The fish that hooked you?

[Aquaman01]

We've all had it; the fish that hooked us. The fish that awoke the spirit of Santiago and turned the idle passtime of "fishing" into the Sport of Angling.

I'm not talking about your first fish. No, I'm referring to the fish that inspired you to go out and buy fishing magazines with your lawn-mowing money, fish while dad was at work, look at boats and try to figure out how to get one.

The fish that spawned the obsession.

Mine was the spring of 1980 in Rutland, VT. I was 14. I had been fishing before with friends' families and a couple of the Big Brothers that passed through my childhood and had caught plenty of bullhead, suckers, shiners and a dozen or so rainbow trout in the streams surrounding the city. Yeah, it was kinda fun, but not much. Fishing required a Dad, and we were short one of those. I didn't care - there was plenty of stuff to keep me occupied.

I had sold a bayonet (I collected knives and swords at the time) to a guy at school and had some cash on me when I passed a garage sale on the way home from school. I was hoping for a KA-BAR marine or something I could turn a profit on but instead saw a small tray of Mepps spinners for $1. I had tied a couple of flies in Boy Scouts, but had never seen anything like these cool gadgets. I had to try 'em, just 'cause it seemed so unlikely that an earring could catch fish.

I brought 'em home, found my Zebco 202 in the back of the closet behind my skateboard and old Star Wars posters (which had recently been replaced with Cheryl Tiegs and Cheryl Ladd) and went across the neighborhood to a little body of water called Ghost Pond.

Ghost Pond was about 50' x 50' of spring-fed marshy slop. One could see the occasional koi or big fat goldfish that some kids had let in there years before. It was rumored that they were breeding in there and preyed upon by a 4' long catfish which had broken several rods and eaten a few cats and rabbits. Who cares? I just wanna see this earring "spin".

I tied it on (poorly, I'm sure) and cast it to the far shore. Ghost Pond was so small that one could literally cast across it. It immediately became weed-sodden and I brought it back, cursing the fool who invented treble hooks. I cast out again - but not as far. While I was retrieving this cast there was an explosion on the water that actually frightened me so bad I tripped and fell on my keester in the tall grass! When I scrambled up I was fighting some greenish creature that leaped and thrashed across the top of the water and then dove deeper than I thought Ghost Pond was! (I remember thinking briefly about McElligot's Pool - the Dr. Seuss book). I landed this fish and subdued it with a wad of tall grass. It had a grimace of a mouth and a defiant, belligerant look about it - with it's frowning jaw and determined eyes.

I had caught this fish. Not my friends or their dads, or my 'counselor' or an awkward 20something psych student from Big Brothers. Me. My Pole, My Cast, My Mepps Aglia. That thing that the Whole Boys were taught by their Dads...that thing that They could do and I couldn't...it was mine now.

I didn't stay to try and catch more. I hurried back to the apartment complex to find out what this bantam brawler was. I stopped and asked Mark - Darren's Mom's Boyfriend (he was always home).

"That's a Largemouth Bass, Bobby ( I hated being called Bobby - especially by him) that's a GameFish!"

A GameFish! Just like the Great Marlin that Santiago battled for 3 days! Wow.

Well, that spring and summer saw me sell off all my knives and swords and buy tackle and a 'real' rod. I became a member of B.A.S.S.. I read darned near every back issue of Field & Stream that the public library had. I wore out two sets of bike tires riding across town and up into the foothills to reach every river, stream and pond that the city map showed. I overnighted in the woods to get a night-time ninja-fishing shot at Old Man Peterson's pond. I read all I could on the subject of GameFish.

We ate that fish, and many more that followed. My Mom was proud of my new passion. She even got pretty good at cleaning and preparing fish. I never went back to fish at Ghost Pond. Dunno why - just never did.

Never called Big Brothers again, either.

So, what was the fish that hooked you?

[ghotierman]

Fantastic post!...you need to publish that....

will be back with my own later....

this was just too cool of a read...!! thanks !

[Mr Special]

Great post Rob,

Not sure if it was one fish, but I pretty much found myself doing the same thing. Reading every book/magazine I could find and spending every dollar on fishing gear. Heck I still do that now."Don't tell the wife"

Again great story and thanks for sharing

Give me a buzz sometime bud

[Deitz Dittrich]

What a great post...

For me its was this.......

My parents owned a pontoon boat, and every weekend we would head to lake minnetonka for the weekend. I had fished many trips, but mostly colored or played with my hot wheels race cars on the floor of the pontoon boat. ( I was 8 at the time)... Anyway this one day I was digging threw my fathers tackle box and saw a white mouse. This white mouse was not the typical one you see bass fisherman use today, this was a crankbait with a metal lip, and 3" long leather tail. I took one of my dads rods and undid the clip on it and just hung the lure over the edge of the boat. I believe the reel was a zebco 33, anyway.. the lure was sitting threre with about 3 feet of line out and a northern came out from under the boat and hammered the lure. I eventually lost that fish in the battle, and lost the mouse... But my love for the excitement of fishing was born at that very moment! Shortly after I got a small paper rout with the star trib to pay for my newly found fishing habbit...I still have the very first $100 reel that I payed for with my own money...

[Tyler Holm]

I have to give credit to my grandpa for hooking me. I really don't remember the exact fish, all I remember is that gramps took me out all the time for as long as I can remember.

Deitz $100 first reel. I bet my first reel that I paid for was around $10. Were you delivering papers made of gold? Just kidding. I still have my first rod and reel as well.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Tyler- I boght quite a few reels before that one.. but for some reason.. That is the one I most remember, spending $100 with took me about a month to make...

[Pagz]

That is a great story Aquaman

I remember the fish that got me hooked.I was about 8 years old and my dad would take me fishing down the road from my grandma's house when we visited her.We fished from the shore at Lily Lake near Stillwater and we would catch a few sunfish and alot of bullheads.(which my grandma use to love to eat!)

I too had the ol' Zebco 202.We had run out of worms and I begged my Dad to stay and fish,even if I had to go and dig some worms up in the bushes near shore.Well he ended up tying on this "Creme" brand,pre-rigged,natural-color worm with the little prop blade in the front of it.(I'll never forget that lure!).The sunfish would peck at it,but I could not hook them.I was getting tired of trying to hook these sunnies when I started to reel in my lure and thats when it happened.I saw my bobber go down first and just about the same time i felt something "THUMP" on the end of my line!

I tried to reel but it seemed like I was getting nowhere.I yelled for my Dad "I need help",I can't reel it in!"Thank goodness for that high-tech Zebco "non" drag system.All of sudden the fish came up out of the water and I saw the biggest bass I had ever seen.My Dad dropped his fishing rod and came running over to coach me on bringing it in.

I did get the fish in and my dad guessed at about 4-5 lbs.

I know my smile was big,butI had never seen my Dad with a smile that big in my life.It made me feel good to see him so excited.So I don't know who was more "hooked" that day,him or I.I do know our fishing trips were more frequent after that day.Great memories.

[FOOT]

It wasn't a fish that hooked me but rather a day of fishing.

My father owned his own construction company and as such put in many long hours at work and away from his family.

The time spent with my father was precious and both my older brother and I were glad to help him at work when we could. Even though we were 12 & 13 respectively we could do as much as man when he had jobs close to home. We would work after school, on weekends and during the week during the summer.

The few times we were able to go out duck, pheasant, deer hunting or fishing were treasured by all.

One Thursday we finished a job early and were not scheduled to start another until Monday morning. Dad said "lets go do some fishing tomorrow, cause I don't know when we'll get another chance". My brother and I were pumped.

We fished all day. Didn't catch a whole lot, dad wasn't a good fisherman but was a great hunter.

That night he and our mother went out for dinner and met some freinds for drinks. Shorthly after they returned and went to bed he had his fifth and final heart attack and died.

I've always remember that day of fishing and hope someday to meet him on a stream to do some more.

With my children I've made sure there were and will be plenty more of those days. And now that I have grandchildren I will give them the fun and enjoyment I had with a father and brother many years ago.

[cheektowaga]

What a great topic!

For me it was two fish, and a bit of revenge on my mind. My grandpa was big into fishing and would take me every chance he had, the first I remember was on a camping trip at Ishnala (sp) campground on Big Swan lake. I was real young, probably 5 or 6 ish and equipted with a green snoopy rod and reel. Yes, I still have all four feet of it. I was casting a real small spoon, like a trout spoon and hooked into something so fierce and so heavy that it wasn't too long until it broke my line and my spirit. It scared me, I was shaking, and my grandpa was telling me what I had done wrong to lose the pig northern "walter" (grandpa was a fan of "On Golden Pond").

I was afraid that anything that big was eating things in the same waters I was swimming in.

The next summer I too had a closed faced zebco combo, upgraded so that I would never lose Walter again. Fishing Clear Lake south of Avon, Walter hit again and I landed my first ever northern, caught it on a small jig (bergundy head, black body, yellow hair skirt, which I still have to this day.)

The first one scared me, after that it was revenge when I had finally got walter (a three pound pike) in the boat. I never shook with adreneline that bad before.

Hooked ever since.

[Bobby Bass]

I can't pin it on any certain fish. I have gone through most of the fishing stages. I once fished 100 out of 120 days and then followed that up with 50 days of grouse hunting. I have done the catch everything in sight and bring it home to show off but the last 20 years I get more pleasure out of taking someone fishing and watching them catch fish. I did it with all my kids and a lot of their friends who I found out was a very common thing that they never had gone fishing before. I have taken out bosses and former bosses. When we are in the boat we are equal. I have pictures all over of my fishing trips, not so much of fish caught but with people that I went with. Of course that are holding a fish and that might be the one that hooks them on fishing. I have two grandkids and another on the way and I am looking forward to spoiling them rotten with fishing stuff..I hope to be around when they catch that one fish that hooks them. Early spring and fall finds me in the boat alone to cold for most. Guess that will be the time when I catch that special fish that will keep me fishing, more then likly it will just remind me of why I fish.

[EatSleepFish]

I too have a grandpa that talks about a northern so big, it was once mistaked for a log, Ha Ha

Its name is Big oscar,

Every year im able to catch one of his cousins or grandchildren, my grandpa says. Great storys everyone! Ihave so many fishing stories its hard to pick one. But what I remember the best is outfishing my uncles on Big Sandy

[Random guy]

Copied from the Musky/Pike forum>How I got sick...

My first Musky came in mid fall when a group of small town farm kids heard a rumor that the walleyes where backed up behind a small set of falls on a river thirty miles North and East. Naturally we all stole our fathers best walleye rods, found somebody old enough to drive and away we went. The day was like dream, fall leaves dropping, walleyes as fast as you could catch them, and I think a few girls even joined the outing making it that much sweeter for a small town adolescent. As the day proceeded the walleyes completely quit feeding, just like somebody flipped a switch. In attempts to continue the nonstop action I put a floating Rapala on and began to twitch it along like that Al Lindner character I seen on Grandpas big Satellite TV, next thing I knew line was peeling out of that old Penn open-faced like it was hooked to a truck. After much screaming, hollering and general panic I had managed to get this brown colored beast tamed enough to swim up and down the shore at 280mph. In a last ditch effort I attempted to steer the fish on shore, thoughts of a state record pike flashed through my head as this spotted brown and silver fish beached halfway onto dry land. Little did I know how well I would get to know that toothy grin as it spun, cut the line and disappeared back into the rolling water behind the falls.

The silence was finally broken by my buddies voice “what was wrong with that pike…it was all brown” I have not stopped looking for that fish since.

That is when the magazines, books, piles of gear and 1,000 yard stare started.

[Lake Alice]

That's a great post. I'm not sure I can count the important, relevant themes you hit there. The importance of passing tradition and manhood on to a son (you found it anyway), healthy activities for kids or lack thereof today (instead of staying in the room with the posters and a video game, you went to the pond with your Mepps), disappearing habitat/fishing opportunities for youth (what does ghost pond look like today?), self esteem learned from actually accomplishing something. You are a gifted writer. You should read David James Duncan's The River Why if you haven't, you would enjoy it.

[The Grebe]

I'm sure it was a variety of things that hooked me? My uncle and my cousins husband were commercial fishermen on Lake Peppin, they worked out of Reads Landing. I would see the pictures of my uncle holding those big carp and listen to the stories of the catch and I always thought I wanted to be a commercial fishermen when I was little.

My other uncles worked for Olsen Fish company, so there was always some kind of fish product around our house, we lived just off the railroad tracks behind the building.

My family hailed from the Little Falls area and were outdoor types, farmers, hunters, fishermen. I know that some were moonshiners back in the day and even a couple of market hunters.

My dad, while he was with the family, was always outdoor oriented and used to bring home fish just about every week-end. We had suckers in the spring, smoked carp, and just about every other kind of catchable fish, from bullheads to perch.

I became the offical fish cleaner, not by choice but by age and designation and I still remember from all the still visible scars on my hands!

There are a couple of instances that stand out in my mind and are probably the first building blocks in my life long association with fishing....

Unbeknownst to me at the time, not that it would have mattered, one of my boyhood friends was the son of Marine Raider, Minnesota middleweight champion, and world contender, Henry Shaff, I never even knew it until I was older.

Mr. Shaff took us kids up to Big Lake, rented a boat and we went out fishing, I caught a nice walleye on a canepole and I was instantly the center of attention and I never forgot it.

Another boyhood friends father let me tag along on trips with him and his son. We would walk down to the Mississippi River in North Minneapolis and sometimes fish until the wee hours of the morning.

My friends dad was a WWII veteran and he had been hit across the torso and in the hands and face, by light machinegun fire, during combat. He used to show us the scars where the bullets hit. He had missing fingers, his hands were like round rocks when he made a fist, he liked to drink and he liked to fight and he was pretty good at both as I recall! I can still recall the details of some of those trips and that was close to 45 years ago! I'd say that those experiences had a pretty good impact on me!

I can remember my dad leaving me alone on the river bank of the Platte River up by Little Falls, I had a cane pole that weighed more then I did, baited with a big sucker minnow and a pike slammed into it and I had all I could do to hold onto the pole while yelling for my dad, or my uncle, but by the time they got there, the fish was gone.

Little things, big things, people and places, no one thing, no one experience, but alot of adventures over the years, the pages of Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, Fur Fish Game, time on the water and life itself, maybe even my genetics, turned me into a fishermen.

I don't forget the names of the none family members either, Henry Shaff, Herbert Eggert, Bud Gore, Earl monkawitz, Leonard Douglas. These fellas are all gone now, as are my dad and my uncles, but they sure left something behind, a legacy of fishing and the great outdoors and memories of good times past! Thank you

[turn_in_poachers]

It was the good ol' bass that got me hooked. Topwater bass to be exact. I grew up in Montana as a trout fisherman. So the equipment used was light. 6'6 rods, 4-6 lb test line. Flies with maggots and worms. Then I moved up here and my cousin invited me to go fishing with him. He gave me a Spook Jr and I tied it on. At first, I thought "This lure is wayyyy too big for any fish. Im not going to catch anything off this!" And my cousin just smiled and said cast it out. I did, and I followed his instructions. Let it sit, wait for the ripples to disappear and twitch, twitch and repeat. Did this for a couple casts with nothing. I turned towards him and started to complain, when it happened. I heard a big ol' splash that scared the dickens out of me, felt my rod get heavy and heard my cousin yelling "SET YOUR HOOK!" So I did, played with him for a while, and got him in. It wasnt big, I remember a 3 lb'er. But just the sound that startled me was all it took. After that, it all went downhill. The G. Loomis, the Curados, the 14 lb test line, the poppers, frogs, skitter walks, on and on and on . Probably the most exciting way to fish-topwater.

[ghotierman]

My mom is the one who loved to fish in our family. But we seldom did. We lived only a block from the boat landing, but never owned a boat. The creek that ran into the lake near the landing was only a half block from my front door. I grew up on its banks chasing frogs, crayfish, turtles, minnows. Bullheads were easy prey in the shallow lake, and one summer the commercial trappers came in to haul out tons and tons of carp. My senior year in high school, a buddy and I caught and released about 100 walleye off the dock at the landing one morning before school. All 10-12 inchers, fresh stocked. During the summers we'd ride bike, and later drive to the Rapidan Dam and fish for catfish, carp, big pike...whatever would bite...a Tom Sawyer like adventure every outing. Most memorable, and what probably 'hooked' me, was a family outing on Little McDonald lake in Ottertail county. Mom and Dad, little brother and big sister (bro' #2 and sis #2 hadn't yet arrived!) The water was so clear you could watch the fish bite! Dad would jig the line to keep the hook away from the little ones. The crystal clear water!! The shallow lakes in southern minnesota were never this clear! Mom loved it...and does to this day (we used to buy her a fishing license as a mothers day gift)....but the clear water sight fishing had a huge impact.

I've had the pleasure of helping several nieces and nephews and friends kids catch their first fish...the look in the eyes is priceless! My family was along for my first muskie (see the avatar pic)....another great moment that got me hooked! And now i'm hooked on bowfishing too!

fantastic topic fellas!

[subzero]

Can't say it was one fish that moved me, it was growing up by the Mississippi river and everytime you set the hook you had no idea what was at the other end.

[sightfisher]

I know there were multiple fish and trips that had me hooked, but big bluegill did it for me. I grew up fishing in SW Pennsylvania and Western Maryland. We had a cabin on Deep Creek Lake in Md, home to Bull Bluegills and Jumbo Pearch. I took it for granted; I thought it was the norm to catch 10" gills all day. I never had more fun than when battling those bruisers to the boat. Pound for pound they fight like nothing else. Only a few years ago a 9 year old girl caught the new MD state record for bluegills from my personal spot, 3.5 lbs!!! Check out the MD DNR site they have a picture of her with her fish. Almost ugly looking, it was so big. Also on the the same stretch of water when I was about 11 or 12 I caught a 25" brown on a white rooster tail. The treble was almost straightened out by the time I got her in. I think I shook for two days after that fish. Every once in a while I still quiver a bit, probably from the memories of that fish. My parents still live on that lake. When I visit during October/November I attempt to catch her again; 17 years later I konw that fish would be very old and Big! If that beautiful fish is not swimming now I take pride in knowing its offspring are. A 30" eye from Erie around the same also took some credit for having me hooked me for life!

Happy fishing, extend the memories to the next generation!

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/recreational/tournament/staterecords/bluegill98.html

[Ralph Wiggum]

Cripes, that's a huge bluegill.

[Shorelunch]

For me it was a 4lb walleye I caught on LOW when I was around 10 yrs old. I was with my Grandpa, Grandma and my cousin. I thought it was a snag at first, but then the snag started to move. My cousin was very jealous - which probably sealed the deal.

[buzzsaw]

I'm guessing your cousin's name was Nick???

[Shorelunch]

Yes indeed.