Hello friends and readers of Hive. Today I will elaborate a little bit about my hobby of fishing. I will take you on my first experience, along with the rest of my journey up to now. I'll have plenty to share with you including reels, rods, and of course fish. I will also tell you where I like to go, what kind of fish I like to target, and how I determine what to keep or not.
First fishing experience
It was a spring day well after winter ended (maybe April), I think I was about 8 y/o. My father and a few of his friends owned a cabin on a lake. It was a neat setup, a boat ramp was attached to the cabin porch. A few years before the cabin was a good 1/2 mile away from the lake. A few floods brought the lake to the cabin.
It was about 9:00 a.m. when I was given permission to fish. I was told to grab some waders (waterproof overalls). The water close to the shore was shallow and had a sandy bottom. I got into the water with my fishing pole. My father stood by and observed.
I don't know how many casts I made but I had my first fish pretty early. I used a two color spoon lure that had a treble hook (3 prong hook) at the end. I felt something knock on the line through the vibrations on the pole. I did my best attempt to set the hook than felt a weight at the end of the line. I was instantly excited and started to reel in the line as the pole was bending. I don't know what I said but I'm sure I wasn't all the quiet yelling back to my father. I walked to the shore line towards my father because he didn't want me to take the fish off the hook.
I had caught a 3 lb Northern Pike. That's a nice size fish to catch your first time. It's good thing my father took care of taking the fish off the hook because those fish have sharp teeth.
I don't have a picture of the first fish I caught. It was a long time ago and my father didn't take pictures. My mother took all the photos and she didn't tag along with us when we went camping and fishing. Above is my son's first fish, a small green sunfish 😊
I fished for about an hours time. After catching my first fish I had a few bites where I missed some hook-ups. I remember being a little disappointed, heck even today I still do. As a young boy, I thought this was a missed opportunity as all I wanted to do was keep catching fish. In my mind, I thought one of those could have been the lake record 😂
I did end up catching another 3 fish. All of the same species and relatively the same size. We kept and brought them back to the cabin to clean. My father and his friend made quick time cleaning the fish.
Catching those fish was a lot of fun to me. After the fish were cleaned they quickly became our lunch. I felt so proud that my efforts led to not only to feeding myself but to some grown-ups. I was a provider to the table. I don't believe many have a similar story like mine, that day I was hooked to fishing!!
The rest of my childhood
Every opportunity I got I went fishing with my father. We went a fishing a lot, especially during the spring and summer. Often it involved going to the that cabin. We also camped at various other lakes as well. Mostly during the weekends and extended ones.
My father passed away when I was 15. I did get some of my friends into fishing. I was more of a teacher to some and guess who usually got stuck cleaning the fish? Only one of the them still fishes today. A matter a fact he's a part time fishing guide now.
After high school I went into the military. I was mostly absent from fishing during this time. Hey I was in my 20's and it was a time I did what many my age did. I went out with friends and enjoyed some evening adventures.
After military and today
I got back to fishing after I got out of the military. I didn't have much equipment. I had two fishing poles and a tackle box of lures. The stuff I did have was aged and kind of dated. I slowly built up my number of poles and other stuff.
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What does my basement contain? Well it's a man cave which includes a lot of my fishing equipment and sort of miniature gym. I have over 30 fishing rods and reels. I have many lures and jigs. I have really compiled a lot of things over the last 20 years. I can say I have a bait shop's worth of stuff, haha.
Some hobbies overlap others. I have built many things for my fishing hobby. You see wood working is another one of my hobbies. I have built racks to hold a majority of my rods, a spooling table, and shelves to hold vintage stuff, broken reels, and a few lure boxes.
My garage contains even more gear. There just isn't enough room to store it all in one place. I need to get some more stuff don't I, haha? I could take my neighborhood out to fish if I wanted to. I once took my son and 5 of his friends. They were amazed I was able to supply each of them with gear.
Where do I fish and what do I target?
I would basically fish anywhere. I'll fish in water puddle if I knew fish were in it, haha. Seriously I fish lakes, rivers, creeks, and ponds. I'd like to add sea fishing one day.
I probably like river fishing the most. I just love the thrill of seeing a moving current. Also around here some of the biggest fish exist in this waterway. I target catfish, drum, and sturgeon in the rivers. I sometimes target carp as well just for size and fight
As for the rest of the bodies of water I target crappie, bluegill, bass, walleye, catfish, and trout. The nice thing about these locations is you can fish year around at them. It gets very cold here but the river is never safe to fish in the winter. The river isn't frozen solid for very long due to the continuous current flowing.
What to keep
I do try to be conservative when I fish. I keep for the following reasons: I love eating fish and I fill orders for others. I don't sell my catch but I do trade with some friends that own restaurants. I have a lot of cooler photos because that is what I send to them before I deliver it to them. I have traded fish for sushi, seafood, and Chinese food. I also have a few friends I just gift to. Most are my Asian friends. They have a hard time finding fresh whole fish here.
I don't keep really big fish. It depends on species. For instance, catfish I don't keep anything bigger than 10 lbs. It can be a chore cleaning them but I let them go because they are the best breeding fish. Let me take it a step farther, big fish mate with other big fish producing future big fish. Plus there are fewer of them and I thinks it's important to give the next generation of fisherman a good sample sizes of fish.
After thoughts
I am truly a fishing junkie. Only do I find it fun/challenging it gives me an exhale of the stresses I carry. I find going out to fish gives me a feeling of me vs nature. Only do I get to do something I like I often see the beauties of nature. It calms me and gives me a great feeling of purpose.
I hope you all enjoyed my explanation and experiences of my hobby of fishing. If you have young kids get them out and let them experience fishing. I guarantee that most will find it fun. Take care and tight lines!! Until next time.
What a fabulous story of how you were 'hooked' by the fishing bug, and now passing your love of the hobby/lifestyle on to your children, and others, too! I like how you barter with friends & restaurants and share your catch with them! And your stash of gear is amazing! Kudos for a wonderful post! If you have not already met @enginewitty, you should, as he is also an avid fisherman as well as an all-around great guy! I make the following 'blinkie' for him, but I am sure he would be happy sharing it with a cool fishing dude as yourself!
I forgot to take a picture of a knick knack that I have on my desk at work. It's a wooden fish that says someday they will name a lure after you. I joke with people all the time and say they did, "The Bobber."
I often do well at fishing so when I have no need for more at the table I share and/or trade:) Thanks for dropping by. See ya around.
Good to see another angler out here! Thanks @thekittygirl! I do the same with bigger and smaller fish, there is a tasty size for each species I fish for, which anymore, is just bass. Not much in the way of the delicious walleye over here. Only a couple spots, but largemouth are everywhere. Black, Red-eye, Kentucky and the hybrids. There's a few fishing communities you can drop these in. Look forward to learning more about ya!
Thanks for dropping by. I didn't get out at all this winter. The weather was way too unpredictable this year.
I so look forward to spring here. I may try this weekend if time and weather allows. I'll catch and check you out a bit later. NTMY btw 🎣
Wow! You had some great catches over the years. Nice to see that you kept your childhood hobby into your adulthood. I did the same with dancing 💃
It sure seems like your happy place, so keep doing it. Yeah, looks like a lot of gear, but if it makes you happy then why not? 🤷🏻♀️💙
I agree if we have something we like and it can be used as a get away to remain happy we should keep doing it :) Just curious how many dancing shoes do you have?
Haha 😂 A few! 2 pairs of heals and 2 pairs of flats that I use regularly and maybe 5 more laying around not used much for various reasons 😉💙
Oh thats not too many then but I bet you burn some souls off those huh? 🤣 😂 🤣 💙
I do my best Bob! In hope some fat will get burned too 😂😂😂 I do love it though. It makes me happy and rebalances the annoyance of other parts of life 😉
I just fell over I'm dizzy lol
!LOLZ
It's really good to have a hobby like this close to the nature and keep enjoying many years! And with family.
I see here around people who fish but it's curious I have never tried and it seems cool!
A must try! For someone like you I would recommend going out with a guide or someone experienced. The guide will do everything except reel the fish in for you. I have always wanted to target the The Wels Catfish there.
Who knows maybe one day and definitely if I meet someone who knows well as you say. For now I see the fishes, the small ones time to time in the sea when I swim in summer jaja
Since you swim with them maybe they can drop some hints to you haha
Jaja they go fast!
So that's your little boy. Your profile tells you like that job hehe.. !PIZZA
Hehe not so little anymore. You'll see some recent pictures probably in my next article ;)
I can imagine the thrill you had the very first time you felt the rod go heavy 😁
I'm not into fishing, but my mate does too with his son, and once while I was living on a narrowboat on the canals, his little son caught a massive fish.
It takes some patience I would believe.
Thanks for sharing your fishing journey:)
A little patience, little luck, and know all than your set :) Thanks for stopping by
You're very welcome :)
Yay! 🤗
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Some really good catches over there. Especially the catfish. It's not easy to get them. Some are so strong. I dabbled into it when grandpa was there but I don't fish anymore. It's a good hobby to retire into, someday I'd get back into it :)
I wait to retire to fish full time, haha
Very nice, and sturgeon can be a lot of fun too. My wife caught one and I've caught five. Fishing is a lot of fun, and we like to provide a lot of food for our family that way. Very cool post from a @coolmidwestguy
I've caught hundreds of sturgeon but that one was special because it was an endangered one. It was a pallid sturgeon. The only one I have ever caught. The more common one here is the shovel nose sturgeon.
Thanks for dropping by and the appreciation:)
That looks a lot of fun, big bro!!!
To me it's fun, relaxing and healing all at the same time.
So glad to know that fishing has been part of your life sunce then. I am a trying hard one when it comes to fishing, I tried it so many times, but I never catch a fish even once. 🥰🤣
It takes patience, know how, and some luck sometimes. Hey if it were to ever happen, I would get you on some fish if I took you out. 🐠 🎣 😁
Fishing is a cool habit to have but sadly I never in my life had the luxury to indulge in this wholesome activity 🙁.
Well it's not too late you have a lot of life left to try new things for the the first time. Turn the frown upside down 😊
I relate to this. To catch a fish quickly and a pike the first time you fish, ignites a fishing passion for life. Remember that the time you spend fishing is not subtracted from your lifespan.
My childhood was filled with these adventures. I still create new ones but those will probably be the most cherished. I successfully passed the tradition to my son even though he doesn't love it as much as I do but still accompanies sometimes.
I gifted $PIZZA slices here:
@jane1289(1/5) tipped @coolmidwestguy (x1)
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That’s a great story for your first fishing time, I don’t quite remember mine but I do remember the times fishing as a kid. We would go all over the place, be it in our local city which had 3 ponds and a reservoir in it or driving an hour or two for different spots it was something I fondly look back on with my dad.
I like your philosophy of letting the big fish go and think more people should think of it that way! We should be trying to preserve the populations of those big ones, because we all know how fun it is to catch a giant fish! I think my personal record is an 8 pound bass but that was many years ago. My son caught a 5.5 pound one which was amazing lol.
Some of our best catches last year
There are a list of fish I don't keep. Bass are considered sports fish or money fish here so I catch and release them. The rough fish or referred to as junk fish I don't keep either.
Those are some nice fish. Oh I bet your son had fun fighting that catch. Last year the fishing here was off on the river. Panfish was hot here last year on the lakes though. I only caught one decent size fish. It was about a 10 lb drum. Usually I catch a catfish or two in excess 20 lbs. I'll document my fishing journey a little better this year. I lost a lot of pictures getting a new phone last year. Some transferred some didnt.
Bass, besides sea bass or stripers, are not fish that people typically keep here on the east coast. Most people let them go, I hear they taste like shit anyways lol. The trout was nice, tasted great!
Ya I’m in the process of switching phones myself and this one I’m using has loads of pictures and I’m likely not going to try and transfer them over for the annoyance of losing them all. It’s going to sit in a drawer until I need a few of the memories lol
I have ate large and small mouth bass it's not bad table fare. I think many might say they taste bad so people don't keep them, lol.
My last phone became hard broke. I had it for about 5 years. I'd guess I retained about 75% of the photos. Most of what I lost were pictures that others took and sent to me. I usually only take pictures if I'm by myself, if with friends they take them all. Anyways take care and have a good week ahead :)