What got you started?

[lawnguy]

How did you get started with fishing, I figured this topic would bring up some great posts

[skulldugary]

The River Raisin ran right through town and all of the neighborhood kids used to go fishing there and it just snowballed as I got older into the time consuming,money taking,obbsesive conpulsive disorder type of thing it is now...Also living next to Lake Erie didn't help either...

[reubenpa]

My dad fished some,a nd my uncle had a pond that he allowed only kids 12 and under to fish at...  there were trout to 30 inches there and it was fun.  I fished some but not much. I even lived 11 miles from the Salmon river and only fished it once
Anyway, my first summer after college I started catfishing in a local sportsmans pond and got 5 nice cattys.  one was 30 inches and 17# and that started to get me.  The next year I fished more, and the next I started fishing in between classes and work, and got my biggest bass. 

I made time for fishing between 30 hours of work a week and 19 credits of class, an I loved it and since I have been making time for work and other things!!!!  I LOVE IT and am a dyhard!!!!!!!!!!!  Nothing like the feel of a monster hooked, or a gill on light tackle!!!!!

[wyogator]

My granddad got me started. My first fish was a saltwater catfish when I was 3. At that time, it was the greatest moment of my life and I still remember it like it was yesterday. He also got me into flyfishing. Shortly after, my family moved to California. There really wasn't anywhere to fish, just dry hilly country. Although, my dad took me fishing for ling cod on a party boat once. I was miserable, ralphing all over the boat and being seasick. I honestly think I started going through withdrawals. When we moved to Virginia, there was a neighborhood bass lake.  My friend and I fished it every day, before school and on weekends. when it froze in winter, we brought a boyscout axe and chopped a hole in the ice. This was my first experience with hard water. The day my friend brought over a 91/2 LB largemouth bass, I was hooked on fishing forever. To this day, I have never caught  91/2 LB bass. My biggest was 7.

[dogfish]

Fished with my dad since before I can remember

[joefroggy]

Dad took me bluegill fishing with doughballs , always enjoyed that.  Then he brought me overnight camping/fishing at Bass River State Forest.  He got me first lure(jitterbug).  Cast into open water never a bite, then "bad" cast by the lilipads and bam, pickerel jumped over and missed lure, but that turned me on and it's all history now....

Joefroggy

[1fishinfool]

My Dad got me started  & has been my most patient mentor ever since.

[Fish Stick]

My Mother got me started fishing. 

[Fishingking]

Used to fish baby bluefish with my dad down on Long Island NY and i remember catchig bluegills in some lake and also usta catch crabs while fishingfor them baby blues now that i live in Central   NY i can actually fish for some real fish

[seaweed01]

My dad and grandad. They always took me in the boat with them. I've
got pictures of when I was two fishing out of the boat. And that was 62 years ago!

[USMC130FE]

I was blessed with a Father that took the time to teach his son how to hunt, fish, trap.  He had the patients to teach me, and the wisdom to lead me, and the foresight to ensure that I had a lifetime friend as well as a father.  I owe my love for the outdoors to him for taking the time showing me all its wonders.

Steve

[sbfpa_Mike]

my dad and i didn't get along except when we were outdoors.  he got me started shooting a recurve bow when i was 5.  we enjoyed our time shooting together.  when i turned 12 he took me to get my gun safety certificate so i could start hunting together with his buddies.  my dad was not a fisherman,  but his love for the outdoors was passed on to both of his sons.  my brother got into fishing after college and he got me into it.  we would go to a small local lake with some huge bobbers and large suckers and drink beer fishing for pike.  that is what made me the man i am today.

[reelcharacter]

I can't honestly place a finger on what got me started fishing. I think a pair of accepting parents is what kept me in it though.

When I was in 6th grade, we moved 2 miles from outside our village to the edge of town, where there was a small pond and a couple of nice streams nearby. At the age of 15 for my summer vacation, I would pull on a pair of cut-off shorts and jump into a pair of sneakers and off I would go for a morning of fishing with my rod and Zebco 202.

I don't think I ever had more than a couple of lures, and these were likely ones I had shimmied up a tree to retrieve from another fisherman's unfortunate cast. The hooks I had relied on whatever bait I could find, usually something found under a rock in the water. A bucket by my side was required equipment. This both kept the bait and transported the fish back home.

I did not like to eat fish, but loved to catch them. Mom would clean what I caught. She and dad shared in the cooking and eating. I would rather of had a PBJ. We had built a couple of ponds on some land where we subsequently would build a log cabin and now the home where my parents built the Post and Beam house where they now reside. The bucket also transported some 14” Perch and some nice Bass, Bullhead and Bluegills to these ponds.

I do not recall one person who lit the fire of fishing that still burns within me. But I think that I, (or more particularly my wife), can “blame” both parents equally for the love that I still have for fishing. A love I hopefully have passed on to three sons and to any number of other youngsters along the way.

I still have a small raggedy spiral notepad that records all the fish caught back in those days. I stumble across it now and then. Leafing through the pages will bring back a memory and a smile or two. It may be due perhaps to these early fishing roots that today find me fishing more often than not, with some bait I have caught, from many different shorelines, but always with a bucket by my side.

-Reelcharacter 

[ice1or2]

My grandfather got me hooked and is still with me on every outing. Fasination turned to amazement when he put a night crawler between his lips and his cigarettee on a hook and proceeded to catch a bass!!

[mike692]

I was born with a fishing pole in one hand and a fox trap in the other.

Seriously though, I was fortunate enough to be born into a family with a long history of being in the outdoors. I thank God everyday that I was lucky enough to have such great teachers, who have helped me to enjoy His Creation to its fullest extent.