Old memories...

[Hi-Powered Red Neck]

   Last one. This is the tale of a huge carp that I almost caught. My parents had gotten a divorce, and I had to move from Florida to Pennsylvania. My mother had family in the Poconos. At first We stayed with my Grand Parents. This was fine with me because my cousin Charlie lived right next door. Charlie and I were born 2 days apart and we were tight. His Dad (Uncle Charlie) was a Boiler operator at the paper mill and worked the night shift. During trout season he would take us to work with him. We would fish most of the night behind the mill catching Brown, Rainbow and Brook Trout. When we got tired of fishing we would sleep on the giant bales of shredded paper in the back of a warehouse. This was a far cry from the bass fishing I was used to but we had a blast none the less. One afternoon when Uncle Charlie got up he asked us if we would like to go camping on the Delaware river. He knew a spot that wasn't too far from the mill and he'd leave early to get us set up. The plan was, he'd would pick us up in the morning on his way home. Heck yeah we wanted to do that. So we loaded up the tent, a couple sleeping bags, a Coleman lantern and our fishing gear. The spot he dropped us off at was great. It was a big sand and gravel bar right off the road but far enough we'd be outta sight to anyone that drove by. Shortly after we got everything set up. Charlie said he knew a great spot to catch night crawlers that was just a short walk away. We grabbed our flashlights, a coffee can and headed towards the park. He was right it was a great spot. In 10 minutes we had enough night crawlers to fish all week. Back at camp we got baited up and started fishing. After an hour or so we'd had one bite. Nothing like the Paper mill, that was normally one after the next. Out of boredom I tied on a 5/0 worm hook. The kind of hook you'd use to Texas rig soft plastics. I started hooking on the night crawlers till I had a ball about half the size of a baseball. I cast it out as far as I could fling it and set the rod down on a V notch stick. Half hour later and the rod tip moves. Charlie said let him eat it, thats a big bait. A few seconds later there is no doubt the fish has got the bait. I set the hook and the race was on. Down river it went and I'm tightening the drag. I'd gain half the spool and lose it again. this went on for a good 30 minutes till we could see the fish. This thing was a giant at least 4 foot long and fat as a volley ball. Neither of us had seen anything like that before. Now as I mentioned before we were kids and didn't always use or have the correct gear. I was using a 3/4" nut as a sinker. This would prove to be a bad choice. Charlie ran to the tent to grab the landing net his dad had brought for us. As he did the carp decided it had rested enough and pealed off most of the spool again. Thats alright we're ready this time. I've got 25lb test line so we got this. As I bring the fish back to the light of the lantern Charlie pounces on it with the net. The fish won't go in the net sideways. It surges and peals off enough line to be out of sight again. I battle it back to net range this time he's got it! Or does he the fish is massive and is not happy about being netted and really starts to flail. Down goes Charlie and out goes the fish. Quick grab of the line and he's trying to net it again waist deep and soaked from the fall he abandons the net and bear hugs the fish. With a flip and a slap the fish is gone and Charlie is down again. one last attempt as the fish comes back in to view...snap the line finally parts at the nut that I was using for a sinker. He left us with nothing but a story of the one that got away.

[A-Jay]

 Growing up in New England in the 60's & 70's offered some decent bass fishing opportunities.

My parents rented a place at the northern end of Lake Winnipesaukee in NH every summer, and I was all about it.

Met a like minded bass fishing boy early on and we spent most every waking hour tooling all over that lake looking for green & brown bass.  This fish choked a Fred Arbogast Mudbug crankbait presented on a Garcia Mitchell 300 spinning rod & reel and 10 lb Golden Stren.  Might have been 4 lbs I guess but at the time (circa June 1974, I was 14) she was my personal best.  I was really proud of that one.

Still have the rod & reel and the bait (pictured) as well.

Miss those days for sure and most all of that hair too.

A-Jay

 

[MN Fisher]

51 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 Growing up in New England in the 60's & 70's offered some decent bass fishing opportunities.

My parents rented a place at the northern end of Lake Winnipesaukee in NH every summer, and I was all about it.

You and I might have been 'neighbors' during that period. Mid 60s-early 70s, we'd do a 3-year cycle. Cape Cod, Kennebunkport ME, and...south end of Winnipesaukee. Good times. Lived in Worcester at the time.

[A-Jay]

On 1/13/2020 at 11:17 PM, MN Fisher said:

You and I might have been 'neighbors' during that period. Mid 60s-early 70s, we'd do a 3-year cycle. Cape Cod, Kennebunkport ME, and...south end of Winnipesaukee. Good times. Lived in Worcester at the time.

Ya ~ 

I grew you and went to High School in Everett, just north of Boston.

Never really went to the Cape much.

Preferred the woods so I went north every chance I get.

May explain where I currently live & retired to.

I really like this thread - it's fun remembering those days & times.

A-Jay

[MN Fisher]

5 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Ya ~ 

I grew you and went to High School in Everett, just north of Boston.

Never really went t the Cape much.

Preferred the woods so I went north every chance I get.

May explain where I currently live & retired to.

I really like this thread - it's fun remembering those days & times.

A-Jay

We didn't have to go anywhere for 'woods. Walking distance of our house was a small 'wild' area...Nick's Woods. The stream that runs through it was where I caught brookies and brownies. That stream empties into Indian Lake - where I caught yellow perch, white perch and...LMBs.

[Bluebasser86]

One of my favorite kinds of fishing growing up was wading creeks for catfish with my dad. We'd use punch bait on pieces of sponge and drift it in the heads of the riffles. I remember this day because my dad had a mid 20lb flathead cruise between his legs when he got too close to the rock ledge it was hiding under and the fish we caught were much larger than normal. 

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

One of my favorite kinds of fishing growing up was wading creeks for catfish with my dad. We'd use punch bait on pieces of sponge and drift it in the heads of the riffles. I remember this day because my dad had a mid 20lb flathead cruise between his legs when he got too close to the rock ledge it was hiding under and the fish we caught were much larger than normal. 

Great Pic @Bluebasser86

Looks like you could not Possibly be any happier right there.

Your sister (I'm guessing) maybe not do much . . . 

Good Times.

A-Jay

 

[Bluebasser86]

9 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Great Pic @Bluebasser86

Looks like you could not Possibly be any happier right there.

Your sister (I'm guessing) maybe not do much . . . 

Good Times.

A-Jay

 

Yeah, that's my little sister. She probably wasn't happy about eating fish for dinner again. Wasn't her or my mom's favorite, but it was the best way to get several meals for cheap, so we ate it a ton, which is probably why I no longer have a taste for it. 

 

I'd caught all but the biggest fish on the stringer, I was pretty excited about that, and the stringer was heavy, which was always a good thing. I would have been 5 or 6 in the picture, but pretty well knew what I was doing already. 

[N Florida Mike]

My first big bass: At the local lake I had gotten pretty good at catching bream and catfish. In those days I primarily fished with hand lines off the bank. I used bread or dough balls mostly. I got to where I could wind up and sling it 50-60 feet, with no weight.Usually didn’t use a cork either .You just waited for the line to start moving out steadily and pull up the slack to hook the fish. 

That day I had thrown a big dough ball out and the line began to move . When I hooked the fish, it pulled back much harder than anything Id caught up until then. As I got it closer , I was able to see it in the clear water. The mouth was large and the red gills flaring ! It got tangled up in a small dead tree in the water but I immediately jumped in and was able to grab the fish. It ended up weighing 4 pounds. I took it home and mama fried it up. I’m sure there was a picture of it but It’s probably in the thousands of pictures my parents had and is somewhere in my storage bin.

That is what got me hooked on bass fishing. I never caught another bass on dough, but caught a couple on bread balls through the years.

[lo n slo]

thanks Mike, these stories are great ?