What hooked you on Bass fishing?

[bassfshin24]

I've been bass fishing as long as I could remember. My dad had a strong passion for it and passed that down to me. He was a guide for a few years down in Florida on the Kississmee chain of lakes and Lake Toho. He was such a great teacher and mentor of the sport. He passed away 6 years ago and left me and my brother his bass boat. There is not a day goes by when I am out on that boat that I don't wish he was right there with me. He was by far the greatest fishing partner I have ever had. But now with a lil girl of my own and I so excited to get her out fishing when she gets older.

[mww24]

I remember catching my first one off the dock at my parents cabin on a super cheap spincast combo my parents bought me to fish for sunnies and crappies. It took me and my cousins probably 15 minutes to drag that thing out of the weeds with that whippy rod. Ever since then I targeted them at the cabin and anywhere else i could ride my bike to. My uncle was a huge bass guy back then as well and would take me and his boy on his old ranger to lake minnetonka and waconia during summer sleepovers. That boat hooked me on bass boats as well. They've always been marvels of engineering to me. I took a few years off of fishing during highschool and fell in with a bad crowd that led my life astray. Then about 20 years old I got to fishing again with my buddys that stayed on the right side of the tracks during high school. They targeted walleyes but I was able to convince them to let me show them some bass fishing ways. Really my refound passion for fishing is what eventually got me out of trouble. and I have used fishing to keep my surly ways under control. So for me it has been a lifesave and lifechanger to have bass fishing in my blood.

[mainbutter]

Catching surprise bass when I was fishing for bluegills cinched in for me when I was a kid

[mattrd]

Mine was watching bass fishing shows on tv on saturday mornings instead of cartoons. I'll never forget the Hank Parker theme song. My dad bringing us to fish them in gravel pits and everyone you caught you hoisted them out of the water like you just won the Classic! Trips to the Berkley plant to buy cheap plastics and digging through all of the powerbait (still love that smell )

[Wayne Ek]

56-years ago come this summer (if it ever gets here) an oldie but goodie the Heddon Crazy Crawler on the Ottertail River where it leaves Hoot Lake by Fergus Falls, Mn. Not a big fish, but it started the whole affair.

[lookincalifornia]

grew up fishing gravel pits for gills. every now and then a big bass would swim through. once i caught that first big bass, gills just wouldn't do it for me anymore. i was about 9-10 years old.

[RK]

When I was probably 4, fishing with my grandfather, I caught a 3-1/2 lb smallie on a cane pole. How I landed it I'll never know, but I'll never forget it. After that, reading back issues of In-Fisherman I checked out from the library. They had a 3 copy limit but after a while they just gave up and let me check them out by the armload. My grandfather was a walleye and crappie fisherman, but I pestered him so often to go bass fishing he started letting me take the boat out my myself way earlier than he probably should have. Learned a lot by trial and error... Learned what cold fronts were when I got up early and went out in early June in nothing but a t-shirt and shorts and about froze. Learned about dead sticking plastics the same morning when I made a cast with my Mann's Jelly Worm and set the rod down to warm up my fingers...then just about lost the rod when a fish picked up the worm and took off with it

Wayne - I have a Crazy Crawler hanging over my desk right now.

[Raider4ever]

Throwing a Hula Popper off the dock when I was a little kid. First blow-up I was HOOKED. I still fish topwater first thing every time in the boat. Now, with frogging, I can go all day without breaking out a Rattle-Rap, worm, or swimjig. I would rather catch 1 on top than 4 below.

[Bassman55]

My dad has been bass fishing my whole life. I've been in the boat with him since I was 18 months old. Since my two brothers and I are pretty close in age to one another my mom would only let him go fishing if he took at least one of us with him. Later on we had to take turns because we couldn't all fish out of his 15'10" skeeter. The day I got hooked on fishing was on the Crow Wing River. I was 7 or 8, standing up in the front of the canoe pitching a small spinnerbait to any tree I could reach. I think I ended up catching 7 rock bass and a small northern, but I was hooked. Fishing with my dad after that I got hooked on bass. I'm 26 now and still chase bass every weekend we can with my dad.