trailer-ed the boat down to Hampton, VA and spent the night at a friend's house, then got up at 3am to continue all the way to Oregon Inlet. Put the boat in the water, everything good to go, and started heading out. Before we were even under full power leaving the marina, one of the engines crapped out (I don't remember what the problem was, but it wasn't a quick-fix). The day was shot and we headed home....a five hour drive of complete silence.

 

Gotta love those B.M.D.s!

[tbone1993]

My most memorable would be the last time I went fishing with my grandpa when I was about 5-6. I can remember catching a ton of fish and have pictures but that moment will forever be ingrained in my mind because it started my fishing addiction. He passed away on my 8th birthday from prostate cancer so as a PSA to the older gentlemen on here, go get yourself checked out. Go to the doctor and have an open conversation it can potentially save your life.

 

My second best set of memories would be the fishing trips with my collegiate team. Be it a week in table rock, lake of the ozarks, kentucky lake, or northern wisconsin. Every trip was a blast and I am looking forward to my final semester/season.  

[Suspendingjerk]

Maybe not the best but definitely the funniest.

Me and a buddy were puttin around on my little plastic bass tracker with a trolley motor on my parents pond. We had been fishing the better part of the day and had a nice collection of bass, crappie, and red ear in a fish basket we had tied to the boat.

We were at the far end of the pond and decided to cruise to the shallows on the other side. So I put the motor on five and off we went.

When we got there we were throwing topwaters and tearing the bass up. On about the fifth catch I decided to pull the basket completely out of the water to admire our bounty of fish.

Upon pulling it up it seemed there were a few nice sized crappie and red ear missing. The basket wasn't in the best shape and the lid spring was a little warn out.

Turns out that when I put the trolley motor on high speed the force of the water opened the lid, and our hard work just swam right out! We were disappointed but had a hearty laugh by the end of the day.

[Senko lover]

A perfect morning, with an explosive topwater bite, twenty+ bass, beautiful sunrise, and a nice pond.

[mrmacwvu1]

My brother and I fly fish a ton. My dad never did. We taught him how to do it and his first time out he caught a 20 inch gold trout. It was his one and only trout. Little did we know that cancer would take him from us only six weeks later. Luckily my brother was smart enough to snap a picture of it. That picture hangs at both our homes and at the cabin we still fish at. I tear up and smile every time I see it. I have thousands of memories fishing but none will top that. Even though he never fished he always drove us boys anywhere we wanted to fish. He gave us a gift that we will pass on to our children. it is a shame that we never got the time to truly thank him for one of the greatest gifts of all time.

[Ski213]

These are some great memories! A lot of them bring back even more great memories for me. Funny, sad, good, and bad. Some several of those things at the same time. So cool to see a picture of a future fishing memory being made and hear about another picture that means so much. I probably shouldn't have said your best fishing memory. Too hard to pick just one. Especially when they involve people close to you. This fishing is sure about the fish and fight but it's just as much about the people you fish with.

The more of these I read, the more I thought about my original fishing buddy. My grandad. I was lucky and got 31 years to spend with him. He started me fishing. He didn't live real close so I didn't get to fish with him as much as I would liked to have. I think about him all the time but especially when I'm fishing. He ended up getting dimentia at the end. That's a horrible thing. Luckily he wasn't in that state for a super long time. I remember talking to him and although there was a lot he didn't remember and he had trouble communicating at the very end, he talked about fishing at some point every time I talked to him. I remember wanting to extract him spec ops style and take him out fishing one more time. I should have done it. It's not a bad memory for me when it comes to him. It's a million good ones. Just tough sometimes. You always wish you had done more but thankful to have gotten so much.

Keep em coming. I'm enjoying reading every one of them.

[HoosierHawgs]

When I was 6 a d used to go out in my uncle's bass boat when we would visit my Grandma in Tennessee. Spending that time w/the two biggest influences on my fishing (my dad and his brother) was the reason I got into fishing.

[ColdSVT]

My first tourny win and my first tarpon are tied for first!

My first tarpon took me two years...i lost a couple dozen in every way imaginable before i got to touch one. Im talkin straightend hooks, sharks, other boats, broken leaders after an hour fight, bridges, crossed line, anchor ropes, crab traps, and plain old thrown hooks!

My first tourny win i over came a near 9lb deficiet after day one to win on day three by 1.5lbs

[RMcDuffee726]

Catching my PB Striper.  50lb...Never going to forget the fight that fish put up.

[bassindon]

To many awesome trips to even pick. I had two trips though with 53 lb limits.

This one was combined with a friend. It was a Magic day for both of us.  We Had 53+ lbs for 5 fish limit.  Here are the best four at 11+ lbs each. It looks like we both had sets of sisters (caught different spots too)

What was INCREDIBLE!!  Yes INCREDIBLE was My friend, Jake was up front and had his own 5 limit that went 45+.  And I had my own 5 limit in the back of the boat that went 41

I won't say its the best most memorable, but its way...... up there. FUN STUFF!