Newbee mistakes

[Little Luey]

What are some of the silly things you did when you stated fishing?

I remember buying a pack of powerworms and cutting one in half to put on my hook, kind of like how you would hook a nightcrawler. You know I did not catch anything. I was thinking I would save money if I got those worms that don't die. ;D ;D

A guy I know told me he put a piece of tortilla on a small fly fishing popper and trew it in the water, of course he did not catch anything.

got any stories like that? care to share?

[NinjaFishin]

I once bought a bait caster pole for a spinning rod.  Didnt even think about that funny trigger part until it was in my way!  ;D  That pole is now sitting in a corner somewhere, probably wont ever use it  :-/

*disclaimer* this was quite awhile ago!

[Branuss04]

Can't think of any of MY mistakes, but I took a couple friends bass fishing and one brought a can of corn to "CHUM" the water.  The other kept putting powerbait on the crankbait I let him use.  he never caught anything on it, but did catch one on a sausage McMuffin on a Gammy 3/0 EWG.  These two are a riot to fish with.... they have ALOT to learn.

[dumb_dog11]

the first time i went fishing, i put everything under a bobber. Even topwaters and such

i didnt know anything about fishing, after i didnt catch anything there, i started to read and learn ti really get into fishing

[Popeye]

I was a sucker for all the "guaranteed to catch fish" lures that came out way back then. I HAD to have the Vivif and Vibra-Bat lures as soon as the small 5 & 10 Cent store had them stocked. NEVER did catch a fish on either one. I now have a Vibra-Bat collection of over 30 of 'em just to look at every once in awhile and reminise of those childhood days.

[Little Luey]

I was a sucker for all the "guaranteed to catch fish" lures that came out way back then.  

LOL, my super weapon was the "Flying lure", I don't think I ever tried that on the water.

Good stories, keep them coming!

[502largemouth]

Oh man, this is the absolute best here......lol.

A buddy of mine(keep in mind this guy fishes but not very much at all, hes more into bluegill and cats but still aint the brightest crayon in the box)was with us one time while fishing a pond. We were talking about the Green river system and lake here in Ky and someone made reference to the many stickups at Green river lake.

Without missing a beat, and he was totally serious, my buddy says, "Theres people getting robbed at Green river?"

We all fell about the place of course, laughing our fool heads off until one of us thought, well, in a way I guess that could be true.

He has never lived that down though.

Cyas,

D

[simplejoe]

when I first started to fish I didn't know how to tie a knot so needless to say when I got a bite the fish took my worm and took off and I was standing there scratching my head wondering what happen.

That was a few years ago, I look back and laugh now but it wasnt funny then ;D

[Little Luey]

I got another one,

years ago, fishing a buzzbait on the Desplains river in Illinois. The first 15 minutes of casting I was paying very close attention and very focused, after that, my mind started wondering and I was not paying that much attention, when I get a bite and the big splash on the surface and the fish striking my lure scare the you know what out of me, my reaction was to pull the rod towards me and lost what I think was a nice fish. I learn to always pay attention!!

[Jake P]

  Oh man i have so many, the first time i ever went fishing i bought a baitcast rod for a spinning reel. The hook keeper kept catching the line when i would reel in and i was like why is this happening, im takin this p.o.s back.

   I used to put bobbers on everything, i remember my buddy says he knew how to bass fish and he was an expert lol. We ended up fishing shiners and crankbaits with bobbers and weights. I'm sure theres more but thats all that comes to mind.

[Lavrax]

I use to fish bass with a pole rod/float and a live worm when i was a child, then my father brought me some texas worms once.. took a worm sliced it to small pieces and put it on my hook , im still waiting for the bite  ;D.

first time on carp fishing i left the rod between some rocks and waited for the bite...im still searching for that rod in the lake

[Big-O]

Can't remember when I first started fishing cause I'm old. But I do remember a few years ago when I took my Grandson fishing in one of my fish ponds, we stopped at the corner store to get some drinks and he grabbed a pack of gummy worms and said "PaPa, do ya think the bass will bite on these"? I said sure thing son, we will catch some big ole bass on those. Sure enough after he got a belly full of gummy worms, I slipped one on a hook and flipped it into one of my favorite brush piles and whack... there he was. After I landed the fish, my grandson said WOW PaPa, we better go back to the store and get some more of those good worms! So off we went and he still remembers that today.

Good Fishin

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[SnowBass23]

Great topic from the original poster! Kudos! These are the stories that kinda explain why the hell we all enjoy fishing so much in the first place. It isn't necessarily always about the actual fish caught, but about the experience of the hunt.

That being said, I certainly have made my fair share of both beginner's mistakes (like going out and spending a whole boat-load of money on things I have to have, like a giant catfish landing net when fishing a neighborhood pond) and dumb mistakes (like having the rods in my suv, rolling the windows down, then hearing the rod tips CRACK! when I rolled the window back up without looking) but 2 of the funniest stories happened to friends I fished with.

First, I'm an old salty enlisted guy working with hotshot young Lieutenants. This one in particular was probably 22 and barely out of college. He heard me and another salty old timer talk about fishing with plastic worms. So I told him a good spot I go to and the color I have the most luck with there. A few days later I rolled up to see him there fishing. So as I walk over to my spot with a single rod in my hand (not the whole tackle-store anymore!) he comes walking over. He tells me that he just isn't having any luck at all on the plastic worms. When he shows me his rig he had an old, battered, well-loved, unnamed rod and spinning reel. He had a little red and white bobber. Less than 12 inches under that he had a piece of split shot, and a 7 inch plastic worm gobbed up on a tiny cricket hook (just like worm fishing for bream). His knot looked about like a shoestring bow. So I offered to show him how I rig mine. After a minute I had him on an EWG worm hook, texas rigged with a bullet sinker and plastic worm. I showed him how I throw them out, lift and drop, and slowly bring it back.

Now I'm certainly not anywhere being a great fisherman, but while this kid is standing there, on probably my 3rd cast, I feel the perfect tap tap and set the hook. It was a small fish, but he was amazed. Less than 10 minutes later he yanked back to set the hook on his own rod. As he fought a healthy hog into the shore she wrapped around a clump of weeds and his line snapped. Then 20 or 30 feet out she began raising her head out of the water to throw the hook. That was one of those times that NOT catching had more of an impact. Everytime I've seen that young kid since then he talks about that day and thanks me for giving him a worm hook and bullet sinker. The small things!

The other time, was definately a stupid one... My usual partner and I have a little game where I come up with some stupid @$$ task to see if he'll do it and he usually does his best attempt. So, after years of us taking turns giving our own plastic baits a lick to see if it really does have New and Improved!!!! flavor he decided he could finally top me once and for all.

I had my back to him, when he asks if I want to see him eat a 6 in. ringworm. Just as I turn around I see about 3/4 inch of plastic worm sticking out of his mouth just as he sucks it down. I instantly suspected he had used a piece of candy so I called him on BS.

He said that he wanted full credit for eating a dang worm so he would do it again. He pulled out a fresh-from-the-pack oily worm and placed it in his mouth. He made a heavy swallow and opened his now empty mouth. As I begain to fall on my butt in the creek laughing hysterically it occured to me that he only had 2 painful ways to get those worms out. Suddenly he doubled over, gagging and retching.... out dropped 2 perfect ringworms. I called him a jackass, continued laughing the rest of the day, and now have a story we'll tell the rest of our lives. The fact that between the 2 of us we caught 54 LMB in that one day was merely an interesting side note to our combined stupidity! :

[Big-O]

Snowbass, your post reminded me of another grandson outing that ended up great after a really bad start. We had just got to the lake and I keep my boat in a stall there but carry my rods back and forth for line change, security etc. Security is a big thing because I build my own rods using Loomis blanks and am kinda partial to 'em.  Anyway no sooner had I exited the truck and my grandson Michael, got out of the backseat on the other side and shut the door. I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary and just kept getting the boat ready for our little outing. A few minutes went by and Michael yells in a cheerful voice "Hey PaPa, guess what happened"? I said What, in a happy voice right back, and he said "the rods got broke in the door and now they are all my size". Now what could I say to that? We spent the entire evening fishing with Michaels new fishing rods and he stiil likes them best of all his rods because they are his big boy fishing rods. I have since put new tips on them for him and he loves them all the more. Now whats that worth? My favorite rods have been replaced but my favorite memories never will be.

Good fishin

Big O

www'ragetail.com

[Little Luey]

I use to fish bass with a pole rod/float and a live worm when i was a child, then my father brought me some texas worms once.. took a worm sliced it to small pieces and put it on my hook , im still waiting for the bite ;D.

Great stories everyone. Lavrax, I am glad I am not the onlyone who has done this.

[wagn]

This happened to me recently. I took a buddy out fishing, and he's only been fishing once or twice before. I told him that the best way to catch bass was to "chum" the water, like fishing for Jaws. So i have him rub crawfish scent all over his hands and start splashing and running his hands through the lake as we troll out to our fishing spot. Everytime he started to slow down, i reminded him that the only way to catch big bass is to keep "chumming". I think he would have done this forever if i hadn't finally broke down and started laughing.  

Apparently "chumming" doesn't work. We barely caught anything that day

[Sam]

Putting a bullet weight on "Arkansas" style, meaning that it is on backwards.

I still have to think as to which end to start running the line through the weight so that the bullet is pointed back towards the rod tip.

[IMPY03]

Me and my buddy were fishing a pond in a 12 ft jon boat and needless to say, he had never fished in a jon boat and when he tried to set the hook, he lost all balance and fell over backwards out of the boat...good times lol