Were You A Natural, Or Start Like Me?

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

I had my first rod, reel, ($20 Walmart special) and little tackle box for Christmas 2011. I literally went to the lake that morning here in NC and tried stuff out. I lost about 3 lures because I didn't know how to tie. I would tie a shoelace knot two or three times and that's it. Took me a few weeks before I caught my first bass. It weighed about 8oz. :-)

Took months to learn the tackle and gear.

Took years from 2011 even u til now to fine tune. I like to look back and see where I came from. Now I have countless rod and reel combos,thousands in gear and boat equipment, who knows how much in books and magazines and videos, and I still remember my first cast. The equipment doesn't make you the better angler, but I know enough now to know what to by for what price on quality. Everyday is a new learning experience.

[lordpaxin]

Lmao great post

I started young as family fun with my dad

The shoelace knots caught more bluegill than I can remember

I quit when I discovered cars, women and computer games

Started again a year or so ago for the first time with a desire to do it right

I now have lures that cost more than all the rods and reels I started on

But I'm afraid it will never be enjoyable as much as my youth

[A-Jay]

I started my fishing journey right after Lyndon B. Johnson was elected president in 1964.

 

So it's kind of hard to remember if I was a natural or not.

 

It sure felt natural then & even more so today, fifty years later.

 

A-Jay

[Dwight Hottle]

I started my fishing adventures under Dwight D Eisenhower's watch.

 

It felt natural after the first bite took my bobber & red worm under attached to a cane pole. I was ten at the time.

 

Like most guys I got away from fishing during my late teen years & earlier adulthood but got right back into it after marriage & enjoy it always.

[*Hootie]

Roosevelt was president when I started....Teddy, not Franklin.

Hootie

[masterbass]

I was just thinking about starting a post like this.  I've wasted soooo much money learning and I still have a ways to go.  I keep thinking about if I started over knowing what I know now what I'd do differently. 

[flyfisher]

I am not sure when i started since i have been fishing as long as i can remember and my parents have pictures of me at about 3 or 4 catching sunnies.  I have taken on a lot of hobbies over the years but fishing has been one that i have been pretty much done my entire life.  I remember getting my first good rod which was a $40 ugly stick after saving up birthday and christmas money and have since switched to fly fishing for trout and then back to conventional tackle and now do a bit of both.  

 

I wouldn't change anything because you only learn through actual experience and all my experiences from chasing brookies in tiny mountain streams to kayak fishing on big lakes has shaped me to be the angler i am today.

[blongfishing]

I was a natural I started fishing at 18 months and it was on since then. My Great Grandparents own a fishing/boating store, My grandfather was a guide, and my uncle is a guide. My grandparents lived at the lake so I fished nearly every weekend. My family is all striper fishermen. Summer of 2013 my love for bass fishing started. I still love returning back to my roots of striper fishing and striper fishing will probably always be my favorite even when I am a pro bass fishermen. Fishing is all I ever want to do. I dont play basketball or football I fish! I feel like its what I was meant to do. 

[Thornback]

Back around 1948 when I was 9 I remember taking a pole, line, hook and a few slices of bread to the local pond in the city park. There was a weir between two bodies of water and I walked out on the weir and started fishing for the first time. I was by myself and have no idea how I knew what to do. I guess I must have seen some older boys doing the same thing. I have no idea how I got the line and hook because my dad didn't fish. I would catch brim on one side of the weir and toss them on the other side. When I got a tug on my line when that tiny brim took my dough ball it was like magic. Later years when us guys would camp on a river we would again fish with dough balls. As a teen my buddy took me to a lake on his scooter and we tossed a plug with no luck. Fishing was boring then but I loved the springs, lakes, rivers, and swamps. When I returned home from the Navy at 21 my buddy wanted us to go bass fishing so I went to Sears and got myself a J C Higgins rod and Zebco 202 reel along with a tackle box. Got out of the habit again when my career took off, I married, and started a family. About 30 years back a good friend asked me to go bass fishing with him. He had been fishing all his life and was good. I got one bass and he got two bass. After that I was fishing about every two weeks, then a used bass boat, then a new bass boat. About 5 years ago I signed up with a bass guide and found out how to fish with shiners, and how to fish period. Now at age 75 I try to go every week and by using shiners I get the big bass and I don't have to worry about casting too much with my worn-out shoulders. Fishing is a great pasttime and a great way to spend time with buddies. Here's a photo of how I started. It not me in the photo but it's the exact same place where I first fished at age nine . . .

[Senko lover]

I started fishing with my grandpa, then branched out on my own. I've been seriously fishing for about a year now.

[*Hootie]

Back around 1948 when I was 9 I remember taking a pole, line, hook and a few slices of bread to the local pond in the city park. There was a weir between two bodies of water and I walked out on the weir and started fishing for the first time. I was by myself and have no idea how I knew what to do. I guess I must have seen some older boys doing the same thing. I have no idea how I got the line and hook because my dad didn't fish. I would catch brim on one side of the weir and toss them on the other side. When I got a tug on my line when that tiny brim took my dough ball it was like magic. Later years when us guys would camp on a river we would again fish with dough balls. As a teen my buddy took me to a lake on his scooter and we tossed a plug with no luck. Fishing was boring then but I loved the springs, lakes, rivers, and swamps. When I returned home from the Navy at 21 my buddy wanted us to go bass fishing so I went to Sears and got myself a J C Higgins rod and Zebco 202 reel along with a tackle box. Got out of the habit again when my career took off, I married, and started a family. About 30 years back a good friend asked me to go bass fishing with him. He had been fishing all his life and was good. I got one bass and he got two bass. After that I was fishing about every two weeks, then a used bass boat, then a new bass boat. About 5 years ago I signed up with a bass guide and found out how to fish with shiners, and how to fish period. Now at age 75 I try to go every week and by using shiners I get the big bass and I don't have to worry about casting too much with my worn-out shoulders. Fishing is a great pasttime and a great way to spend time with buddies. Here's a photo of how I started. It not me in the photo but it's the exact same place where I first fished at age nine . . .

Very interesting story.

Hootie

[Jtrout]

Started out as a wee lad old enough to cast a rod I been trout fishing and pond fishing with pops never really bass fished. Then i went to a pond when I was about 25 by my self and didn't bring no bait so I cauhjt little frogs off the bank put them on the hook cauhjt about 7 bass n I was hooked. Now I'm addicted to bass fishing

[Sam]

We used live bait other than when we fly fished.

 

And I can't remember the knots we tied to the metal leader for saltwater fishing nor the know we used for freshwater fishing.

 

But what ever knots whey were they worked.

 

Never had a knot fail.

 

Had some big saltwater fish take us for rides until the line snapped and other fish cut the line with their teeth; but never had any problems with freshwater knots.

 

Decided to update myself and have a very good library plus do a lot of reading on bass fishing to keep up to date as best one can.

[Catt]

[deaknh03]

since we're going the presidential route, it was Carter for me. Tons of sunfish using freshwater clams we dove to retrieve.

[Rhino68W]

Went fishing with the grandfather when I was young. Stopped after I moved in with my mom and step dad. Started back up after Afghanistan. Helps a lot with stress and whatnot. But I am now starting to get serious about it.

[Don't Tell The Wife]

My dad taught me how to fish and I have always had a pole in my hand from a very young age.  We quit bass fishing as there were too many of us in the boat and starting catching crappie and catfish on jugs. Eventually I ran out of time after getting out of school and kind of gave up the bass fishing part but I had my own boat and still fished for crappie and catfish.  I still like to do that but I am getting the itch to bass fish again and I am revamping all my bass tackle.....why?  Because it is a lot of fun to buy all this new gear after 15-20 years of not buying much bass gear.

 

Also I am trying to learn more about being consistent at catching fish in different spots and lakes.  My dad was always a great fisherman and he taught me a lot.  I am now learning some new tricks I will hope to show him. 

[thunderballs]

My dad taught me to fish when I was young. Stopped for my teens and early twenties, and just recently started going again. Wish I would have never stopped. I guess I'm a natural panfisherman, can catch those most days, someday I hope to be that good with bass haha.

[Bluebasser86]

I like to think I was a natural

[Catch and Grease]

I was far from a natural.... I used to think that the only two lures you needed were a ribbon-tail worm and a rapala jerkbait, I was probably right haha

[*Hootie]

I was far from a natural.... I used to think that the only two lures you needed were a ribbon-tail worm and a rapala jerkbait, I was probably right haha

Reminds me of me. I used to think, if you can't catch em on a Jitterbug you might just as well go home.

Hootie

[Thornback]

Speaking of getting started -- a buddy and me returned from a fishing trip to the boat ramp and there was a lad of 8 or 9 on the dock by himself. I could see he was holding a stick with a line in the water. We loaded the boat and I walked back to the dock to speak with the lad. He had fishing line wrapped around a stick and was letting the line out into the river hoping for a bite. Beside him on the dock was a container of worms and a cell phone. My buddy walked across the street to a bait shop and came back with a fishing rod. I retrieved a spare fishing reel from my boat and we rigged the lad up with rod and reel and then he asked me to show him how to tie on his hook. I showed him the simple Palomar knot, showed him how to make a cast, and he was now fishing like a pro. As we stood there he picked up his cell phone with one hand and made a call. I heard him say, "Mom, I don't need a rod and reel now, I have one." I walked away with a tear in my eye. I hope we made a bass fisherman out of him

[roadwarrior]

SWEET!

 

 

 

 

[John G]

since we're going the presidential route, it was Carter for me. Tons of sunfish using freshwater clams we dove to retrieve.

It was Jimma Cater for me too!

I started out using a cane pole fishing for anything that would bite. It was always Blugills and Catfish.

[ww2farmer]

I've never been a natural at anything. But I have worked hard and put a lot of time in to be good enough to be good enough. I started fishing in the mid 80's, and other than a short hiatus in the early 2000's, when I was heavily involved in WW2 living history, I have never stopped. I have only been tournament fishing for about 8 years.