What got you hooked?

[FordNFishinLover]

Its funny, cause i can remember the exact day of the first time i got hooked into "bass" fishing.

It was a warm summer day, and my mother had taken the day off work. She wanted some help in her garden, and then she said she would take me fishing while she tanned.

So i helped her and we headed off to a nearby town with a lakelot a family member owned. Id fished this a few times now. An i was mainly a catfishermen at the time. So i figured we would go there and i would try for cats.

Well on our way we got close a friend of my mothers and she wanted to drop off some vegy's from the garden for him. Well hes a pretty healthy/rich feller, with a big pond out back. Him and a few of his friends were fishing as we got there.

At first i didnt even want to go down there and even look at the water. I wanted to go to the lake. But she said just come on down for 10 or 15 minutes while i talk. Kinda mad, i went down. But about ever 5 mintutes down there one of those guys were reeling in a bass. So they say come here and ill rig a plastic worm for you.

Not but a few casts later i caught my first bass. I thought, dang that was easy! Ended up catching around 15 bass that day! Probally the most fun day of fishing ive ever had!

I find it most funny that i didnt even want to go down there! An if i didnt i prob wouldnt have gotten into bass fishing until later on!

But since that day ive been HOOKED!!!!!

[Daniel A.]

I vaguely remember fishing for bream when I was very young. However, I vividly recall the numerous weekend trips me and my dad would take with my uncles and cousins. My dad had a knack for finding a good catfishing spot. We'd head out as soon as he got home from work on Friday and sneak back in the early hours of Saturday morning. We caught fish and enjoyed the company of our family.

From then on, I've always associated family with fishing. Luckily, I married into a family of fishermen (and fisherwomen) to continue what I enjoyed so much growing up.

We have a small pond on our property, and when the weather is nice, I take my daughter fishing. It's something we do together - just like me and my dad when I was young.

[bass or bass ?]

My grandmother actually got me started fishing at the age of 13. Fishing for snook from the bridge over Cypress Creek right next to their house in Ft. Lauderdale Florida in 1964. Thanks Grandma.     Happy fishing.

~B.A.S.S.~N.A.F.C.~BoatU.S.~

[River Rat 58]

When i was four years old my dad took me down to the river behind our house fishing for the first time ever.  In about the spand of 45 minutes i caught more smallmouth bass than i can remember.  Ever since then during summer i spend more time down by the river than I do at my house.

[Drewster116]

I was 3 my family went camping up in Island Falls Maine. Which was when my dad got me my first spincast rod. I was so excited to try it out so I kept bugging my dad to bait my hook but he said he'd take me fishing later cause he just got done setting up camp. So he went to lay in the hammock to rest a bit. I being impatient decide to fish from shore at our campsite with just a bobber and a bare hook. and every cast I was like "I got one!" to reel it in to see I had nothing till finally I hooked a baby bass which was only like 3 inches long. I got all excited and ran up to my dad still laying in the hammock and was like dad look! I got a fish. He didn't believe me and didn't even look to see so I kept bugging him to look till he finally did. He ended up falling out of the hammock from being so surprised. Next thing that happen was him going to my mom saying I got to get that boy some worms and take him out in the rowboat.  Been fishing everyday that I can since then

[Maxximus Redneckus]

livin on  farm with a  pond at 5 i was fishing 98% of my childhood then i hit 18 fishing dropped to abouthalf my time but i cant think of life without it

[Zel]

My family has some land that Hunters Creek runs through.  On the land is a stone gravity bridge (according to legend was built in the mid 1700's by Benjamin Franklin as part of his Fort Allen construction, which was located nearby).  As far back as I can remember, I fished off that bridge with a stick, string, hooks and worms in pursuit of chubbys, suckers and trout.  I probably fished that setup for 5 years until I got my first real fishing pole. They were some of my fondest childhood memories. I still enjoy fishing off that bridge 50 years later... the best spot in the word to clear the mind.

[huntnful1]

my dad got me hooked, but the part of fishing that got me hooked is that it is kinda like duck hunting, the waiting from the time you drop your calls till the time you call kill em. Just like waiting from the time you feel the bite till the time you set the hook, using some baits. It's just that anticipation that got me hooked. Then came topwater and that is a whole different story.

[AverageJoeBass]

I believe the very first bass I caught was when I was in 8th grade fishing with my Grandpa Red and my grandmother. He took us to his boss's pond to fish and rigged me up with a plain plastic black worm with a weight on it. Something had happened to his line and he asked me to fix it. While doing that off in the distance where I had cast a bass jumps out of the water and splashes back in. My grandfather told me to check my line and sure enough there was a bass on the end of it. A 5 lb. bass at that! We kept that bass and my grandfather filleted him and took the head and nailed it to the barn he had. I was very proud of that bass head hanging there.

[ROCbass]

I was seven years old. It was at my grandparents house on Great Sacandaga Lake. I was fishing with my dad, my dad's cousin-in-law, and his son. We were fishing out of my great uncle's aluminum 16' deep v  with 4 benches and an old 30hp merc. It was crowded, but I didn't care because it was the first time I was allowed out in the boat to go fishing. I had a zebco 600 spincast combo with a live helgrammite rigged under a bobber. The first fish I caught was a rock bass. I didn't even see my float go under because i was getting bored. Luckily everyone else was paying attention. The next trip out I caught my first smallmouth, and I have been fishing ever since. I enjoy all types of fishing for all species, but fishing for smallies on that lake out of that old boat is still my favorite.

[done]

I always liked it, but did not really get hooked till my first year trout fishing in the NC mountains. After an absolutely insane week of work I took 3 days off and went by myself on the Linville River. Since it was midweek nobody else was on the river. I was about a mile back into the middle of nowhere, wading thigh deep in a nice set of riffles, was about 70 degrees out, sunny, half full creel. Standing there by myself, sun coming through the tree canopy, I can say, was about the most relaxed I have ever been.

Have not stopped fishing, year round since then. Be in trout in a stream, out on Lake Wylie, Deep sea (on the rare occasionI can afford it), or shore, does not matter. I am always game for it now.

[farmpond1]

I'm enjoying reading all of these so much I had to say so.  I was concerned the thread would get buried in other threads before everyone had a chance to contribute.  But it looks like my worries were unwarranted.  I get warm fuzzies reminiscing how I got started and it's apparent many/most of you all feel the same way.  I want to start a related thread but I don't want distract from this one.  I'm enjoying it too much.  Thanks all and keep 'em coming!

[Dave D]

An EWG 5/0 Gamakatsu got me hooked, right in the corner of my mouth! LOL! I just had to do it!

I started fishing when I was really young and I have always enjoyed in. It was when I started getting good at the craft is when I got hooked. I remember going down to my local pond one day after church. I rode my bike there( I was just old enough to ride alone, maybe 4th or 5th grade) and all I had was a spinning rod and some tiny ice fishing jigs. I caught over 200 gills that day in only a few hours! I had the world by the tail! I had put together a pattern and it worked. That's probably the earliest memory I have of things coming together.

The other thing that I live for is the hookset! What is more fun the setting the hook and having something fighting back on the other end! I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it!

Yeah and if you here a guy screaming at the lake because he just caught a 5 lb'r, that's probably me. I'm no Ike but I do get excited!

[DADto4]

Growing up we lived next to a farm with a big pond that was fed by a small creek. As young country kids do we were always consumed with the outdoors especially the creek that fed the pond. One day when my grandfather was over he decided to "play" with us to see just what inspired us to always come home covered in mud and soaked with water.

When he saw us catching crawdads and garter snakes for fun he made a simple suggestion that we put a hook in them and cast them into the pond. WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA!

Although we had fished for panfish before, little did we know that there were some rather large Bass that called this pond home, and MAN DID THEY LIKE CRAWDADS!

From that point on the attraction for fishing was set.

Over the years......I have continued to pursue my attraction and offer it to my children as a gift that may do with what they like.

Fishing to me is one of the best gifts I have been given,and still the best gift for me to give.

-John

[BassnMan Mike]

My dad is responsible for my addiction to fishing. Even though he would at times work 3 jobs to keep a roof over our heads he always made time to take me fishing.

"Thanks dad and rest in peace."

[NYfishwow]

I used to play video games all the time, it was only thing i did. One day my dad said to go outside, and i didn't.

so i was kicked out of the house and then i started fishing. I was poor at it to begin with, bluegill and 3 lb bass was rare to catch.

In a couple of months i started catching tons of bass. Never stop fishing after that and its been a very long, long time since then.

[bass wrangler569]

I went trout fishing on opening day with my grandfather. I caught a few and I thought it was awesome so my dad and I started going fishing together and it evolved from their. Oddly enough, my first time fishing isn't nearly as memorable to me as my first tournament. Fishing didn't became a full-blown, all consuming passion for me until I fished my first tournament. I fished it as a rider and I vividly recall being awed when the tournament director called our number and we went blasting off to our first spot. I love fun fishing but to me, nothing beats the energy of hooking a bass during a tournament. It was and is the ultimate adrenaline rush.

[Sherlock 60]

I had always been a very casual, occasional fisherman until that fateful day in 2001 when my 6 year old grandson said, ever so innocently, "Grandpa: next year I want to go fishin' a lot more."

You wouldn't believe the rod, reel and tackle collection I have accumulated since then. In the process of collecting tackle I somehow learned to catch bass...

The irony is that my grandson lost interest after a summer or two. I have high hopes he will catch the bug again this year.

[silvercliff_46]

Lets see...,Hmmmm...,Oh yeah there was this real nice guy with long brown hair that hung out with a dozen or so fishermen.

He was a pretty smart guy and I started to read his book.  Good book, yup real Good Book.

Long story short I stuck with him and took up fishing around the same time.

Wow that was a long time ago.

[dave]

Jesus inspired me to fish. Since he was a fisherman.

Jesus was a carpenter. Peter, Andrew, John and James were the fishermen.

[bigbill]

I always fished with my older brother all the time.  I never really caught anything but he always did.  Before he passed on he told me you have to stay going and sooner or later the fish will just turn on. I never really knew what he was talking about till one night while fishing with my son.  I would only fish the first few days of trout season every year.

We were on a small bridge over looking a swamp.  We were using night crawlers and while reeling in the worm i had a strike.  I put on a mepps #3 silver w/gray/brown tail and started catching small bass one after another.  By my 3rd fish my son hollers over do you have another one of those spinners?  I thew him a red/white mepps with the gray/brown tail and had success too.  I'm not really sure how many doubles we had in that short of time but that night started it all in bass fishing for me.  I don't do much trout fishing anymore its bass only now.

[bocabasser]

mine was a natural progression. in 1969 my father bought our second house and it was on a canal, the c-14 to be exact. every wekend my mom would take me to the bait and tackle shop to buy 2 boxes of night crawlers. i would catch bream, bass, turtles, catfish, you name it, and i caught it. i loved being on that dock alone fishing. as i got older i started becoming more independent and started digging for clams and mussels in the sand along the shoreline. when i was 7 my mom bought me a 4 foot cast net and i started netting wild shiners and shad. this was the moment i knew bass fishing would be a permanent fixture in my life. once i caught those shad and shiner, bass were now soooo easy to catch. around ten i started with artificial baits and my first baitcaster, an ambassador (the small red one). as i grew in years, bass fishing took a back seat to surfing and football, but i never stopped fishing. when i got maried, my 3 goals were to graduate college, buy a house and have children. when i bought my house, my wife and i refinanced for a better interest rate and we pulled some money out to update our house. i also bought a flats boat. once i had the boat, i started tournament fishing and was hooked instantly. i can honestly say that bass fishing has kept me grounded in the sense that i don't sweat the small stuff. whether it is family, work, or financial struggles in life, fishing always brings me back to a much simpler way of living and thinking. i know that may sound weird, but i bet a lot of you guys feel the same way. great topic and great stories--thanks for letting me share mine.

[silvercliff_46]

Jesus inspired me to fish. Since he was a fisherman.

Jesus was a carpenter. Peter, Andrew, John and James were the fishermen.

Jesus was a fisher of men that being said; I think he hung around fishermen because if he could get those bums to tell the truth (at least sometimes), and be on the straight and narrow; Then folks would know he was the real deal.

That's what he said anyway when we were jawin' around the camp fire. By the way if you think his home-made wine was good you should have tried a couple of tall frosty mugs of home-brew on a hot day.

[farmpond1]

Jesus inspired me to fish. Since he was a fisherman.

Jesus was a carpenter. Peter, Andrew, John and James were the fishermen.

Yup!  Jesus was a carpenter by trade.  But the story goes that he could really influence the outcome of a fishing tournament!  

[502largemouth]

I remember a few fishing trips when I was really young with my grandparents. They had a lot at Nolin Lake we would stay at and we had to use cane poles with worms....lol.

But....that didnt do it.........

I remember going catfishing almost every night the summer of my 17th year with my buddy Scott. If we were awake, we were fishing.

But.....that didnt do it........

What did do it was the first time I went fishing with my friend Jude...I was 34 years old. I had never fished with artificials, never fished for bass. I had a Zebco BossHawg catfish rig and a old side button baitcaster on a old 6 foot really floppy fiberglass pole.

I tied on a texas rig after he showed me how and we went fishing after dark at Beaver Lake. We hit the lake at about 1030 or so.

It took little more than an hour for me to catch a small bass maybe 1lb probably less. This was my first bass and later Jude and I laughed until we almost cried thinking about the fact that I caught my first bass on a huge catfish rig. Dont know why but it is funny now to think about using that rig to bass fish.

Anyways, that night we fished from 1030pm to about 10am, we were almost out of trolling motor battery, fishing out of a canoe. We got onshore charged up the batteries for a couple hours and went right back out until about 6pm that evening when we had to come off the lake due to falling asleep in the canoe.

That moment when I sat outside the tent, talking to Jude and waiting for the batteries to recharge was when I probably could safely say I was "hooked".

I could not wait to get back out on the water even though I could barely hold my eyes open.

Its as bad as crack......lol.

CYas

D