Your very first fish...what gear?

[rich_ace_G]

I just want to share how I broke my "fishing cherry"....

I was 9 years old. 13ft. monofilament(don't know the lb. test but hey I was 9 years old). no reel. just tied to a pole (not a fishing pole)and #6 hook. bobber made out of cut slippers made of cork...bait...nightcrawler.
My very first catch - 2lb. Tilapia. Fights like a bass. horsed it like a m*@4r and managed to land it straight to burning charcoal...hey...I was 9 years old.

 

[BackwoodsBassr]

Tilapia...that's quite the first fish!

Age 4-5...I hit double rock bass on a gunmetal blue/chrome rapala jerkbait cast from a dinky kid's zebco spincaster...fishing out of a paddleboat. Of course I had no idea what the lure was at the time, just that it was shiny and I liked the look of it. From there on in I was addicted, soon learned that fishing worms off the dock or in the shallows would fill up buckets of fish. Ate a lot of rock bass that summer lol.

 

[buck]

.

 

[remyboy1]

3-4 lbs sucker-6wt loop fly rod--hardy ultralite reel--hairs ear nymph--last week...

 

[fishing89]

Cant re-call my FIRST fish, but I used to live right across the black sea in Russia. And with my dad I fished as much as I could.

I was about 7-8 years old when I remember hooking on to a puffer fish, some sucker looking fish (that really resemble plecos ) and various random salt water fish.

 

[miles]

I think these are always great stories, I often think back to my first catches.


Unfortunately I can't remember my exact first fish as my father took me out fishing so much as a really young child.

What does stand out in my memory is my first real catches while I was fishing alone.

It was late fall at my cottage, a cold day with lots of rain. I was casting off the dock, I had not had a bite all day but I continued diligently casting as my hands froze. The lake is a clear rocky one and there's a drop off too a little over 25 feet a distance off the dock. I remember reeling in then feeling a incredibly jerk on my rod and complete surprise and horror. My cheap click pool was bent right over as I attempted to land what I was sure was a huge fish. The fight seemed to last forever and my heart was beating. Finally I brought to the dock what I know now was probably a 2 or so pound lake trout. I looked at it a while in the water not really knowing what to do with it. I attempted to lift it up by the line and pull it onto the dock....the line snapped and my heart dropped.

I then ran to the cottage and out of breath told everyone that I had "caught a huge silver fish". Nobody believed me and laughed. I believe it was on a mepps spinner.


Another time from my very young childhood stands out in my memory. Me and my brother would go down to a very small creek and fish for chubs and if we were lucky a small trout.

We ventured out one early morning in an attempt to catch a fish. Our rig was Simple, pencil with a length of mono wrapped around it and a small hook. We would catch a couple worms or my favorite, grasshoppers. We had grasshoppers that day, we found a spot and carefully hooked the grasshoppers. We would allow them to struggle as floating down the surface. On this particular day as soon as we plopped them on the surface a brown trout surfaced and took off with the hopper. The fight was intense as the trout darted for the bank and splashed on the surface. Before the morning was over we had caught 2 browns both about a pound and a half each. We ran up with glee to show our bad our huge fish.


Both of these sort of incidental catches really fueled my fishing at a young age.

 

[remyboy1]

its funny to hear the stuff we used to use to have fun--noawadays if it aint call of duty kidsa re not interested--here you are fishing with a pencil and lovin it...how times have changed

 

[fishing89]

I was always an outdoors kid. And even now, at a young age of 23, If in not working or studying for various designations...im outside doing something. Either fishing, biking or just hiking around local wood and lakes.

There is NOTHING like the smells and sights of standing in the middle of a river, early morning, fog coming off the water and just casting your rod, watching the fish swim by and the sun rise through the trees

 

[Rain-Bow]

I got into fishing when I was 11. My first fish was likely a sunfish, rockbass, perch or catfish. Or maybe a sucker. I don't remember :blink:. But I guess those were the good old days. I hardly caught anything, but it was still really fun :lol:

 

[Alfiegee]

I'm another who cannot remember for sure, it was likely a Brookie from the Upper Credit 45 years ago when I was 5. Dad had me fishing Specks at a young age. We went up to a river near Sundridge every year from the time I was 7.
It could also just as well have been a Bass, Sunfish or Perch caught from a dock in Wellington, I have very early recollections of that dock and also camping at Outlet or Sandbanks Park.
I do know when I caught my first toothy critter/Pike. I was 12 and Dad and I flew into a lake near Elliot Lake. First day I hooked and landed one about 10 lbs, it was by far the biggest fish of my life. The Americans who were staying in the other cabin on the lake went to the far north end of the lake and came back with some fish that humbled mine that day. I was pissed and made Dad get up at 4 am the next day to get up there. I got one that weighed 17 lbs on an old spring scale. Damn Yankees :smile:

Alfie.

 

[Alfiegee]

What Gear too? Mitchell-Garcia 301 or 310. Mitchell rod. Dad was a Mitchell man, and I still like their gear to this day.

Alfie.

 

[CanadianAngler87]

I cant recall the first fish, but my earliest memory was when I was probably 4-5 and we were perch fishing out of long point. My grandpa had a trailer and boat house with 18' wilkins inside. Loved spending my summers up there. The trailerpark had two ponds full of sunfish and A catfish we called Flounder..yes from the little mermaid..I think we managed to catch him atleast once a summer

 

[CanadianAngler87]

Oopps double post

 

[CanadianAngler87]

I cant recall the first fish, but my earliest memory was when I was probably 4-5 and we were perch fishing out of long point. My grandpa had a trailer and boat house with 18' wilkins inside. Loved spending my summers up there. The trailerpark had two ponds full of sunfish and A catfish we called Flounder..yes from the little mermaid..I think we managed to catch him atleast once a summer. As for the setup I used on the boat would have been my 6'6 shimano now probably a 6' paired with a shimano R2000.

 

[fishing89]

actually, i THINK my first fish was with my grandfather (may he rest in peace)

I used a hand made bamboo rod, no reel, but the line was wound up around the guides, extremely old school

The float was made from goose feather, a single big clear feather and painted with a red tip at the top. The bait was made from ground up sunflower seeds and mixed with doe.

 

[FishingNoob]

My first fish was a mangrove snapper or a grunt of some sort in Fort Myers Florida, fishing off the pier, I was about 7 years old. Next was a pumpkin seed sunfish, I was probably about 9 years old... Both caught on a dusty 6'6" spin cast combo, that my grandparents had... I keep a handline in my bag in case I come across new water or want to fish for panfish.

 

[staffman]

Perch on a cheap CT store spin cast outfit at age 4.

 

[chris f]

i as well can't remember my exact first fish and age, probably 5 with my dad on a sunday at the d catching a rock bass, gear was some ct special .One memory that sticks out for me when i was 9 or 10 and going solo to the river and battling a double of decent size silver bass, a passer by had to help me bring it up and over the railing, almost broke my rod on that catch B)

 

[rocheleauc]

Walleye up on a remote lake in northern Quebec with a cheap crappy tire combo . I think i was 5 or 6 years old at the time.

 

[FishingNoob]

One memory that sticks out for me when i was 9 or 10 and going solo to the river and battling a double of decent size silver bass, a passer by had to help me bring it up and over the railing, almost broke my rod on that catch B)

Quite the fish! For sure!