Question to all bass fisherman/women

[TheMississippiOutdoorsman]

7 hours ago, pondbassin101 said:

 

Might get some, my spinnerbait selection consists of one  1/2 ounce booyah spinner

It wouldn't hurt to try em, they're cheap so if you break one off, it doesn't hurt near a bad as when i lose one of my 7$ war eagle spinnerbaits

[pondbassin101]

9 hours ago, UPSmallie said:

Just saw this recently.  I started fishing on my own probably at the age of about 13.  Never had a dad, Grandpa, or friend to take me fishing so it all really just started at the local kid's trout pond.  First time I ever fished, I showed up with a Walmart rod for $10 and didn't have a clue what I was doing.  It was one of the happiest days of my life when my dad purchased that rod for me.  Out of frustration of never knowing what to do, I quit fishing for some time.  A year or two later and my Uncle downstate took my brother and I fishing for bluegill and crappie at a local lake.  Hooked into at least a 2 lb bass that shook the hook, but the seed had been planted.  From that point on I read and I mean READ everything I could get my hands on pertaining to fishing.  1970s books at the local library, fishing articles, snippets here and there, everything. A lot of things didn't necessarily translate to where I was fishing, but after a while things started to sink in.  I showed up the following summer and slayed those stocked trout with nightcrawlers and corn.  I learned how to use pliers, scissors, splitshot, things were looking up.  All those hours of reading about fishing started paying off.  It wasn't until my Junior year in high school until I caught a truly wild fish in the form of a Pink Salmon.  Year after year I kept getting better and the fish kept coming. There's not a strong population of bass where I live, but every now and then I am blessed enough to catch one.  I would say that today I am 100% of a different fisherman than I was 7 years ago.  Being self-taught is hard because there is a steep learning curve, but if you are observant on the water, things will start clicking and fish will start biting.  Fish On Everybody.

 

I'm pretty much in the same situation, started fishing on my own and slowly picked up things from there . Thankfully there are resources like youtube and bassresource.com that have helped me tremendously in learning about bass fishing

[stepchild]

My dad decided to bring me out one day when I was around 8 years old I imagine. It was on a small river known for its walleye numbers and we were going to try and get dinner. We paddled out in a canoe and made our way to  bottleneck area, where there was a big eddie. My dad thought it would be a good place for some walleyes. He didn't know a heck of a whole lot about fishing and only went out a handful of times per year, but on that day, we stumbled on a whole school of smallmouth bass from 1.5 to 3lbs. that just turned my world upside down!

 

We didn't keep any of the fish, but from that moment on, I knew I wanted to go back there every day!!

[Lures'n'Liberty]

14 hours ago, pondbassin101 said:

 

New something wasn't right, current world record is 22lb. The fish gets bigger by 0.5 lb every time you tell it right?

It's a sliding scale and a joke between a couple of us who have all caught the same fish before the lake was drained . I didn't weigh it when I caught it, but a friend caught this fish a few weeks prior and put it on a scale. I still maintain that it was bigger when I caught it as it had more time to eat and I knew that it's last meal was about a pound, as when I caught it I was actually trying to catch the flatheads that eventually led to the draining of the lake and I had a pretty big panfish on as bait, so I figured it was 17.2. He told everyone that he caught a 17.2 lb fish (which he did, although it wasn't that weight at the time) and every time we told the stories together or to the same person at different times, it tended to grow by a pound. Once we got past believable sizes, it grew even faster. 

[pondbassin101]

4 hours ago, Lures'n'Liberty said:

It's a sliding scale and a joke between a couple of us who have all caught the same fish before the lake was drained

 

what happened to the bass?

[Lures'n'Liberty]

Just now, pondbassin101 said:

 

what happened to the bass?

Bad things. Unfortunately someone (it's suspected that his someone was a person who was thrown off the property for being disrespectful) stocked the pond with monster flatheads and sauger. Most of the bass became food for the other fish and the old man who owned the property died with a broken heart over it's demise.

[pondbassin101]

So it went from a great bass fishery to a total disaster because someone had nothing better to do in life than ruin it?

[LxVE Bassin]

I caught my first bass on a night crawler while fishing for bluegill when I was in the first grade. I was participating in fishing competition for the kids who's parents where members at the local VFW. I actually got the biggest fish award. Watching outdoor channels got me hooked on bass fishing after that. My first bass on an artificial lure was caught on a buzzbait that didn't even break the surface.  

[pondbassin101]

Any more stories?

[huffman1988]

I started trout fishing when I was a kid and it just led to bass fishing. Almost everyone I work with now has a boat so it's pretty awesome. I would feel out of place if I didn't bass fish lol. 

[Jaderose]

On 5/21/2017 at 9:34 PM, scaleface said:

 

The H&H spinner was my favorite spinner for rivers .

H&H is STILL my favorite Spinner.  Throw them all the time

[pondbassin101]

On 6/7/2017 at 2:02 AM, huffman1988 said:

I would feel out of place if I didn't bass fish lol. 

 

Im the same way. I have absolutely no idea what I would do if I didn't fish

[soflabasser]

On 5/7/2017 at 10:14 PM, pondbassin101 said:

How did you guys start bass fishing?

 

I caught my first bass on an old spinning reel and rod and jerkbait that I found in the garage. I'd gone catfishing a few times before but fishing really started when my friend told me about the t-rig and thats where it all really began.

 

Caught my first largemouth bass over 2 decades ago and my grandfather was the one who taught me the fundamentals of bass fishing.

[davecon]

Since you're looking for more stories, here goes. Caught my first fish at age 4. Can vaguely remember it. Was with my grandfather fishing from shore where 2 small ponds were connected by a very small creek. Cane pole and worms. Bluegill.

 

When I was 6 went to a small pond of about 5 acres with my grandfather and father in an old wooden row boat. I picked up a Shakespeare push button rod on a 5.5 ft Wonder Rod and cast out a black plastic eel with red fins, 3 hooks, a spinner and beads attached to the front. 

 

Somehow managed to catch a 6 pound bass. Can remember every detail about it - can still see the fish, the pond, boat, dad and grandfathers expressions, clothes we were wearing etc. and that was 60 years ago. 

 

Today can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning but can remember all those minute details from so long ago. 

 

Crazy isn't it ?

 

Needless to say I have been hooked ever since. 

 

Only thing more important than fishing for the rest of my life has been my family.

 

Have had several life threatening surgeries over the years - the kind that you were not sure you were gonna live through it with some very tough recovery periods. I mean rough. One of the main things that I truly believe got me through that were prayers from family and friends and a burning desire to catch more fish !

 

I must be off my rocker but I am to a point in life where I'm happy with that. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[pondbassin101]

13 hours ago, davecon said:

One of the main things that I truly believe got me through that were prayers from family and friends and a burning desire to catch more fish !

 

Who wouldn't want to live to catch Florida Largies?

[Troy85]

I've fished inshore saltwater my entire life.  A few times as a kid we would go bass fishing with some of my dads friends from his job, but that was it.  It wasn't until about 3 years ago that I decided that wanted to give Bass fishing a serious try, 5 additional rods and 2 full tackle bags later, here I am.  Then a year ago me and my brother discovered local tournaments.  Bass fishing just has a special draw to it, that I don't get from salt water fishing.  I still enjoy salt water fishing very much and still go quite often, but there is just something about bass fishing that keeps calling me back.

[BuzzHudson19c]

My father had me fishing from the time I could hold a pole. We never used live bait. He didn't think it sporting and that kind of stuck with me to this day (unless I'm looking to eat some catfish). I still have the first tackle box and lure he bought me. It was a double-sided Plano and a Rapala original floater. When I got older I would fish everyday after school. Sometimes I could coax my friends to go, but to them it was something you did once in a while. Flash forward 20 years and its still the same.

 

 

[pondbassin101]

4 hours ago, BuzzHudson19c said:

Sometimes I could coax my friends to go, but to them it was something you did once in a while.

 

At least you had friends that fished, I fish pretty much by myself.

[Savage33]

Always fished for bream and catfish growing up. I don't really remember my first bass, but I started targeting bass about 12 years ago. My dads boss owned 4 private ponds/lakes that he managed for bass. The first time I went there I was throwing a green and chrome Rat-L-Trap. I probably caught 100 fish that day. A couple weeks later I hooked into a giant and lost him at the bank. I had junk gear back then, losing that fish caused me to save up my allowance and buy a baitcaster. First trip with it, I caught a 6lb 7oz. And that's all she wrote. 

 

I put out that fish on the wall, I was 14 at the time and promised I won't hang another one on the wall unless it's over 10. I've caught several over 8 and a couple over 9 since then.  Just can't seem to get one over 10. Lol

[BassThumb]

Biking two miles to the Mississippi River, chaining my bike to a tree, and wet-wading for smallmouth bass among a bunch of islands. It was great. Had the whole place to myself. I started in my early teens and did it almost every day.

[whitwolf]

When I was young(maybe 4) me and my daddy would fish for supper. It's what drove him. He was a meat fisherman his entire life and thought it silly to release a fish back to be caught another day. I, like many others in the South, started fishing with a cane pole. We caught many bream, catfish, crappie, and an occasional bass. I simply liked to fish.

 

When I was seven or eight we lived so rural that It was just fine to ride our bikes to local ponds and the river to fish. We knew everyone on the road and they knew me/us. We caught a lot of Catfish to eat. It was a bonus to stop somewhere on the way home do get a drink of water or sweet tea but mainly cookies, from the few houses on the road. The oldtimers would always, and I mean always, take a few Catfish we offered as there was always many. It also taught me a good life lesson In that generosity was free. Those days are gone now but those memories will always be warm. 

 

When I was 10 my daddy bought me a Mitchel 300 spinning reel and some off-brand rod. It was magic. I started to read anything I could get my hands on that was related to fishing. I still fished what I knew but there was the occasional want to throw something new and the first artificial for me was a small crankbait of unknown origin. It caught everything except a bass, oddly enough.

 

I fished, and fished, and fished. I caught several bass on red worms and it was exciting. Fast forward to when I went off to college. I still had the same reel, several baits,(they were there for show as most had never been fished) and a true love of fishing. As luck wold have it I became acquainted with two guys that would have a dramatic Impact on my learning to bass fish. They had a 16 foot Jonboat and after several times asking to go, they finally relented and let me join in a trip. The one thing they Insisted on before we launched was that we were going to be there all day and that If I complained even one time they would drop me off on the shore and I could walk home. This(fishing from a boat) was all new to me and I can safely say that while we only caught one fish that day(a 2 lb. white bass that I caught) I knew from that moment on I would bass fish. The next weekend we went to a small lake and I caught my first seven(7) largemouth on a Rabble Rouser Baby Ashley crankbait. It's a squarebill that was one of the 4 baits those gentleman had given me to start a "bass" box. I still have that bait and It hangs proudly with the other three baits they gave me in the tackle room.

 

These boys were unselfish and taught me all I needed to know about the basics of bass fishing for the next three years. If not for them the learning curve would have been much steeper. While I would have fished now and can never thank my daddy enough for getting me started those two boys we gracious enough to start me on a life long passion chasing those beautiful green fish. 

[Redial2416]

The black and white house in the background is my childhood home.  My father took me to the creek about three hundred yards behind the house when I was old enough to hold a pole.  There we caught everything under the sun.  I am almost 59 now living in a southern state and have started fishing again over the last five or so years with a focus on largemouth bass, but happy to catch anything that bites.  My father in law loved to fish and gave us his 1970 vintage fiberglass boat with a 15 horse 2 cycle Evinrude engine about a year before he passed.  My biggest regret is that we never got to go together.  I can't help but think that every time we do catch he is watching and smiling, and when we miss and cuss or get snagged he is laughing.

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Redial2416 said:

The black and white house in the background is my childhood home.  My father took me to the creek about three hundred yards behind the house when I was old enough to hold a pole.  There we caught everything under the sun.  I am almost 59 now living in a southern state and have started fishing again over the last five or so years with a focus on largemouth bass, but happy to catch anything that bites.  My father in law loved to fish and gave us his 1970 vintage fiberglass boat with a 15 horse 2 cycle Evinrude engine about a year before he passed.  My biggest regret is that we never got to go together.  I can't help but think that every time we do catch he is watching and smiling, and when we miss and cuss or get snagged he is laughing.

Nice ~

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource 

A-Jay

[Jartbek]

I was really young my dad, and grandparents both took me fishing. Started on green sunfish, and bluegill with just a worm and bobber. When I got older I caught my first bass with three others on that day. I loved it. When I got into junior high we had a bad winter, majority of the fish in my grandparents on my mom's side pond died, a year later my other grandma started developing alzeimhers, and my dad left when I was younger so I stopped fishing .

This year my Grandfather on my mom side past away and I remember the good times I went fishing with him so I started fishing again. Yesterday I caught my tenth fish of the year and been enjoying it. 

[pondbassin101]

17 hours ago, Savage33 said:

.  Just can't seem to get one over 10. Lol

 

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