Who Taught You How to bass Fish?

[Jacob Robinson]

My family is pretty into catfishing and bream fishing. When i was about 10-11 i decided to break away from it and buy some baits. I researched evything i could on bass fishing that i could find. So, i taught myself.

[central_fl_fishin]

My dad taught me saltwater fishing around 10.  I was so into it and since we lived on a lake I taught myself to fish bream, bluegill, specks and bass.  Later, after my 20's I went back to mostly saltwater.  A few years ago I started back up with the bass fishin.  I can't wait to teach my son.  There is nothing like fishing for bass.

[fishinfewl]

Myself, fishing forums, Bill Dance and definitely the internet.

[HuntFishAK]

Before this past year, I would fish for anything that would bite.  I caught my first bass when I was about 15 on my grandma's farm pond in Missouri.  But I would credit my neighbor who happens to be Fishermantony on here with teaching the most about bass fishing specifically.  Can't wait to hit the water with you next year brother!

[Glenn]

My dad got me into it at a very young age. He taught me the basics, and how to cast a baitcaster.  He gave me the "bug".

My buddy Frank really taught me a ton, and is the one I credit for seriously increasing  my knowledge base, and catapulting  me from a casual, recreational angler to a tournament angler.

I joined a club, and learned a lot from fishing with different people. 

I attended a number of seminars and learned a number of things from the pro's seminars.

I also accumulated a large library of bass fishing books and videos; watched a ton of fishing shows; taped most of those shows (Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Hank Parker, Bassmasters, Orlando Wilson, Jimmy Houston, etc) and watched them over and over.

I sat down with a number of local pros over the years and picked their brains for local fishing knowledge.  It's amazing what you can learn for the cost of a meal!

I taught Keri how to bass fish, and interestingly enough, learned a lot while doing it.

Now I'm taking my learning to a new level by talking to, and fishing with, the Elite pros.  They're great teachers!

[fishermantony]

HuntFishSpokane - you've got more passion for the outdoors than anyone I've ever been close to.  It's been an adventure an a pleasure fishing with you this past year.  Keep being a sponge for bass fishing knowledge and we'll continue to improve together.

[Push_Button_Bassin]

After fishing with my Dad forty something years ago and watching him take his fisherman's billy to a large pickerel that had chomped his jitterbug, I decided that bass, having no teeth, were a much better fish to catch and have worked on tactics that would avoid pickerel.

[TimJ]

I learned how to fish on the banks of the Detroit River. A fellow camper taught me the basics of worm fishing on a small lake in Michigan. We caught the only bass at the campground that day and I was hooked. Initially, I was self-taught on bass fishing but that consisted of mostly manns jelly worms, spinnerbaits, jitterbugs and hula poppers. I read every magazine and watched every tv show and video that I could to try to learn more. After joining a club and attending and then fishing tournaments, my learning curve accelerated. This is truly a sport with no end to learning. Dad never fished with me but always encouraged me...it would have been nice.

TJ

[Choke Canyon Boy]

I taught myself with the help of all the information on the internet and just going out there and fishing.

[Tim1980]

My Dad and Pap taught me how to trout fish.  I started bass fishing with any one who would take me, and was taught a lot from a lot of different people. I've also learned a lot from people on here and fishing shows also.  I mainly have and still fish electricity only reservoirs.

[turret_plug]

No kidding........ Fishing for dummies book! I grew up in South Florida, surf and pier fishing, never really hung around the lakes much. Caught a few bass when I was a kid by accident.

I moved to Kentucky while in the Army..... no Ocean there so I picked up an old hobby..... fishing, but bass this time. I bought that book and have studied the internet regularly. Since, I have bought a small boat and have even competed in a local tournament (placed like 125th place).

Just recently, I took my family to Florida on vacation over Christmas and my Father has a small lake behind his house and we beat the bass to death in that lake, now my old man is hooked on bass fishing, so I suppose I taught him my technique.

[little_stephen]

I was taught by Bassmaster magazines. Bassin magazines. Infishermen magazines. and lots of trial and error.

I was never an outdoors type(Dad took my bobber fishing for bluegill maybe 1-2 times a summer until I turned 10 then he stopped). Until in college when I started suffering from depression. It was a really dark stage of my life. One day I said to myself, "I think I want to go fishing!?"     And never looked back. I stared back on nightcrawlers..... and slowly switched to artificials. I actually dont know what the first artificial I fished was.... probly a grub.

But I taught myself to fish with my dads old AbuGarcia baitcaster and trial and error.

Now I try to talk fishing with him and he gets frustrated and walks away from me becuase he has no idea what I'm talking about. lol

The one thing I really had going for me was that the lake i learned on is GREAT! Its small, bout 90 Acres. Has a boat house with canoes, rowboats, bait, ect. Great shore access! Mud bottomed with tons of lilypads and Bluegill galore!

And its where the Berkely Ohio Fishing Team hosts childrens derbys! Its the ideal teaching lake.

[noogai13]

My father and grandfather who specialized in smallmouth but i live in Fort Worth, TX now. :'(

[SWMIBASSER]

My father taught me how to fish no doubt about that.

But I taught myself to bass fish. Lots of reading fishing magazines, and watching fishing videos...then once my brother bought his boat, I learned more, by being able to go with my brother and bass fish. vs going with my dad and fishing in general.

Once I got my own boat there was another level of learning. And after being without a boat a few years again, this year will be a year of catching back up with, and picking up on new boat control and positioning skills.

[Chaz Hickcox]

Watchin Bill Dance and Roland Martin on The Nashville Network back in the early 90's. Since then, I have learned a lot here, and the hard way, a lot of error and error. Then, there was always the great articles in the In-Fisherman Magazine. My pop would go with me, but he still thinks we were catching pike in Lake Powell and we caught them instead of stripers by the dam (To me there's a big difference between a brown pike and a 15lb striper). Oddly enough I taught him how to tie a hook.  I was spoiled though, I learned by sight fishing from my 4x4 at Lake Pleasent, Az.  Never needed a boat just a 4x4 and an eye for the desert trails leading to the virgin bays.  I would sit on shallow bass all year long.

[Eternal Angler]

Well it's not necessarily bass fishing in particular, but fishing in general.  It was my Dad, he first took me out on the lake teaching me how to fly fish with poppers.  Afterwards I was just hooked!  Been fishing more than 10 years, still learning new things each year, it's a big learning process.

[Nick B]

My dad got me in to fishing, but it was mostly for "whatever would bite". I would try to bass fish as a kid, but was very uneducated about it. After the Air Force, I got stationed in South Ga, I met a guy named Robert Smith, who educated me on bass fishing, that tied in with hours of reading books and magazines, and watching many fishing shows. And I realize I still don't know much about it

[ODgreen]

I fished a little as a kid, but didn't have the patience for it. My family is full of what I call "Jim Bob fishermen" basically people who just put a worm on, chunk it in the water, and open a beer while waiting for the carp to bite. So I gave up on it. One day I was playing an old super nintendo fishing game and decided that I should stop doing that and fish for real(reel heheh) That weekend my wife and I were going to a ren fair and I wasn't really enjoying it. So I took the money we were going to spend there and bought my first combo. By this point I had been ready Fishing for Dummies. I ran out to my inlaw's farm pond and promptly caught...nothing. It took the next trip to catch anything(2 largemouth) and the next (a much bigger one). So basically I guess I taught myself with a book and some articles from this site.

[Aluma-Bass]

i taught myself by going since i was a kid...fishing was my first real interest growing up! My dad or fam was never into fishing. I would always have my mom drop me off at lake and pick me up at dark when i was a kid! Ive been hooked ever since!  8-)