Do you remember your first fish?

[ecduzitgood]

I remember catching my first bluefish when I was a kid. I don't remember how old I was but it is one of the few things I remember from when I was very young.
My grandfather used to keep his boat in Barnstable marina and my mother used to bring us there during the summer. I was given a dip net that I used to catch shrimp that would hang around the dock floats. I watched these bigger fish swimming around and tried using the net to catch them, but they were too fast. I had seen people using fishing rods but I was too young to touch the rods, so one day I got a deck brush and somehow tied line and a hook to it. I recall it seemed to take forever to figure out how to catch these bigger fish I would see swimming around. I tried everything I could think of for bait, starting with stuff I scrapped off the dock floats. I tried those round water balloon type things that grow on the floats along with candy, gum, etc. I finally got a shrimp in my little dip net and put that on the hook. It worked and I remember the excitement of finally catching these big fish. Well I learned a lesson that has lasted me a lifetime.
That first fish was a snapper bluefish a little bigger than my foot at the time, which seemed like a big fish to me. I don't recall how but it bit my knuckle and I started to bleed. I threw the brush with the fish still attached down and ran crying to my mother, who was on the boat at the next dock over. I told her what happened and after getting my band-aid I took her over to show her. When we got there the snapper was still alive so I immediately started jumping on it. She yelled at me and gave me a spanking and told me it wasn't the fishes fault and sent me back to the boat saying I was grounded. I remember being very confused and doing a lot of crying and finally falling asleep. Next thing I know she wakes me up and gives me my first fishing rod. She showed me how to use it and how to handle fish, I was in heaven. I took that rod and threw it right off the back of the boat on my first cast. She retrieved it with one of the rods onboard, showed me how to cast it again and I thought for sure I had it right. I took the rod and threw it right back overboard. I was having trouble holding the button down on the back of the reel and then releasing it to make a cast. When I finally figured it out I felt like I was the best fisherman in the world.
The next fish that got me in trouble was an eel I caught from a dinghy I borrowed (stole) from the other side of the marina. It was the biggest fish I had ever caught and I didn't think I would land it. When I got it inside the boat I was horrified to see it and when it came towards me I jumped overboard and swam to the dock leaving the dinghy adrift. I forgot my fishing rod still attached to the eel in the dinghy and ran back to my grandfathers boat. They noticed I was wet and my fishing rod was missing. I wouldn't tell them what happed and was spanked and grounded again. The real trouble came shortly after when someone retrieved the drifting dinghy with my rod and the eel still inside. My mom took my rod away for the rest of the summer and I wasn't allowed off the boat, it was like the end world.

[bart]

I remember clear as day my first saltwater fish, which happened to be a bass. I was on the beach at MV with my father around dusk(I must have been 11). We had one set-up that we had been sharing, a 704 and a 9ft Ugly Stik. My dad was casting an atom popper when the water starting boiling down the beach from us. My dad was excited because he thought they were bluefish(he wanted to smoke them), but they ended up being schoolie stripers. my dad and i both caught fish til well after the sun went down on poppers while we traded the rod off. there was another guy fishing down the beach from us and I yelled for him to come over, lol. My dad said to keep quiet. I will never forget that evening...

[bucko]

You're bringing back some good memories. Although I can't remember specifics I'm sure the first fish I caught was a sunfish or bluegill with my father and brothers.

The first Striper I caught was in the 80's at the Bass Stand on Squibnocket Point on a Hopkins or a Cast Master.

[BigFish]

[niko]

i remember my first striper. was a teenager and we were fishing the mouth of the weir river. hooked up on a schoolie and had no idea what to do and another kid took the rod from me and landed the fish. 15 years later and the same kid was on a tuna charter w/ me for my bachelor party. i caught the first fish and he was up on the second fish. we hook up again and he starts screwing around with the harness while the fish is tearing off drag - the clock is ticking and 20 seconds in he still isn't on the rod yet. another buddy of mine jumps on the rod and lands the fish. i remind him of that first striper way back when and all i could do was smile

[MAKAI]

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday. . . .

[Raven]

yeah.....it was kinda hard...... to forget

my older brother and i went down to the charles river to fish
where we caught numerous perch and sunnies

we sat up on top of the rusty old tressel bridge
that was in disrepair with our Zebco's

after exhausting all of our worms...instead of going home
i suggested we use a dead fish laying on the bank.... as bait

so, i stood up then lost my balance and fell down 20 feet
to the water after
frantically trying to grab anything on the way down...

after surfacing
i dog paddled over to the piling and grabbed the stem
of a weed growing out of it to stay afloat until my brother pulled me up....

someone had called the cops
and i went home in the back of a police car.

[Hooper]

Yep, 1982. I caught a Million Dollar Bluefish on the Empress charterboat out of Rock Harbor, Orleans. I was hooked on fishing.

I call it a Million Dollar Bluefish because ever since, I have spent at least a million dollars chasing bass, blues and tuna!

Thanks Dad!

[Rockfish9]

I remember my first striper... It was May 1970.. I was 14... it was caught on a 5/8 ounce uppermans white bucktail on 6lb test.. Mitchell 301 reel... shakesphere wonder rod ( a combo that has been long retired and given to my son)an outfit that I used regularly ( until that evening) for large mouthed bass... it was caught in the Merrimack river below the Lawrence falls... in those days, the river was so dirty and poluted you had to clean the toilet paper off of the line after each cast, red, blue and yellow dye streamd from the sluiceways from the mills..large blobs of wool floated downs stream.. but the place was loaded with fish..... when I hooked the fish, it ran down stream, being young and foolish I tried to follow, stumbeling along the way, lest it take all my line,until one of the onlookers ( thank you Joe Silva, god bless you where ever you are) that gathered on the river bank each night, waded out to grab my shirt collar for fear i would go over my head... My dad, burned my clothes because they smelled like Raw sewrage.. my mother gave me a bath in lysol.. things like that you tend not to forget.. my next Christmas found a new pair of waders under the tree...as well as a Diawa rod and reel surf combo ( another gift to my son) an addict was born!

I dont recall my first fish.. my Dad, had often told me it was an eel... no surprise that to this day it is my bait of choice...BTW.. I havent fished for large mouthed bass since.

[redcrbbr]

First fish was a bluegill, Fulton pond in Mansfield, probably around 1965, had the cheapest darn fishing pole with a metal rod and red plastic reel and guides bought at the five and dime across from the fire station.
First saltwater fish was a good size tog caught at stone bridge probably 1968 or so.

[Jimbo]

I spent every summer as a kid in West Dennis right on Bass River by the bridge. Had a small row boat that would take me upriver as far as Blue Rock and the other way to the mouth. We caught sea robins, scup, sand sharks, chubs, even blow fish back then. But around 1968 I caught my first striper just off Shamrock Point. I was hanging around the dock at the end of Ferry Street as I frequently did, and noticed the water down river seemed all churned up. It took a few seconds to sink in, because I'd never seen it happen before, and I realized it was fish breaking the surface. So I hopped in my boat, which always had my trusty Mitchell spinning reel and Sears Ted Williams model rod and rowed down where the action was. Two or three casts of my beat up Atom Jr., the only plug I owned at the time, and I was on to my first striper, which was about 15 inches long. I don't remember the "fight" so much, as rowing back to the dock with my trophy on the floor of the boat. There was a guy who used to run fishing charters when I got back. I think his comment was some to the effect of, "Holy s#!%, Jim."

[RIJIMMY]

first blue - Race Point Beach August 1978 - 9yrs old - A day I'll never forget and a story i want to write and publish in memory of my dad.

First bass - Quonny on a Kastmaster, maybe 30" around 1980.

[numbskull]

This one I remember like it was yesterday. Sept 1968, Sow & Pigs, our boat, leadline, Shakespeare rod, 3/0 Penn Senator, Alou eel. 28#.....the first double digit bass of my life. The first glimpse of that fish, trailing a long strip of kelp is burned in my mind. Most exciting fish I'll ever catch.

[Saltheart]

I remember the absolute first fish of any kind I caught. I caught it with my father at Scotts Pond in Sayleville RI. It was what we called Roaches at the time--blue gil. Caught on worm under a bobber. It was one of them torpedo shaped bobbers that stand on end as the fish nimbles then go under lengthwise. What excitement waiting for the on end bobber to finally get pulled under! I remember it all like it was yesterday!

[PRBuzz]

Nope!

[Crest Daddy]

I remember catching my first striped bass on July 7th 1988. I was 8 yrs old. Live lined a bunker behind 1 of the norwalk islands. Was 36" 20lbs and a jumper believe it or not. Came clear out of the water. Was freaking awesome!

[Backbeach Jake]

Fishing with my Grandfather at Pilgrim Pond in North Truro in the 50s, 55-56. Using doughball or bacon we hammered the perch and snapping turtles.

[Clogston29]

first one I remember was a largemouth bass. caught it on a pinkish rubber worm, one of the old ones that came rigged with two gold hooks, off a docked party boat. it was at my parent's friend's house when they were still together, so I must have been about 4. remember seeing the fish come out from under the boat to grab the worm. probably got some sun fish before that, but that was my first bass.

first striper was up in maine. i was probably about 10 or 12. throwing a very old (with very rusty hooks) rebel popper. bass had bait pushed up against a sandbar and I managed to snag (hooked in the back) one fish, about 24". damn i was proud of myself. that's the day that really got me into striper fishing, especially with plugs. a couple years later I hooked and lost a "big" (i thought at the time, probably 20 lbs or something thinking back) fish up there. That fish lead me to buy Frank D's "Trophy Striper" to try to figure out what I was doing wrong - that's when I really got hooked. I think I read all of Frank's books that winter.

[JohnnySaxatilis]

The earliest memory I have fishing is with my dad on Great Point Nantucket. Penn 704z and Custom Bill Fisher 9ft surf rod, wire leader, 20 lb mono, and an orange ranger. And gorilla bluefish. I remember having to go to the green izusu trooper to rest cuz my arms hurt so bad...

[JohnnySaxatilis]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I spent every summer as a kid in West Dennis right on Bass River by the bridge. Had a small row boat that would take me upriver as far as Blue Rock and the other way to the mouth. ."

thats cool, thems my stompin grounds

[JFigliuolo]

I can't remember how young I was, but I can remember the fish. My father and I went out to a local lake on our run-about. I think my mom and sister had to do something that day, so it was just us. I can't remember CATCHING the fish, but I do remember it was a sunfish. We put it in a bucket, and brought it home to show my mother. When my sister saw it, the thought of killing it was an atrocity of un-imaginable proportions. We brought to a stream close by, where it was set free to live a long and healthy life...

[InTheHole]

Other than panfish the 1st "gamefish" was when I was 5, I was fishing on my uncles dock on Governor's lake in Raymond N.H. I was using freshwater clams that I had found for bait and was catching sunnies, I was not allowed to break the clams open on the dock so I had to walk off to get more bait when I needed it. As I was walking along the dock to get more bait I was dragging my empty, gold colored hook in the water and a pickerel of about 15" came out from under the dock and nailed it. I was so surprised that I jerked back and flung the fish on the dock, I wouldn't pick it up, so somewhere there is a picture of me standing on the dock with my fathers arm extended into the side of the picture holding the fish.
That was also the last time I bothered with clams as bait.
Can't believe that was 44 years ago........

[tysdad115]

My first striper came in May 09, chunking at the canal sitting there pondering lifes woes and the situation I put myself in. Rod bent in the holder I reeled it in and was 28" , life changed at that moment for me. Too bad I waited until I was 36 to start.

[BaddJack]

I was all of five years old in 1956, fished with my old man off the old wood pier (long gone) off the west side of Castle Island, before the sugar bowl was built.

It was cold and drizzling, probably a Saturday in late April or early May.

After jumping over the broken boards and open holes (scary memories of that), and side stepping all of the brown quart bottles of PBR next to most of the fishermen, I was given a hand line and caught a dinky flounder on sea worms.

It took a few more years before I could get my own brown bottle.

[saltfly]

1957 standing on the Granite Ave. bridge over the Neponset river in Dorchestah.Using a dropline and seaworm.about a 6# cod.what a day.Walked home beaming.Opened the door.......Ma Look what I caught!!! She freaked........In those days lots of fish came over the rail on that bridge.Distincly remember the "pretty colored fish" that were also caught.Searun Rainbows!!!!

[bostonharbor]

1962 .Handlining off the Herring River Bridge on Lower County Rd.,W. Harwich. I caught a snapper blue that bested my brothers and fathers blowfish and eels.My Mother kept it in the freezer till Labor Day.

[GregW]

My first fish was a cod. Caught it on a school field trip in about the 6th grade.
That kind of started it. That year for Christmas I had to have a fishing rod and reel(freshwater). It didnt matter that I had no idea what I was doing. Didnt know anyone that fished , but I was determined. So i start fishing right after Christmas. First outing I tie on a lure and cast out. Close the bail and attempt to retreive. Nothing is happening. Quickly realized the line should go under the bail. HAd to hand line it in and re string.
Learned everything the hard way. After about 2 month of fishing I finally caught a brook trout. Ill never forget it. Looking back i should have started with something other than artificials.

[Zeal]

Man, once I had motor skills I fished. The earliest that comes to my mind was a Toadfish using one of those kiddie poles where you press that switch to let the line drop. Ugly fish. Unsure if it was truly a "Toadfish" but that's what they were called at the time and it was a very rare catch. Never saw that species ever again after that one time.

The most memorable after that was when I was in Kindergarten and hooked a 2 lb 14 oz flounder using Sandworms. For me, that fish put up one hell of a fight and my aunt and uncle had to hold my hands while I fought it so the pole wasn't yanked from my grip.

Snappers and weakfish off local docks for many years until weakfish vanished.

First bass was off of clams, 27" when I was in 4th grade I think. Apparently that was my rite of passage because I started Jigging off of a party boat out of Montauk the next year onward as well as Fluking!

Asking my Mother about hers it was an Eel. Apparently she was a magnet for eels.

Most interesting catch and technically a "first catch" was hooking a huge Stargazer. Thought it was a schoolie bass until it came to the surface. No electric shock thankfully.

[Rob Rockcrawler]

My first fish was a bluegill off my dock when i was 4. Caught it on a bare hook.

First striper i ever caught was weird. I was chunking and i reeled in to check my bait, and my line hooked a loose piece of line that had a 28" striper attached to it. It wasnt exactly sporting but it got me hooked.

[Swimmer]

Laying on a dock somewhere on Winnipisaukee using bologna and a hook I caught fish after fish after fish one weekend when I was 5. I rememeber watching each fish swim up to the hook and bite the bait. Chrystal clear water made watching quite easy.