Vaguely remember my parents and extended family taking us up to NH (we lived in MD at the time) and my sister and I catching sunnies - fuzzy memory
First stripers, or Rockfish as we knew them at the time, were when I was about 5 in my dad's Wellcraft V-20 off the Chesapeke Bay Bridge pylons (near Sandy Point).
My dad used to take me fishing (even though he didn't like to fish -- I found out later) for sunnies and such. What got me "hooked" was when I caught a 3-4 lb largemouth bass on some cheepo spoon on a Zebco 202. The reel was so old, lame, and poorly maintained that I couldn't reel it in. My friend and I hand-lined it in .... I was 8 I think. We had it weighed at a local small town grocerette. This was back in the mid 60's in the south.
Never looked back
Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn.
3 things come to mind ( only 2 ) .
when I was around 5 my Mom brought me to the local pond to catch trout . I left with a 5 year old girls phone # . fished with her a couple times at the same pond . Wish I could remember her name and # .
the other is
when I was around the same age fishing in maine . my brother was trying to catch a catfish off the boat dock for a little while with no luck . we were called to lunch and as sson as he put the handline down I picked it up moved it a little and the catfish was mine for dinner . thats when the people in my family knew I was a fisher .
I remember doing some bait fishing with my grandfather at the local park on LI sound . But I cant remember too much about it . damn brain cells !
I would have to say I was 4 or 5 with my dad on Nashawena Island as we lived there. But I realy got "hooked" by my uncle who was a charter capt. out of Cuttyhunk in the 50s and 60s boy those were the days. And I also fell in love with boating there as I can recall my mother pulling me and my brother behind her in a very small skiff as she dug shellfish to ship back to the mainland to market. Oh for the GOOD OLD days.