First fish you've ever caught

[West Coast Angler]

What, when & where was the first fish you caught?

What setup were you using and what lure was tied on?

Feel free to tell a story, I'd love to read them!

 

P.S. Your pet goldfish and fishtank don't count ?

This can be interesting, I'll start.

 

1 lb~ largemouth bass

2014 bank fishing Sycamore Island (San Joaquin River) - Madera, CA

$40 Shakespeare Ugly Stik SPL 1102 from Walmart

ZOOM wacky worm

 

I still have that Ugly Stik I bought in 2011. I plan on buying a Shimano Stella for it in honor of catching my first fish and in hopes of it catching me my first double digit largemouth bass ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NoShoes]

First fish I caught on my own was probably a 1 lb largemouth. Caught on a cheap Zebco spinning combo that the bail slammed shut mid cast all the time. Used a Carolina rigged June bug lizard, the line got heavy and thought I was caught up before the fish showed up. Didn’t even fight. 

[MN Fisher]

8" White Perch

circa summer 1966 - Bank fishing, Indian Lake, Worcester MA

Cheap combo I bought from the back of a comic book

Worm/bobber.

I remember this because it was the first fish I ever caught

 

First bass

1# Largemouth

circa summer 1968 - Bank fishing, Indian Lake, Worcester MA

Mitchell 320 on a ( I think) 6'6" Diawa 1312 ML/F rod - the Mitchell is long gone, but I still have the 1312...and it's in usable condition.

Mepps Comet - #2 Shad (still have this too and it's in my panfish box and gets used)

Your first bass always sticks with you.

[jbsoonerfan]

16 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Your first bass always sticks with you.

 

I guess not for me. I couldn't tell you when, where, how or anything else about my first bass. 

[Big Hands]

Mid-1960's. Lake Lahanton near Fallon, NV.

 

We had a yearly summer outing with 80 to 120 of our closest friends and family. The adults were playing volleyball on the white sand beach, and I was sitting in my dad's ski boat fishing with a piece of hot dog for bait. My rod went bendo and I was hootin and hollerin, and reeled in a HUGE carp. One of the adults playing volleyball said "here, I'll get that for you." He waded out and promptly cut my line with a pocket knife. He said, "that's a nasty ol' carp, you don't want that." Snip!

[5/0]

1# LMB, with a 5 1/2’ Quantum pistol grip rod with a very cheap Quantum bait caster. Still have the rod, reel long gone. Caught on a 4” curly tail pumpkin w/chartreuse tail worm t rigged. Don’t remember the brand. It was at Shadow Cliffs Lake in Pleasanton, CA. In the arroyo at the back. I was 50 at the time.

[WRB]

Bluegill with a cane pole and meal worm from my Grandmothers dock from a photo, I was about 2 years old.

Tom

[TcRoc]

Late 70’s maybe 1980.

A sunny on more than likely a piece of bread.. 

Probably a Zebco.

My parents old house .. we had 2 ponds my father made..... even a picture lol

[Bluebasser86]

I have no idea, I was too young to remember it. Some of the first fish I have memories of catching were from my grandparent's pond on roadrunners with my Eagle Claw featherlite rod, Shimano FX reel, and 6lb Trilene XL. I was probably around 5 or 6 years old then but I'd already been fishing a few years by then so I'm sure I'd caught plenty of other fish.

[Smells like fish]

I remember my first 2 fish vividly. One was a Redeye in a river on a red worm around 8 years old and the second around that same age was in a creek using corn kernels and I caught a type of sucker called a hog molly. I can’t remember my first bass but I suspect it was a pond bass and definitely a largemouth. By the time I was 12 or so I was spoiled with a great bass pond to fish and was a die hard artificial fisherman ? Zoom Trick worms in pink bubble gum and the Creme floating worm in natural nightcrawler color and a sassy Shad on a jig head I was in my mind a KVD before KVD was cool.  

[Bankbeater]

My first fish was back in the early 70's. Probably a sunfish on a sectional cane pole with a bobber.  Piece of nightcrawler for bait. 

[GreenPig]

A 3 finger bream on a cane pole with cricket. It was 1978 and I was 3. I became a fisherman that day.

[N Florida Mike]

The first fish I remember was some kind of little sea perch ( my dad said ) that I reeled in when I was 4 in the marsh near Ft Fisher NC on a piece of shrimp.

The first decent fish I caught was a 3-4 pound black drum I caught on shrimp while surf fishing at Ocean Isle beach NC. I was around 8 year old , and that fish is what hooked me on fishing for life...

The first bass I remember catching on a lure was a 1 pounder I caught on a red and white spoon.I probably caught 2 more ever on that lure. I was 14-15 then.Then I got into the T rig and worms. ?

I have no idea what rod and reel I caught it with.

 

[scaleface]

I can remember the first fish I ever caught . It is one of my earliest memories . Dad set me up with a cane pole worm and bobber in a back water slough off the Mississippi river . I caught a little fish that Dad called a sunfish . It had a bright yellow chest and I thought that it was a little piece of the sun .    60 years later I still fish there . I caught bass  both largemouth and smallmouth , crappie , white bass and  sunfish there this past year .

[Mike L]

I have no idea. 

I wish I did

 

 

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

Too young to remember when it happened.

ive seen some pictures though 

[Nelson Wormefeller]

I started fishing for Bluegill on Staten Island in 1982.

 

Caught my first Bass in 2006, and luckly took a picture. I did not know proper fish handling techniques back then I'm sorry to say.

[scaleface]

I think my first bass are the ones in my avatar . Once again cane pole , bobber and worm in a cousins farm pond .

[Dwight Hottle]

My first bass probably about 1.5 lbs was caught on a cane pole with a bobber &  baited with a red worm back in the 1950's.  

[DogBone_384]

I don't remember for sure what kind of fish my first catch was, but it had to come from Eaton's Pond, in Braintree, MA, 1974-75'ish,  on a worm & bobber.  We got worms from my parent's garden.

[the reel ess]

I started too early to remember my first fish. I feel certain it was some kind of bream on a short cane pole with worm or cricket. My earliest fishing memories are of going with my dad and older sister in his old Glassmaster runabout. There was still some standing timber in Wateree Lake at the time and he would tie up to a stump and drop minnows down beside them for crappie. My sister and I didn't actually fish. He was babysitting us while fishing. I recall catching a lot of bream, small bass, white bass and catfish with my first Zebco 33 combo. My favorite lure was a Mepp's Comet Mino inline spinner. At about 10 years old, I got into crappie with him and caught a lot on small jigs while he minnow fished.

 

We had a house at that lake from before I was born and I would get up and sneak out early Saturday mornings and fish the bank with cane pole and worms. I would talk to the bass anglers that trolled by and wish we had one of those boats. I used to get crickets from the water meter box if I ran out of worms. My cousin reminded me of that the other day.

[A-Jay]

 My first bass catch happened during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, not that I knew anything about that at the time.   I was fishing with my Dad & younger brother when I caught my first largemouth bass.  We were on the bank at a local county park lake.  We'd fished there many times before, mostly mid-day on weekends.  My mom would sit in the sunshine on a blanket and knit, (people actually used to do that) while my brother & I soaked worms under a bobber.  Plenty of panfish action back then and we'd always keep several for a fish fry.  Always loved my Mom's batter - light & really tasty.  She taught me how to fillet a fish in 1967, still do it the same way today.   On this particular day, we had stayed close to sun set, something we usually didn't do, as once the sun got below the tree line, we'd leave.

  My Dad announced that we were leaving in a few minutes (Always hated the last cast - even back then) and handed me a Rebel Jointed minnow "Try This" he urged. I was surprised & pumped !

  He helped me 'tie it on' and showed me how to 'work it'.  I felt like such a little stud suddenly being able to fish 'like Dad'.  A couple of casts into it, a 14 inch green bass grabbed the bait about half way in on the cast. I was freaking out, my brother was yelling, my Mom was shouting words of encouragement and my Dad just stood there and said "Calm down & Take your time".  Yea Right - my little Ted Williams Sears & Roebuck Spin cast set up felt like it was going to come right out of my hands and I may have pee'd a little.   As I reeled the fish closer to the bank, the bass jumped.  And right then, it seemed like time stood still - really, it was the craziest thing, like a dream, I'd never felt anything like it, up to that point in my life (8 whole years) but I knew I liked it.     

    After a few more tense moments of trying to grab the bass without getting hooked, I eventually did the old, 'walk backwards deal' and dragged the now exhausted bass, up in the sand. 

 My brother was jumping up and down, and I was sort of in shock.  My Dad, casually walked over, lipped it, rinsed it off, removed the bait and handed it to me (showing me how to hold it - another first). I thought I was holding a whale.  

   We placed it on the stringer with the panfish, my brother named it Betty and I remember how cool and big it looked compared to them.    We took it home and ate it.   

    Unfortunately we didn't have the camera that day and if we took a pic at home I don't have it - would have been a Polaroid I'm sure. 

   So that's was when it started for me.  52 years and a lot of miles later, I'm still at it.

And I love everything about it.

 Fishing is just about the only thing in my adult life that I can do, that can truly make me feel like a kid again - 

This pic is of the place but not the day.

A-Jay

 

[Mike L]

54 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

My first bass probably about 1.5 lbs was caught on a cane pole with a bobber &  baited with a red worm back in the 1950's.  

Dang Dwight!

We gotta be close in age and you can remember that far back in detail?
?

I’m impressed!

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[Spankey]

Probably about 1964-65, I was about 5 years old. Prior to first grade. Family pond that was not huge but had bluegill, bullheads and some bass in it. Live worm fishing on what I have to believe was a set up from SEARS ROBUCK or possibly Grundys Hardware. Remember being taken there for terminal tackle and bait. Place had a lot of fishing stuff there for those times. Fished with some minnows right around that time also. 
 

My family was never really into fishing that much. I was taught some stuff. I remember the guy at hardware store teaching me some stuff. I can picture his face but can’t remember his name. “Gus” maybe. Has to be long gone by these days. But in all seriousness I was and still am sort of a black sheep compared to some of my folks. More like all of my folks. Sort of see life a bit differently. I’ve fished, hunted and shoot clays my whole life. My great grandfather was the same way. So I’m told. In a different time and in a different set of situations. Have been told early on that I was of his mold. I’m ok with that, even though I don’t really remember him. Must have been one heck of a guy than. 

 

When you are young you either walked, rode your bike are had to have some one drive you to spots. So let’s forget about anyone driving you around to fish.  Let’s not do that. That was a real rare occasion. I was fortunate enough to have some creeks, private ponds, pasture ponds and a quarry(not suppose to be there) to fish. 
 

Serious fishing or taking fishing a bit more seriously kicked in about ‘69ish ‘70ish because at that time i was fishing for trout. Livebait and spinner fishing. A farmer I use to work for as a kid loved his trout fishing and took me under his wing so to say. He was good for stoping at the old tackle shop and this general store that pumped gas. I still have a lot my trout stuff from a kid. He Taught me and showed me what I needed to know. It was a Whole new word now. Taught me some basics of fly fishing. I grew up with his grandson but he was not really all that interested. Sort of would just go along.  Those trout were nice back in those day. Those creeks were stocked but had hold overs in them. Maybe not native per-say but wild. Those trout moments are ones that are really etched into my head. I realize this is a bass site. Bass fishing is a big part of my life but I still take my trout time serious. My trout times fishing with old farmer Walter is my own version of life’s “A River Runs Through It”. Hard to explain, probably harder to even get my family as a kid to understand what it meant. But that’s life. Fishing is not on most people’s list of priorities. Great post! Has me thinking about some priceless times. 
 

I could go on and on about some neat stuff about the trout fishing. But in April/May of 1976, if it wasn’t for me to drive my school buddies to a trout fishing spot I wanted to take them, they had just stocked, caught my limit the day before, it was the day that my eyes were opened about catching creek smallies. A light beam was casted from heaven. Could have been from Walt looking over me. Who know don’t want to get all religious about it.  I had a stringer of 8 rainbows hanging off of my belt.  I had killed them. 40-50 of them caught. Nothing huge with a few respectable. All released. These in a trout stream. Had no idea of them being there like that. I’m not talking about “Rockbass” “Opossum Fish”. I’m talking real Smallies. That day was another day that the worm turned man. The day true bass fishing started for real. It got real after that. Smallie addiction. A drug you can’t shake. Those Smallies in a short time after was the start of my river smallie fishing. 
 

 

[galyonj]

The first fish I ever caught was a catfish. I wanna say I was two or three years old.

 

We had gone to this restaurant called the Crosseyed Cricket (locals like @TnRiver46 probably remember it), and you could catch your own fish in their pond, they'd take it, process it, fry it up, and bring it out to your table.

 

I don't remember anything about it, but to hear my parents tell it, they paid more than it would've cost to just order one off menu to have one of the employees throw fish food out and help me keep a hook in the water in that cloud of fish food.

 

So there you go.

 

I guess the first fish I ever caught for-real by myself was a bluegill or something like that on a relative's dock when I wasn't but a few years older than I was in the story above.