How long have you been fishing?

[WRB]

Most of my generation born during WW2 our parents lived through the Great Depression followed by fighting the war, nearly everyone was blue collar or poor. Fishing rods were cane poles with a hook and cork bobber, affordable Zebco combos came along later in the mid 50's. We caught fish off the dock or along the shoreline, mostly bluegill, crappie and occasional small bass, if big enough to eat they were food.

The 50's were good economic times for nearly everyone, dad worked and mom raised the kids, so moms were teaching kids to fish and dads may go fishing occasionally.

I was fortunate and lived on a lake growing up fishing and working at boat landings during the summers.

I have been fishing as long as I can remember and family photos show that was the summer of 1946 fishing with my brothers with a cane pole.

Tom

[2tall79]

65 years.  Dedicated to bass around 40 years.

[Bankbeater]

That's me down in Arkansas at my Grandma's place back in 1967.  I remember I use to hand the rod back to my Dad and grab the cane pole.  It was probably 4 or 5 years later when I finally got rid of the cane pole and started using a rod and reel.

[WVU-SCPA]

 

 

[Black Hawk Basser]

Almost 30 years.  My first memory of fishing - My dad worked for 30+ years at a rural water treatment plant, and the filters in the plant would "backwash" every few hours for cleaning purposes.  This backwash water was discharged into a tiny, I mean tiny little lagoon behind the plant.  It is probably 40'x60' and 3 feet deep in the middle.  Before my time, a friend of my dad's had stocked the little lagoon with various species.  When I was about 6, dad took me out to that lagoon with a cane pole and a few worms and we caught the heck out of bluegills and bullheads.  This lagoon has a bottom composition of pure iron and manganese from the filter discharge water, making the bottom appear red/orange.  Due to that uniquely colored bottom, it made the bellies of the bullheads such a cool looking red/orange color, unlike anything I've ever seen since.

 

I continued to fish this lagoon until I was about out of high school, and it produced some insanely large panfish and some respectable bass. But at some point, muskrats tunneled their way in and out of it, and it drained to the point that the fish couldn't survive.  That was a sad realization for me, as the tiny little pond had earned a meaningful place in my heart.

[12poundbass]

Apparently not long enough to figure them out or about 29-30 years. 

[r3825]

Rough guess 36 years,  I'm 39,  been going since I can remember.  Grandpa was retired and grandma had summers off since she worked for the school,  spent every summer with them camping and fishing off their pontoon and the docks,  wouldn't trade that time for the world.  Hoping that when I get grandkids I'll be able to do the same with them.  That's me on the right with my youngest uncle on the pontoon.

[haggard]

Not long enough. Now trying to make up for lost time

 

[crypt]

50 years,this year...........

[dodgeguy]

53 years for me.

[slonezp]

3 hours ago, WVU-SCPA said:

 

 

d**n fly fishermen.....

This is me when I had a full head of hair. Late 70's early 80's.

[GreenPig]

41 years & I'll never stop.

[scbassin]

since 1945

[J.Vincent]

I’ve got a picture somewhere of me and my sister Bluegill fishing on a family camping trip; I’m wearing a half top sports jersey which was very popular in the mid to late 1980s; I will save myself the shame and refrain from posting but take my word on this it’s embarrassing....so I’m guessing I’ve been fishing since then so about 35 years....but only 24 years as an avid bass angler !

[Bluebasser86]

13 hours ago, Glaucus said:

It's way too early in the morning to be insulting the police.

Speaking from experience, there's no time restrictions on when people feel it's a good time to insult the police ?

[12poundbass]

12 hours ago, slonezp said:

d**n fly fishermen.....

This is me when I had a full head of hair. Late 70's early 80's.

Have you tried to trademark that smile?

[LonnieP]

Probably around 42 years

[scaleface]

I remember catching my first fish , roughly  60 years ago . My Dad told me it was a sunfish . It was brightly colored and I thought  it had pieces of the sun in it . My avatar photo is around 1965 , the best day of fishing I had at that point . Caught those fish on a  cane pole , bobber and worms .

.

 

Somethings never change . Look how I'm holding the stringers in the firt picture and one from seven years ago .

[scaleface]

21 hours ago, BassNJake said:

I remember taping my 2 piece rod to my bmx riding about 30 minutes to the river where we would catch crawfish and hellgrammites, then take them to the sand pit to catch bass.

 

I use to ride my bike , carrying a fishing pole too, sometimes over ten miles one way , just to catch bull heads . I would put them in a gunny sack and head home . I made two stops on the way home and let the bag of fish  soak in the water to keep them alive . Then when I made it home I dumped them out on the grass beside the house and they would still be kicking .

[RB 77]

Well, first fish was probably just after I learned to crawl, maybe before. Haha. I was a wee youngster for Bass and could barely see over the rail of a sport boat for Tuna. Pops was/ is a fanatical fisherman. Took a 25+ year hiatus to try and catch every wave I could up and down the west coast of California, Baja and other further locales. Fast forward 25 years and a decade later after a fateful fishing trip with a surfer buddy of mine and here I am trying to get out on the water to fish as much as possible.

[12poundbass]

Six years for this angler, I think he’s hooked! 

[soflabasser]

I have been fishing for over 24 years now. It is something I am very passionate about and hopefully I keep improving in the next decades to come.

[long island basser]

Around 45 years now, both salt and fresh....and still addicted.

[TonynswAR]

Since i was old enough to hold a pole in my hands, sometime before the 1st grade. 63 yr old teenager now

[jimmyjoe]

   Learned to handle a baitcaster in 1963. Before that, I used a fly rod - split cane - that my older brother brought back from the occupation of Japan. Friend of my Dad's was a flycaster, and he taught me to catch crappie with it. That was probably '59 or '60. Wish I knew then what I know now!   jj