How Did You Get Into Fishing?

[Salmo Trutta II]

It started 32 yrs ago, when my father said to my mother " now is the perfect time we have a Child, and that child will be made a trout fisherman, during those 9 months in the womb, i was making false casts and roll casts with my mini-2wt fly rod just waiting for the day when i can hurl nymphs into pocket water"

All seriousness, I come from a long Lineage of fisherman. My dad and grandfather used to take me and my meatheaded brother to our families lake in west milford, which is where I reside now. We used to use a Bobber and shiners purchased from franks tackle on the abundent largemouths that inhabit my lake.

Growing up in Parsippany (Before it got overrun) we used to fish the Rockaway river from the "Lawyers Pool" down to the Golf Course after St. Claires.

As I got older I became friends with people that lived in Mountain Lakes/Rainbow lakes area and we used to pound those lakes without regard for life or limb. Even caught a few stripers in one of the lakes (not Dropping Names)

Now,that I have a son on the way. I can do the same things that my dad and grandfather taught..its funny how things are passed down....

[ReelErIn]

I grew up in Clifton my dad fished and hunted with his uncle Frank who
moved to Hardwick Twp/Blairstown in 1929. From the day I could walk
I started to fish as I grew up I loved it more as each year went by.
In 1962 I took NJ Hunter in the baserment of a gun smith in Clifton still
have the passing card. I will never be the fisherman my Father was but I know he's looking down a saying to me WHAT ARE YOU DOING I would say nothing he would say GOOD GET IN HERE WHERE I CAN SEE YOU DOING NOTHING

[skipper.ll]

as a kid living in hoboken i fished the piers behind the lipton tea building and maxwell house and off of the palace ll dock, we went almost everyday in the summer we caught snapper blues,stripe bass, blue claw crabs,eels,perch on the cooler days we would catch dozens of tommy cod and an occasianal catfish, when i was older i use to work on the palace.ll as a deck hand fishing for ling everyday we made the trip to the mudhole a 2 1/2 hour boat ride we use to catch more ling and whiting than than you could ever need i remember one trip a school of tuna moved in and ten boat rods got stripped clean of line it was one of the most amazing things i have ever seen the people that came fishing every weekend were like family and to this day i still fish with a few guys captain andy who has a charter boat in jersey city,brian another deck hand,kenny from hoboken just to name a few. i guess thats what got me hooked on fishing "THE OLD DAY'S"

[snafu313]

Like most of you folks, my father got me started fishing. I grew up in North Jersey and we were pretty much your typical bennies. My first trip was when I was 5 years old. A half day fluke trip out of Belmar on what I think I remember as the Big Marie-S. As soon as the boat started sailing, I started crying my eyes out and eventually fell asleep in the cabin. By the end of the afternoon, I woke up and got over my fear in a hurry. We always fished on party boats, like your typical tourist. After that, I remember my first night bluefish trip with my father when I was 9, it was the first time that I was allowed to stay up all night. I remember the school of whiting that decided to show up at the Long Branch Fishing Pier. I remember my father losing his rod and reel to a bonito because he wasn’t paying attention and getting it back 10 minutes later when the same fish came up with the rod and reel still attached. I also remember the stories of tuna and tilefish trips he told and he’d tell me that he’d take me tuna or tilefishing if the tilefish ever came back.
Unfortunately, as my father got older, he fished less and less and if he didn’t go, I didn’t bother going either. When I was in college I met a friend that owned a boat and I would go with him. There I got the bug again. From there it was back to fishing the party boats. I don’t own my own boat and I don’t have the time or the patience for it either.
My father passed away a few years ago and every time I go out, I think of those times and it’s nice to have that connection with him again. Especially when I went on my first tilefish trip this past year. Lets hope that the next generation will be able to enjoy what we love so much.

[Carol Ann]

When I was 12 my Grandpa, had me row across the lagoon in townsend inlet(Avalon) and put stakes with traps and wonderbread in the swail, and of course marked it with the bread bag to trap killeys for morning fishing. At 5 am my first trap had eels in it I thought "I don't think so"...and of course he saved them and cooked them up later....Well anyhow, we opened the other ones and we had plenty of bait,there was no going to a bait shop. And lo and behold we set out to fish, drift and drift....well when I finally hooked my first Fluke it was 3 lbs....as day went on we ended up with just 6 fish...and it was then when the prop broke and we were towed in..then I ran down the street and jumped in the ocean..to celebrate my catch..THATS HOW I GOT HOOKED, AND THE DINNER NEVER TASTED SOOOO...GOOOD!

[TheLefthander]

Grew up in Michigan a mile from Lake Michigan and started out with my Dad and my brothers with cane poles and bobbers and big perch off the breakwater. They introduced coho salmon into the Lake in the late 60's, when I was in my early 20's. When I was 8 or 9 my older brother and I took a small shovel and dug up nightcrawlers to fish for bass and trout and catfish and suckers in the rivers. We would ride our bikes to the Pere Marquette River with fishing poles and shovel and if we were lucky, a Nehi Grape or Orange soda. Good memories.

[SHAMROCK EDDIE]

WOW this topic brings back some great memories many years ago, In1965 we move to the Jersey Shore across from the original Port Monmouth Marina owned by Capt John Ketchow before it became Gateway Marina. I got to hang out in the shop and watch the guys work on and repair all the boats in the yard. I was about 5 when I start fishing with George Philips he was in his late 70s at the time and was well known throughout NJ as an accomplished fisherman. Mr. Philips as I would call him was Dick Ketchow’s grandfather Dick owns Gateway marina so I was learning from some of the best.

We would fish from shoreline to shoreline digging our own baits and tying our rigs he was always teaching me something even if I didn’t know it at the time. We fished together every chance we got it was always a great time and always ended stopping for an ice cream cone! After a few Mr. Philips passed away but I’ll always be thankful to him for teaching me this great pass time I should have been a better student (lol) Now that we I’m running charters and in position to help young kids it’s always nice to give a little something back to the game.

One of the biggest things he taught me is if your gonna kill it you better be going to eat it! Or let it go so we can catch it tomorrow.

[Sam3]

Growing up on a lake in Northern NJ, I remember fishing off the docks at an early age with my father and grandfather. Our lake would stock trout and that would always be alot of fun for all us kids to catch our limit, go to the Yacht Club to have the fish weighed and measured and hopefully come home with a nice prize. Man, that was fun.
We also ice fished our lake too. My grandfather and father were in construction and would invite their friends up on the weekends to hang out, eat, drink and fish out on the ice. My mom has a pic of my when I was 8 years old when I was on the ice after I caught my first pickerel. My grandfather insisted that we cook it and eat it being that I caught it myself. I remember the bones were horrible but grandpa didn't mind. It was alot of fun catching and cooking the fish with him.
Great memories....

[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 .

[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.