Slow part II- How did YOU get into bass fishing?

[Slyster]

Hey.. it IS slow in here... everyone tackling crappies?

How about this one? How did you get serious about bass fishing?

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I myself never really fished until I was 37... how sad. but better late than never!

Growing up we had a cabin on Green Lake (Isanti Co) and we did all the usual cabin stuff.. water skiing, beach stuff, sailing, sauna etc. Once in a while I would toss in a bobber and worm and catch a few sunnies off the dock. My brother once caught a * WALLEYE *... We were amazed!.. but that was the only large fish I remember... never saw a bass.

The parents sold the cabin in 1990... and I inherited the rowboat (a 14' Lund) complete with oars. I got married.. got a home.. and there the boat sat for 13 years in the back yard... rotting and filling up with water, leaves and mosquitoes... (Considering that I am a teacher, I feel SICK about those lost 10 summer vacations I could have been fishing.)

In 2004, I finally I decided to get a motor since we had my young kids... 15hp Johnson brand new... found this site... caught a few bass... and I was hooked. Having the summers off I can get out fishing 5+ LONG days per week for 3 months so I really got into it fast! (If the wife lets me of course)

EDIT: I decided on bass since they are so FUN to catch.. and fairly easy to catch. I don't care for pike since they are so toothy and so slimy.. and walleye are harder to catch and since I don't eat fish that doesn't make sense.. and panfish are fun but aren't as thrilling to pull in!.. plus with all the great pro anglers on ESPN and the classic and bassmasters stuff makes it all the more fun.

... Now that same boat is all fixed up- repainted, new deck w/storage (for kids toys mainly ).. adjustable chairs, all ALL the cool electronic gadgets, the two motors (15hp and 55# Minnkota).. turns out it's a REALLY great boat for one adult and up to 2 little kids to fish in! We will need a new one eventually as the kids grow.

So it really is possible to get into fishing with no 'guidance' or family history (i.e. gramps, pops, etc...)... at least my kids will grow up with an outdoors background.

[RK]

Hiya -

I can't remember NOT fishing. My first clear memory is catching a smallmouth bass on a cane pole while fishing with my grandfather and my cousin. It was about 3 lbs, so for a little kid with an 8 foot cane pole, I had my hands full...it made an impression...

My grandparents had a lake cabin (which I now own), and when I was 4, my mom went back to work full time. My dad was a dairy farmer, and didn't exactly have time to keep a 4 year old from killing himself while running around a 700 acre farm, I got shipped off with my grandparents for most of the summer. My grandfather was a college teacher and administrator, and had summers off more or less, so they were at the cabin all summer. I fished every single day, rain or shine. Off the dock, wading, or in the boat with my grandfather, if I wasn't eating, sleeping, or swimming, I was fishing. When I was about 10 my grandfather had finally had enough of me pestering him to take the boat out, and let me take it (14 footer with a 5.5 hp) by myself. Been at ever since.

cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Bullwinkle]

Well I wasn't quite as lucky as the two gentlemen who posted before me in that nobody in my family owned a cabin but I do remember fishing for carp once with my father in the Mississippi when I was 3 or 4. I didn't really have a fishing influence until I was 9. That year my uncle took my cousin and I to fish on Lake Pulaski. I remember we drove the boat around flooded houses and used them as structure which held not only big panfish but huge bass. Later that summer we fished some small lake near St. Cloud and caught tons of bass on topwater buzzbaits. I remember that thrill of having bass crush the bait. Just thinking back on that day gets me excited and it was from that point on that I was hooked on bass fishing.

[ocf1]

My grandparents live up on lake ida and every summer we would go and catch some sunnies, and 2 years ago the day before bass opener i caught a 16 incher! lol i was hooked, and ever since ive loved to catch them bass, And fishing has given me unimaginable patience compared to many other kids i know.

[Deitz Dittrich]

when I was young, My parents owned a pontoon boat and kept it on a trailer of all things...parked it on the street in MPLS...Every weekend we would pull it to a lake and hang out. My dad was a race boat driver(inboard hydroplanes) and weekends we didn't fish we were driving to some lake out of state. On the road my mom would read fishing articles to help pass the long road hours.

As I got older, I got more into it!.. and then more into it!... I fished my first ever bass tournament at 18 and placed 2nd. I WAS HOOKED!!!!, then I fished my 2nd bass tournament and placed 2nd TO LAST!!! I WAS HOOKED EVENT MORE!!!! I got my first fishing sponsor about 12 years ago(I'm 36 now) and simply love being a part of the industry!

[st.crioxfishin]

My Grandparents also own a cabin up north, and as far back as I can remember I have been fishing. I started getting into bass fishing when I was real young, probably around 4th or 5th grade. I used to bike down to local ponds close to my house in Eagan with my buddies. As I got older my grandpa would let me take out the boat at the cabin. I would be out there all day, and it still continues to be like that to this day whenever I'm up there.

I fished my first tournament when I was 16 and placed 2nd, I've had the tournament bug ever since! We got my uncles old boat two summers ago, and I fished my club tournaments out of it last year.

[fishinchicks]

I came from a completely nonfishing family. I didn't fish until I got married at 20. Didn't do much fishing until 2004 when I went to a bass pond nearby. I drummed up the courage to take the kids out by myself, and we hit the pond again. Skunked until now. Then we started having family get togethers at a friend's lake home. The fishing was becoming addicting! Now, my 12 year old daughter and I try to get out as much as we can. There is so much to learn yet, but I am getting more brave all the time. I feel kinda wimpy because I use a glove to unhook my fish still.

[YUM]

I grew up fishing with my family in the Alexandria area as a kid almost every weekend chasing walleyes and panfish, but once I hit high school I didn’t make it out much. Then it started, a couple years out of HS I fished my first club tournament with my cousin. The first two years of those tourneys were tough, all we ever had tied on were cranks and spinner baits... yikes it was rough, but eventually we expanded on our techniques and were able to finally win our first last year, but ever since that first tournament I was seriously hooked on bass fishing

[CindyP]

My first memories of fishing include being tied to a chair and hung up on the wall of the spear house (I was about 2) and yet, years later I still wanted to go.

Fast forward 25 years, I met my husband and we did a lot of ice-fishing and summer pan fishing. I remember one day I hooked a fish and asked him what it was, he said, "that's a bass, you might as well throw it back, you cast about 1000 times to get one of them!" I did. In the summer of 2003 he passed away, I sold the boat, all the equipment and figured my fishing days were over.

The following summer, a brother of one of my friends took pity on me and brought me out fishing in his bass boat. (I had actually never been in one before and was afraid I would walk off the edge and drown with as much as I move around!) I hooked into a few very small bass, but it was enjoyable and while some days were tough, I think my percentages were higher than 1/1000 casts!

During the summer of 2005 I joined a league near Hutchinson, that year I caught my first 5# largemouth, met some fun people and I've been hooked ever since!

Looking forward to the start of a new season, "tight lines" to you all and hope to see you out there!

[Banger]

I grew up in the alexandria and had a lake right next to the house. My dad fished a fair amount and would take me panfishing with him when he would go. As I got older and could handle the rod by myself we progressed into walleye fishing. When I was old enough to take out the boat by myself crappie fishing, I would catch bass trolling my crappie tubes and had a great time fighting them on light tackle. In high school my friends got me into bass fishing and tournaments. I have been concentrating on bass ever since. I have even been able to get dad out bass fishing with me (I know he likes it, even though he will not admit to it).

[Bobby Bass]

Spring of 1979 that is when on a fishing trip to the Saint Louis river my bride put my five foot ultra light rod with 4# line in the truck instead of my walleye rod. I caught a 10# 2 oz walleye on a yellow jig using that rod and I knew that I would never top it. So I started bass fishing with my friend Chuck. Later that summer I caught a 5# 4 oz bass on the same rod. I retired the rod but was hooked on fishing bass. The rod and both fish are mounted above my desk and I look at them every time I sit down here..

[shooter_mcgavin]

RK - I grew up fishing the same lake. My grandparents still own the cabin......maybe you know them? Would be interesting to know. [email protected]

[lookincalifornia]

i caught my first fish at 5, a big ole carp. when i reached age 8, we movwd to the country about two miles from some gravel pits. one day while pulling bluegills out, i saw a big bass swim by. i had caught some little ones, but the big gills fought better. well, this pig swam by my artifical worm (caked with scent wax) then he turned and hammered it. i saw the whole thing unfold, that fish was about 18". i have been a bass first guy since then

[Ray Esboldt]

I'm not sure when I became a "bass fisherman." I remember my dad and uncle putting quite a few of them to the knife. I remember seeing my uncle reeling one in and it jumped and hung up on a tree limb. They seemed quite a bit more feisty than panfish. I think that was the start of my transformation.

Over the years, I've kind of went back the other way. Today, walleyes and panfish seem as appealing as bass. I guess I just try to be more balanced. I think it makes you a better all-around angler.