How Did You Get Into Fishing?

[Reelron]

I remember my dad taking my brothers and I freshwater fishing, in north Jersey. Catching little Sunnies with worms on a cain pole.

First salt-water trip, at 10, on the Black Pearl out of Keansburg. I got sick as a dog but quickly got over it. It must have been a whiting & Ling trip, because I remember my dad telling me it was the fumes from the karosene heater that made me sick. We moved to Keansburg shortly after that trip. My dad wanted to be closer to the water. He used to come home from work on Friday, change clothes and head for Belmar. Once there he would mate on the Sea Jet or Miss Belmar Friday night. Then Saturday he would mate on a 6-pack called the Johnny R. Miss Belmar or Sea Jet Saturday night & the Johnny R on Sunday.

My brother and I sent our time seining bait on the Keansburg beaches and getting chased off the Keansburg pier for selling that bait. When we had a quater we fished on the pier for Fluke, Kingfish, Snapper Blues, and the occasional Striper. If we didn't have the quater we fished at the mouth of the Keansburg creek for snappers or we dug worms to make some extra money.

As we got a little older my brother lost interest but I kept on fishing and Dad started taking me on various party boats. My dad belonged to two fishing clubs in North Jersey, Kostacks Fishing Club & The Schyular Ave. Tuna Club. The Tuna Club only had 48 members and you had to be 21 to even get on the waiting list. Dad put my name on the list and I was 25 before I got in and then we actually cheated because I went in under my brother's name as dad had signed him up the year before me and he didn't want to join.

What a club, two trip to Quincy every year, various trips out of Atl. Highlands and Sheepshead Bay. Trips to Mass., Main, and Va. The guys signed up under various elected "Captains" for a Tuna Charter. Plus a Banquet every year! All this for dues of $.50 a week. Of course we also sold 50/50 tickets to cover some of the expense. I left the club when my dad got sick and lost interest, just wasn't the same fishing without him.

After my Dad passed away my brother got back into fishing and we did quite a bite of fluking in Raritan bay until he passed away. After putting up with my brother I can pretty much fish with anybody and I do. Just call me and I will be there to share the costs and the trip.

I miss that club and I miss fishing with my dad and brother but I will keep on fishing as long as I can hold a fishing rod and lean against a rail.

[Ol Pedro]

I was born in the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1955 . My father was in the Navy for 24 years . My first memory of fishing was with my father on a dock on Sugarloaf Key . The first thing I caught was a Spiny Lobster . I was three years old . My Dad had a trailer and owned a lot on Key West where we lived . Mom ,Dad , Grandma , one brother, and two sisters in that little trailer . Our backyard was on the water . There was a channel and mudflats . My dad and his friends built a seawall/patio and brick BBQ . At night when the tide was high it sometimes came up on the patio . We could see the reflective eyes of Shrimp attracted to the light . Every day Grandma and I would catch lunch . Grunts and Snappers were the main fair . A handline or cane pole was all we used . My Brother Raymond would throw rocks at Balyhoo and stun one once in a while then jump in the water and get them for bait . I was only three or four but it stuck . We moved to San Francisco and lived on Hunters Point . I continued to fish almost everyday with the other Navy Brats . We were like a Mongrel Pack and had the run of the base . Stripers ,Perch ,croakers , Rockfish ,and Jack Smelt were our targets from the piers and coves . Dad got Stationed in San Diego and I continued to fish for anything that swam in fresh and salt water . when I was 11 I went on the New Seaforth on my first Albacore trip . It cost 12 dollers and that was one months wages on my paper route . I caught 2 Longfin and a couple of Jack Mackerel but I was hooked on Offshore Fishing . To this day If given the choice I would fish Tuna over everything else . It's still a long story how I ended up in New Jersey . Thats just 8 years of a 50 year run . I guess that the bug bit bad .

[Jerzfishermen]

I started fishing at age eight. My parents had a beach house at LBI. My father used to take me to the docks in Barnagat Light. The blowfish were plentiful at that time. I used to sit on the dock and catch bucket fulls of fish. My very first catch was a green eel. What a thrill that was. At age fourteen, I started to work the party boats. Did that until about I was twenty-three or so. Back than the regs were diffrent, whiting was all over and fishing was fun and enjoyable. I still find fishing my favorite past time and is still fun and enjoyable. It is just ashame that the powers to be have put such a squeeze on myself and others who love to fish. I am now forty-seven years old and still can fish with the best of them.

[Montauk Project]

Although I mostly fish saltwater now, I got my start fishing as a young boy on Lake Hopatcong. My grandmother owned a summer home on the lake, and every year when school let out my mother would ship my sister and I from the hot streets of NYC to the cool mountain breezes by the lake.
Our evenings would be spent at Bertrands Island, which the old timers on this board will remember was a great amusement park right on the water.

My days were spent fishing, starting out at about 8 years old. No kidding...I used a white string, wrapped around a short stick with a bent safety pin as a hook. I used dough balls as bait, and caught Bluegills on almost every drop. We called them "sunnies". I know now that there was a great variety of panfish in the lake then.
The water was so clear, you could see the fish venture out from under the dock and inhale the bait in about 6--8 feet of water.
I would catch an occasional yellow perch. Catfish too !
I remember the water was just teaming with all sorts of fish, we would use beach towels while wading in the shallows to trap and catch minnows.
As I got older, My uncle bought me my first real fishing pole, and I caught a big pickerel on a live minnow on the first day. I was "hooked"for life !
That was 40 years ago.
My last trip to the area shocked me. The small summer homes and bungalows were gone ! Replaced by Condo's and shopping centers. The dirt roads and trails were gone !. Replaced by busy roads and noisey traffic.
For me, I still have my memories...
I will never forget those lazy summer days on Lake Hopatcong.

[FDFisherman]

Met a girl (my wife) whose father has a boat! The rest is history. LMFAO!

Well actually my first fishing was when I was a kid fishing outta point pleasant for whiting in the freezing cold with my brother in law and ralphing all over the galley tables! . We caught barrels full back then!

[msgold]

What a great question and a great deal of fun reading everyone's story how they started fishing, one of the best posts since I have been on this site. Thank you once again. Allot of great memories which we will carry with us always.

[Pennsy Guy]

It was 1944, I was 7 and my dad took me on a party boat out of Atl. City wreck fishing. One guy on the other side of the boat got seasick and caught a lot of ribbing. I remember someone saying he was chumming--I asked my dad if he thought I should chum---That made everybody laugh...What did I, a kid on his first fishing trip, know?

Didn't fish again 'til I was 11 or 12..had a split bamboo boat pole and also a bamboo surf rod. Spinning reel for the surf rod was a "Beachcomber" made by the Lionel train Corp..

My parents wintered in the Keys then and I'd wade the flats for bonefish or use the Boston Whaler to fish the reef around Aligator Light. I remember anchoring on the reef's edge, looking through a glass bottom bucket at the edge. It always amazed me at the abrupt drop-off into deep water, a 13' boat with the bow in 40' and the stern in 1000'..it scared me also, and I think that was good.
My mom and dad well both cremated and we spread their ashes in the gulf stream off of aligator Light as they wished.

Didn't do anything after that as I moved to Pennsy until maybe 20 years ago when my then boss took me out on the Queen Mary for day blues, didn't catch anything so we went out again at night and did catch 'em. Fished on her the next year and then I met Muldune and went out on the Gambler for blues. He convinced me to try a tuna trip..didn't take much convincing..and I fell in love with that and have been doing tuna, blues, stripers and fluke with Bobby and the crew ever since. I'll tell you, when I can't do the tuna trips anymore, or the inshore trips, just spread my ashes in the Hudson Canyon 'cause I won't be living!!!!!!!!!!

Who knows, maybe I'll meet up with my parents in the stream.

Chucky

[FishNDoc]

My dad took me at age 10 and two younger brothers up to Morsan to buy conventional Garcia reels which we put Dacron line on and also bought heavier poles for the surf. The first day we went down to Sandy Hook Fishing Area 2 we only caught a cold. We also learned the art of taking out birds nests. The highlight of the trip was the stop at Stewart's on the top of the hill in the Highlands (French fries, Onion rings, California burger, Root Beer).

A next door neighbor was moving and gave us a 12 ft wooden run about with a frozen 25 hp Johnson on the back. Me and my brother John worked almost ½ a summer and got it running. We used it, sold it and bought a bigger boat. After a few rounds working with Mahogany ,we did some work on other boats at Browns in Morgan and learned from the old timers a little about fishing. Finally we came over to South River where my dad became the commodore and we had a 28 ft wooden Lures. We fished all over the bay (when we could get the railroad bridge to open) not knowing what we were doing but the memories were priceless. Sadly my dad died at 52 but he showed me a place where I can get away from the rest of the world, not caring about yesterday or tomorrow. (the sight, the sound, the feel, the smell and sometimes the taste of FISHING!!!)

[Fishski]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

All these sweet water reports got me thinking of how I got into fishing.... Thought it would make an interesting topic for the board. Brought back some great memories and am hoping it will do the same for others....

Please share your story....Here is mine:

I got the fishing bug from my Uncle Al in PA.... He was an outdoorsmen and loved to fish and hunt. Whenever he'd come out and visit our family he always found time to take me and my brother Joe fishing or crabbing. He was also a very colorful guy and like most hunters and fisherman, he could weave a tale a mile long. It was a gift he had. He could make a story about going to go to the grocery store a NY Times best seller and he also had a heart for kids. I could sit around listening to him for hours, hanging on every word as he'd reaccount his " adventures in the bush". He was quite a guy and one of those people you meet as a kid that has a profound effect on your life.

I also have some great memories of opening day of trout season in my youth..... It was like the days leading up to Christmas.... We'd sleep over my cousin's house in Clark and fish the Rahway River. During the summer we'd ride our Stingray bikes to Roosevelt Park and fish for sunnies and catfish with worms we dug up in Mom's garden. I remember the days leading up to opening day. I'd find myself in places like Herman's Sporting Goods for hours eyeing up all the stuff I needed and would buy with the money I earned doing chores or got for a birthday... I still find myself in tackle stores for hours checking everything out. Some things never change.

Like most everyone else, life got very busy for me in my late teens and early twenties and I only got to fish occationally. Work, school and a new family were the priorities then. However, every Spring I'd set up a fishing trip with the guys, usually up to the Thousand Islands. Been doing it for 20 years now and we've traveled to a number of different places. I'm always greatful to have this opportunity since many of us only manage to get together this one time a year. Always a good time and more materials for fishing stories.

I got into salt water fishing a bit later in life.... I was invited to go out on a night Bluefish trip and was instanly hooked..... A few years later I got a nice tax refund and came home and announced to my wife Ruth that we bought a boat. $4000 with a slip in Morgan Marina paid for the season. I had a lot of fun but dumped more money into that old tub (the boat that is ) then I care to recount. Turned out that Ruth gets sea sick so I thought it only fitting to name the boat Ruthless .

I've been fishing and boating in the Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook areas since the late 80s, when a Striper was big news at the dock. My brother Joe and I still fish together often. It's a great chance for us to get away from the daily grind and spend time quality time together with our friends and family. It's also a great opportunity to follow along in Uncle Al's foot steps and pass along the love and enjoyment of this great sport to others.

Up until ten years ago, Uncle Al would still come to visit and I'd gladly clear my calendar for the chance to spend more time with him and to take him out fishing. The last time we fished together was with his son in law and grandson Timmy. We went out on our boat and he and I just sat back and beamed from ear to ear watching his grandson Tim catch his first ever salt water fish. It was only fitting that we slammed the Weakfish that day and all the while he was sharing his stories. I'd heard them all a thousand times but they never got old. Unlce Al has since passed on. I think about him often and still miss him very much. If there is a stream or field in heaven he's all over it, or telling stories about it.

Make it a priority to take kid fishing this season, yours or someone elses.... Leave the Gameboy at the dock and give them your undivided attention. You never know, you might just change a kids life. It certainly changed mine.

Great story Gerry! I cant wait to write mine. (TIGHT LINES TO ALL)