I was just looking at the photo's of 2009 and I just could not help but think who hooked me onto fishing. For me it was my uncle Ray, he lived in a very small village just off of M.V. Ma. I can still feel the first nigth he took me striper fishing off of the bridge I was all of seven. To this day, Ray, I thank you! I could tell you so much about this man, but the big part is , he was the one!

My dad didn't fish, but my best friend's dad Al did.

He took us just about every weekend from the time I was 12 until I was 18.

My buddy lives out of state now, and I have a family of my own, but I still get together with Al a couple times a year for some fishing.

WoodyCT; it's funny most of the time it was'nt your father. I taught my son's to ski, but no matter how many times I took them fishing, it just did'nt click. Today thay both love to fish with me, but it was their freinds father that did it.

Myself :)
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

My grandfather and my mom, gramps had the boat and my mom loved to fish I got to go sometimes. They fished Cape Cod Tuna Club Tournaments back in the 70's and when I got to see the giants my mom caught I was hooked, she showed me how to cast in the Barnstable marina of his boat 'The Angler'. She managed to snag the rod and get it back after 2 times I tried to cast then I learned how to not let the rod go shortly after that I caught my first snapper blue. Just big enough that it bit my knuckle and made me bleed so the battle/obsession began. I couldn't get enough of it, I would search every where for shrimp and minows to use for bait. I miss being a kid; well my body misses being a kid because now I'm just a big kid in a 46 year old body.
Ed

I really hope that more of us take the time to tell about our best first time or our who thought us how to tie our first knot. Ha John' who was it for you?

I was born in Dorchester and at about 6 yrs old[1956] I'd sneak down the street[adams st.} to the Cedar Grove Cemetery and play in the big trees.Then crossed the train tracks[Bakers Chocolate} to the Neponset River and played along the shore with the horseshoe crabs and minnows.Then found the Granite Av. bridge and watched the men fishing from the bridge and I was hooked.I did errands for my mom and aunt&uncle[lived upstairs] to the "courner store" and they'd give me change.I saved up enough to buy a drop line at the bait shop in Codman Sq[by Ashmont T station].The man at the bait shop gave me afew seaworms and off i went back to the river.As i walked,the box opened and me smelling the seaweed and worms as i walked.Getting to the bridge I did'nt understand why everyone was on one side of the bridge so I went to the other side.After a few fruitless trips[I'd hide the dropline next to the house in the hedges]I was on the other side of the bridge doing the same thing.An oldtimer had been watching me the times i went there and finally had me come over to his side and let me put my line down with him.He showed me to let line line to the bottom and bounce it off and on.After about 10mins and BOOM!! fish-on...Up came a cod about 25-28" It was HUGE!!!.Everyone on the bridge was clapping.I rolled up my dropline and headed home down Granite av. and up Gallivan blvd. to home.I was soooooo proud.Well,I got home and my mother was horrified.I wanted the fish for supper.After being yelled at for being at the river and told to go to my room for a possible'licking'.my mom told me never to go near that river again.In the meantime[i found out many years later]my uncle went down to the fishmarket and bought some haddock and that was MY fish for supper.The real fish was given to a neighbor and kept the secret from me.To this day nobody in my family fishes at all and think it's nuts to be out doing what we love.OH!!! I did get a few 'lickins' in the next few years because i just could'nt stay away from that river.

My father got me into fishing at an early age. He used to take my older brother, my younger brother and myself fishing different places like Whitman pond in Weymouth where we grew up fishing from shore and in the winter from the ice. I also remember fishing in his wooden Hiliner boat for flounder one after another someplace in Quincy or Boston Harbor. Around 1969 I was 8 and we lived near the Weymouth resevoir and my older brother and I and friends would get our rods and some worms and spend all day fishing the pond and having a blast. Those days it was endless summers.
He also took us to a place we called pickeral pond, it's all we caught.

Later in life my older brother got me back into fishing and we'd trout fish all the time, then he began salt water fishing so I got interested in that since I had a chance to get something much larger than a trout.
Once I started buying plugs instead of bait, it was all over for me, I was hooked on striper fishing and still love it to this day.

Thanks Dad

The grass was taller then I was when I struck off to fish...worms dug from the yard,pine cone for a bobber,round tin of mixed hooks an some line..headed up the road to the closest pond...when I cleaned out the all the ponds close to home I headed down the other road from the house that led to the salt, armed with a used 4' old boat rod,sinker an hook..dug some hogs for bait an caught sand sharks on the incoming.that turned into catching schoolies and it was all up hill from there....52 years ago.thats alot of :fishin:under ones belt.

I fished fresh water from a young age. My folks gave me a black and white Zebco 202 for my birthday one year....I was maybe 8? My Dad worked at a private swimming pond on the Weston/Lincoln line for 25 summers I was growing up so I spent alot of time there with him fishing for bass, pickeral perch and blue gills while he worked. Great summers!:)

After I separated from my first wife I had zero money......so with what little I did have I would take my 2 young sons, get a bucket of shiners and go fishing in the local ponds! Then with my last couple dollars I would buy them each a Happy Meal afterwards. We made the very best of a bad situation.

One day my sons and I spent an afternoon at Nantasket Beach in Hull. As they jumped around in the surf they saw a bunch of fish swimming around them......they were schoolie stripers chasing peanuts. The boys asked if we could try fishing for them some day? I had never fished stripers before......fished for tommy cod and flounder with my Zebco as a boy but that was all my saltwater experience. So per my boys request we took a couple of my Dad's very dated and dusty fishing rod and reel combos from the basement and headed to the local bait and tackle shop where we bumped into a buddy of mine who was headed to Hull Gut to soak some bait for stripers.....so he invited us along. My boys each caught their first ever striper that day. That was a great day for this Dad with his 2 boys. So beautiful were the stripers to me I was bitten by the bug! So I started to educate myself on striper fishing and started to go quite a bit. Long story short that was 1 beach buggy, 1 kayak, 1 wet suit, 1 canal bike, 8 pairs of waders, 3 years as MSBA Vice President, untold thousands of dollars in fishing and plug building equipment, 17,000+ posts on S-B and over 10 years ago.......I was not bitten by the bug I was devoured by it!!!:uhuh: I am a richer man for all of it.......there is nothing I would rather do!:fishin:

My kids made fishing great for me! They were great times with them when they were young and I was broke!

When I was a kid, my Dad took me fishing every weekend for as long as I can remember. My first fishing memory as a kid was with my Moms dad, and my father, and myself on a canoe somewhere on Wini. I casted my zebco into the weeds, and can remember my dad cussing. All of a sudden my bobber disappeared and my rod bent over. After a good struggle a nice 16 inch large mouth was being pulled over the side of that green canoe. I don't know who was more proud, my dad or me. My dad bought a canoe sometime after that. It was a nice setup. A green Colman with a transom on the back. I think It was called a scanoe. We had an electric engine on the back and we would fish all over New Hampshire ponds in search of trout and bass.
My dads parents had a house in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. My summer vacations were spent fishing for spot and croak-er. Lots of fun.They had a an aluminum john boat. I would catch minnows on the dock, then row the boat out to the creek and fish ebb and flo. I had to be careful on the way in because if the fishing was to good there would be no water around the dock when I got back. i would be tits deep in mud, with a big smile on my face because the boat was usually filled with fish. When I was in fifth grade My Grandfather and his friend took me tuna fishing. We went out of Virginia Beach. I caught a White Marlin a bunch of tuna. Did not know how fortunate I was. I still have a plack somewhere from the Governor of Virgina for releasing the marlin.

Dad got me into fishing and boating, as well as surf casting. The time spent alone with him seemed trivial at the time but is priceless today.

My grandfather got me into fishing 40+ years ago. Started out catching sunnies and an occaisional bass or pickeral during the summers. During the winters he would bring me ice fishing.

It was probably 1970 or so when he first took me fishing the salt. We used sea worms for bait, catching scup and bass.

He is 90 years old now and lives with my wife and I, as he will until his final day. It is the least I can do for him, given the love for the outdoors he gave me.

How is your Grandfather doing Dave? I hope he is well. You are a very good Grandson!:uhuh:

How is your Grandfather doing Dave? I hope he is well. You are a very good Grandson!:uhuh:

He is doing ok. Or rather as well as can be expected for a 90 year old. It is tough watching the downhill slide healthwise as is inevitable. We do what we can for him though to keep him comfortable.

Thanks for asking. :)

my dad first and foremost. he started taking me freshwater and tautog fishing at 2-1/2 yo. then it was my first serious fishing partner- my cousin keith, we were the "american sportsmen" we made adventures out of everything at ages 6 thru 10 (when he passed away). and finally my uncle steve- one helluva fisherman... RIP guys, 'till we fish again...:)

My dad, grandfather, brother, cookie, and armand.

My father used to take me all the time, and give me his best hand me down gear. He taught me alot. Now as he has been getting older, and hasn't fished alot he has lost his touch a little. Now I am able to pay him back and teach him some new techniques that I have learned over the last 10 years or so from people on here, so for this thank you to the Striped-Bass.com community. :love:

My buddy Mark's uncle .. He taught Mark ,, Mark got me going on salt .. We were very primitive... chunking with treble hooks . :err::yak6:

My Dad fishing the freshwater lakes of southern NJ. My saltwater addiction of recent was fueled by a pair of coworkers (Chuck M. now out of GH and Jeff N now of Edisto Is, SC, formerly out of W Greenwich RI) in about YR2000.

My father and my uncle. Dad has always been a meat fisherman leaning towards shiners now a days because of his age. I was the one who turned them on to lures when I was a kid. Rapala's have always been very very good to me. ;) Rebels were ok, too - the darn lips use to fall off after a while and had to be re-glued (mid 1970's)

Dad would go out fishing for bullheads in Lynn after he got out of work around 10 pm (his friend drove, we didn't have our own car). My uncle would take me down to Muddy River and the Charles.

When I was younger, my Dad took us worm and bobber fishing. Most of the fishing I did was with friends riding our bikes to ponds, fishing in the local river. . I went on small charters a few times catching blues. I got the salt water bug about 10 years ago when my sister got a place down the Cape.

My dad threw a rod in my hands when i was about 3, and that is all it took.

Henry Hetu, Pat Abate,and last but certainly not least,Cliff Theve.

The obsession started for real in the late 60's.
My friends Mark , Tom and Steve would ride our banana seated stingrays out to Moon island , pre dawn. ( different world back then ).
We would jig up Macs and live line them on apple bobbers for bass on those old beat up piers. Or shooting rats off the rocks with 22s.
With a bunch of ex cons who lived in their cars in the woods.
Those ex cons were good guys to us, cook soup in overturned hub caps on a wood fire.
Still fish all the time with Mark , Tom and Steve, just like brothers.
:fishin:

The obsession started for real in the late 60's.
My friends Mark , Tom and Steve would ride our banana seated stingrays out to Moon island , pre dawn. ( different world back then ).
We would jig up Macs and live line them on apple bobbers for bass on those old beat up piers. Or shooting rats off the rocks with 22s.
With a bunch of ex cons who lived in their cars in the woods.
Those ex cons were good guys to us, cook soup in overturned hub caps on a wood fire.
Still fish all the time with Mark , Tom and Steve, just like brothers.
:fishin:AHHHH the memories,,,Going to the fire academy at low tide and finding the flounder rigs wrapped on the rocks off the wall.Getting a fishing pass so we could go out to the pier on the n/e side of long i.

Grew up fishing with my father and his friend Sonny. We mainly caught bluefish as striped bass were hard to come by. Sonny had a boat and I have fond memories of trolling around in it. My best memories are surf casting with my dad at Craigville Beach and other beaches in the Hyannis area. Lost of big bluefish were caught. Fun times!!

my grandfather...lost him way too soon..strangely enough, my father wasn’t a big fan of fishing

My best friend Greg and i would chase rainbows and brookies all over the western part of the state. He taught me everything about fly fishing from tying flys to knots and the best ways to match the hatch. Put the rod down for three years when i moved near boston and concentrated on my career. A close friend and co worker took me to the canal this spring and ive had the salt bug ever since.

Joseph William Francis. He took my brother Bob and I fishing when we were 5-6 years old in North Truro across from the Cold Storage Plant. Taught us to use pork rind for Horned Pout and Snapping turtles and tought how to color our language when a 'Pout stabbed you. Taught us clamming and how to sharpen knives and filet fish that he got ftom the cold storage, he was an engineer there. Never took us salt water fishing though it was right there. Before the cold storage closed, I learned that it was a giant chum machine that called all kinds of fish. Old time Pottygee, learned a lot from that man.

My Dad started me on fishing. We did not have many chances to go but when I was real young my parents had a place in Buzzards Bay on a pond. My Dad would usually take me jetty fishing for blues. We'd look for the schools of mackerel and try to snag them and if we'd see the water boiling we'd throw towards the blitzing blues. Never had much luck. But the pond we lived at held some nice large mouth bass and I'd stroll the shoreline almost every night at dusk just walking and casting and had a lot of success. Always catch and release....just how I always was.

Then life got busy. High school and dating and other interests. Then married and started a family ( 4 kids ) and a business and just stopped fishing. ( By the way I am going to be a grandfather for the first time....boy do I feel old ). I just started having some time to myself now and I decided to get into striper fishing. Never, ever did fish for stripers before. Met a couple guys who taught me how to catch and I am absolutely hooked. I fish from the surf...love the reefs and rocks. I've always loved storms and the night and so when I show up at 2 am to a spot in the dark of the night and get out of my truck and hear the surf pounding the shore...well to me that is invigorating and exciting. These guys taught me about using plugs and I just love it. It's a great game to try to get a striper to hit your fake food with hooks.

Anyways, I asked my Dad why he took me for blues and not stripers. He confided in me that he used to fish for stripers all the time. Last one he caught he was 12 years old. After a few years of getting skunked he started going for blues instead. So now my goal is to put him on to a striper. We had no luck this year although he was only physically able to go a few times. But next year I'll get him hooked up.

Dad got me started fishing when I was little then I kind of took the rest into my own hands, the last few years I have really been into it and we have tried to get out together, for some reason or other it never worked out for us to fish, he died of congestive heart failure last Fri. morning, now I guess he will be watching over me whenever I fish.....rip dad(Stephen Fontaine)

Dad got me started fishing when I was little then I kind of took the rest into my own hands, the last few years I have really been into it and we have tried to get out together, for some reason or other it never worked out for us to fish, he died of congestive heart failure last Fri. morning, now I guess he will be watching over me whenever I fish.....rip dad(Stephen Fontaine)

I am sorry to hear of the passing of your dad.

Dad got me started fishing when I was little then I kind of took the rest into my own hands, the last few years I have really been into it and we have tried to get out together, for some reason or other it never worked out for us to fish, he died of congestive heart failure last Fri. morning, now I guess he will be watching over me whenever I fish.....rip dad(Stephen Fontaine)
sorry for your loss Ryan...

Dad got me started fishing when I was little then I kind of took the rest into my own hands, the last few years I have really been into it and we have tried to get out together, for some reason or other it never worked out for us to fish, he died of congestive heart failure last Fri. morning, now I guess he will be watching over me whenever I fish.....rip dad(Stephen Fontaine)Yeeow...So sorry for your loss of your Dad.May he rest in Peace.

AHHHH the memories,,,Going to the fire academy at low tide and finding the flounder rigs wrapped on the rocks off the wall.Getting a fishing pass so we could go out to the pier on the n/e side of long i.

It's a real shame we can't get those bums off Long Island.
Real good fishing right up against the beach at night out there.

So sorry for your loss Ryan. I am sure he'll guide you into the cows though, even moreso now.

Dad got me started fishing when I was little then I kind of took the rest into my own hands, the last few years I have really been into it and we have tried to get out together, for some reason or other it never worked out for us to fish, he died of congestive heart failure last Fri. morning, now I guess he will be watching over me whenever I fish.....rip dad(Stephen Fontaine)

I am very sorry to hear of your Dad's passing. May he rip and find all the fish he wants in heaven

Dad got me started fishing when I was little then I kind of took the rest into my own hands, the last few years I have really been into it and we have tried to get out together, for some reason or other it never worked out for us to fish, he died of congestive heart failure last Fri. morning, now I guess he will be watching over me whenever I fish.....rip dad(Stephen Fontaine)

Sorry for your loss.
I am 100% sure there is more to our existence than what we see around us.
We will be with those we love again.
Trust this.

We had a cottage in Breezy Point in the Rockaways and I would watch my dad and uncles fish the ocean down by the jetty. After awhile we (the little kids) were taken to fish on the bay side for snappers. When I was almost a teenager I would wait for the day when I would get the okay to fish with my cousins at the jetty at dusk or dawn. The first time I fished the end of the jetty with my dad he tied a rope to my pants and attached it to one of the steel posts of the beacon. Probably not the best safety tip but it gave him a little comfort. After a few years all we could think about was Montauk. Went with my best friend on a late September weekend, thick fog, no korkers, only one fish but we were hooked and in it for the long haul.

It was defiantely my dad. He loved to fish on the lake where we still have a cottage in southern New Hampshire. I don;t remember the first time that he showed me how to fish but I remember many days fishing with him when I was very young. These are some of my favorite memmories with my Dad (lost him in 2006). He loved to tell peole how I would sit on our dock for hours at only 4 years old waiting for a fish to bite. Here is a picture he took of my first trophy at that very same age (yellow perch, 1972). Quite the lunker hey?!?!?!

I guess there were several people who were responsible for making fishing what it has become for me. Though I lived on the water on Long Island and spent my entire summer on Cape Cod, as a kid my father never took a great interest in it so my first fishing rod was basically a bamboo pole with a nut for a weight and whatever hooks I could scrounge up. He was content to dig clams and had a nack for getting fiddler crabs and removing the claws for bait. I used birthday money to buy my own first little rod and reel from Sears. Then one year an uncle presented me with a bigger setup and a tacklebox with a few plugs and jigs and I was off. In any direction from West Dennis I could get to salt water on my (no speed, balloon tire) bike I would. I caught my first striper when I was about 10 on a small Atom, that's probably when I was truly hooked. All the while, my grandfather was an avid fisherman, mostly after myself and the summer crowds had left the Cape, but he would write me long letters telling me about fish he'd caught at places like Bass Hole or Hemenway Landing, even just down by the Fingers, behind the WDYC. I could only imagine the scenes and long to get back. Then as a teenager I think my father finally did realize how I loved to fish and while he still had little desire to fish himself, when he wasn't working his summer job, he'd take me anywhere on the Cape I wanted to go, and showed me a number of "fishy" places I didn't know existed. It wasn't surf fishing to begin with, but that's sort of what set me on my way.

My dad gave me the love of fishing and even on a skunk day I enjoy it! The most important thing he taught me was PATIENCE and it is true. I passed this to my three daughters and as they got older they found out how important it is with other things besides fishing. Thanks for your patience dad, miss ya!---LOUIE

My dad opened the door, but I walked into the world of fishing.
He taught me one of the most important lessons in fishing: that the lessons never end. If they did, then you'd have given up long ago.
He taught me, without really knowing it, how to enjoy even days when you don't catch a thing, to "live in the moment" as it were.

I learned (fine tuned my tactics) more on my own, but he gets credit for the introduction to the sport, and fostering the desire to keep learning.

I can only hope that the people I have introduced to fishing will carry on in their own ways.