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Somehow, I "got into" fishing at age 38. My Dad is, like, Mr. Angler, fishes as often as he can, travels to fish, etc. I think the fact that my parents split up when I was young led me to avoid fishing for dumb makes-sense-to-a-kid reasons. When I was older, I was too busy playing video games and working to worry about fishing. In my mid-30s, though, I went out on a kayak with my brother-in-law and he let me throw a few casts out with his rod. And something clicked. I realized just what fishing could bring into my life. Still, it wasn't until I got into shooting that I got into fishing. I'm an incredible noob which is like really embarrassing for a guy almost 40, and worse for a guy whose father and father-in-law have over a hundred years of fishing experience between them and every thing I struggle with is second nature to them ... but whatever. Getting away, standing at the lake shore, casting and retrieving ... it's pretty much a cure-all. If I manage to actually reel in a fish, even better, but it's not really a necessary part of the experience. And now I've got a little girl about to turn 4 who loves to come along. Full circle. Anyway. It's never to late to start. (I, no joke, picked up "Fishing for Dummies" or whatever it's called. It's a great little summary of the different fish, different baits, different equipment, and different ways to connect reel to bait. Well worth the 15 bucks, but I'll be goddamned if I let my Dad or father-in-law see it in my house.)
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May 6, 2012 04:11
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 06:52 |
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All my life I've "hated fish," but I'm learning to push my boundaries a bit. I regularly enjoy Mahi-Mahi, and have had some Grouper which I liked as well. I've had some delicious seared tuna, but have also had some grilled tuna which just ended up tasting really heavy to me. With this in mind (Yes, I know this isn't GWS), on a recent trip down to FL, we caught some sea trout, grilled them, and ate them. I didn't love it, but it was good, and was my first experience eating what I had caught (have always been strictly catch and release). So -- assuming I want to someday eat more of what I catch, and knowing my fear of strong-tasting fish, what kind of fish should I be looking to catch in my native Massachusetts? Or should I just reserve eating my own spoils for warmer waters?
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Jun 15, 2012 14:35
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imac1984 posted:At this point I just want to catch a fish! that's it, I don't care what it is, I just want to know that I have the ability. But ... from what I've been exposed to, I'd say live bait can't be beat if you just want to reel in a fish from the shoreline. A bobber, a hook, and a worm is a good way to catch sunfish in these parts (New England).
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Jun 29, 2012 21:19
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Took my daughter out for her first fishing trip of the year; she's turning 5 this summer. She still gets bored with casting and asks for help, but boy does she love reeling in those fish. I remember finding fishing boring as a kid, too -- you're out there in the great outdoors and your dad wants you to sit still and watch a bobber? So I didn't make a big deal about it, let her run around and explore, and then just called her back periodically to practice a cast, retrieve her line, watch me apply new bait, or bring in a fish. Meaning, you know, two fish. A little pumpkinseed and a little perch. We were getting harassed by perch all afternoon, but all the store had were big fat nightcrawlers and the little perch had no problem just picking them off the hooks. I am far from an expert angler, since I basically hated it as a kid and then left it alone for 20 years and started it up again recently. But my impression is for these little guys, small worms to go on your small hooks is probably preferable... I also tried to get in a little fly-rod cast practice but my daughter was way too curious and all I could picture was embedding that hook in her neck and having to explain that one to mommy when we got home, so, yeah.
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Apr 28, 2013 14:03
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Got some fishing time in yesterday with the family. The pond is located on the grounds of my local rod&gun club, and is nice and quiet. Primary population based on my limited experience seems to be bluegill (well, we call them pumpkinseed, but whatever, I have no idea), perch, and pickerel. Oh, and a huge-rear end snapping turtle. Each year, they stock the pond with rainbows and hold a derby -- this year's derby was a week ago. My daughter, with some help, caught a single pumpkinseed on a worm and bobber, and was thrilled. We also netted a baby turtle and let it swim around in a bucket for a while. I was getting skunked (as were others fishing the pond, as far as I could tell) but moved around a bit and finally got a decent pickerel hit on my mepps aglia, which is, I swear, my lucky lure. So much fun to cast out and retrieve the shiny lure, and then feel the "bang" hit on it. Good times. Had a baby pickerel take a run at it, which cracked me up. I was retrieving it, just about out of the water, when a pickerel about as big around as my finger took this amazing lunge at it (missed it entirely) from under some weeds. They're ugly fish but fun to catch! Later in the day I caught a pretty big rainbow, leftover from the derby I'm guessing, on the same lure. It didn't fit right in my net, though, and it wriggled out before my wife could get a snapshot of it. So, now, the fish can grow in every telling of the story ...  I'm still pretty new to this fishing thing, but it's hard to come up with a better way of spending an afternoon....
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May 28, 2013 20:43
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Atticus_1354 posted:Can I get a link. I did not know such a thread existed. Looks like it's still a young thread, but it's here in A/T. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3563713
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Sep 3, 2013 14:56
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 06:52 |
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Last week, I went fishing with my father for the first time as adults. As a side note, I've been an adult for over 20 years, so there's that. It doesn't have much to do with fishing, but I'm guessing plenty of the folks here have stories about fishing with their dads (not to be sexist, just kind of how the odds play out). Anyway, it was a nice trip. I mean, his motor broke so we paddled around the lake, and we didn't catch much, and we didn't have any drastic moments of reconnecting or anything, but it was a nice morning. We talked about random stuff, we bitched about fish and weather and not having time to fish, we enjoyed the quiet morning. I'm glad we went. A couple days later I took my own daughter fishing. She's six, and has no patience for bad luck. After no bites, she put her rod down and played with the worms, picking one out she wanted to "save" and so on. I managed to hook onto something that went for a ride and got some air, and got unhooked in the process. So she at least had some excitement, if no fish. Just moments of Fishing with Dad(s), I guess. Unrelated part of the post where we talk about kayaks As we were getting my dad's boat back on the trailer, a guy came off the lake on a Hobie Pro Angler 12. That's a fine-looking boat. He had a great setup, and my dad and I just kind of stared as he disembarked, drained the boat, put away the pedals, put it on wheels, pulled it up to his SUV, and loaded it in. I admit to feeling a bit jealous. Not that I have 3 grand to blow on a toy I'd use a couple weekends a year....
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Aug 13, 2014 03:58
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