Sorry to bump but I missed this thread in December. Was working insanely back in the winter and fall.
I started fishing when I was super young, I was no older then 3 years old, born in 95. My dad has been fishing since he was 13 and he would take me down to the beach with him. We lived in Brooklyn then, but fished in Staten Island. We would later move to SI when I was 4 and have been here since.
Anyways, yes he would take me down every time with him. I at the time was of course more interested in the beach and swimming then fishing with a rod and reel, but he would let me reel in fish whenever he had the opportunity. I distinctly remember catching an 8 lb or so bluefish that he helped me out with of course when I was 3. Reeled in short fluke and searobins all the time, fishing was definitley better back then out here. My brother was born in 87 and he fished too with us, but as he entered puberty and became a teenager he lost interest and stop altogether by the time I was 7... I kept fishing on. Went on a party boat for the first time when I was 5, the Atlantis Princess ran a free trip for a parent and their child..... Caught my first fish ever by myself, a 20 inch keeper fluke, the first of many. Kept fishing on religiously throughout the years and finally got my license in 2013, now I'm going down twice a week about not including the surf... Can't wait till I get into my career and can afford running a boat, then the addiction is really going to be crazy. Nothing I love more then fishing.
