Who, how, why or what got you into fishing

[61 crusher]

Since most of us are land locked I thought another topic might help

As a little kid living inland in South Africa we used to visit my grandparents every Christmas in Cape Town. My grandfather would take me with him to his work at the docks, he worked for I & J the fish company & the smells & atmosphere from the waterfront were quite fascinating. 
In 1971 & aged ten we moved to Sydney & I used to walk the 2k’s to school, after about a week of familiarising myself I noticed a wharf across the park from school & wandered down & watched an old Italian guy catching yakkas & leather jackets with mincemeat. Well I ended up going to the wharf most mornings & before long he gave me a hand line & showed me the way & I loved the fight of the fan tails on the light line. That wharf ended up being a favourite spot on weekends for me honing my skills & catching all sorts of species including a 31/2 foot shovel nose shark that I only lost when trying to lift it up onto the step of the wharf 

[Rebel]

Great Story.

[Rah]

Great post Crusher! 

For me.

When I was 6 we took a family trip camping from Sydney to Cape York with my family and my aunty and uncle. My uncle was a mad fisho. He met us up the coast somewhere after getting off a trawler. He fished every chance he got and I followed along every chance I got. Catching tiny fish (we called them trumpet fish) off the wharf at Cook Town while no one else caught anything except a bike wheel and a boot. 

Apparently even caught a small barra along the way but unfortunately can't remember that one. 

 

Cheers

Rah

 

[PaddyT]

me- no one else in the family had an interest

[noelm]

I guess originally my father, but we have lived on the water all my life, and I spent most of my youth wandering around the shore and in a row boat catching bait, fish, crabs, and when old enough to dive, Abalone and Lobsters, such a grounding made life easy to catch Snapper and so on, I used to row our little timber clinker boat out the lake, into the ocean, with some crabs I caught, and a sand bag for an anchor, a handline and caught Groper, Snapper, Bream and lots of other stuff too, good times indeed.

[rickmarlin62]

Caught my first fish on a cork line at 3  my dad my grandad my family all fished  been at it ever since   been in n out of pro fishin in many forms my whole life  trawlers tuna poling crabs crays meshing  rod n reel yfin to japan in the eighties longlining   and i stil fish for everything from mullet to marlin blackies cod bass trout goldens   love my reds an everything inbetween   HOOKED   HAHAHA

[wcurrall]

Didn’t have much at all growing up so fishing really appealed to me. I remember a distant random Uncle taking me out near Wollongong  when I was 8 or 9 and being hooked ever since. The fact we could get out and most times end up with a good feed and as a hungry kid was a great incentive. As kids we used to fish for Redfin in our towns water supply by ourselves from age 10 and up, and would more often than not stock our freezer with fillets. 

At the time I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather be doing but looking back it was a fantastic “free“ source of protein for three growing boys, a great outlet emotionally and also kept us out of the old girls hair most afternoons haha. Used to eat it a few times a week and still brings back fond memories on the odd occasion we have a feed of Redfin 

Now my own kids are loving catching their own fish for dinner and I couldn’t be happier 👍

 

 

[wazatherfisherman]

Grandparents had a permanent on-site van at Windang and Grandma bought an aluminium boat that was just left chained to a tree next to the van. Used to go from Sydney every second weekend and fished with a cork hand-line from about age 4 or 5. 

Joined a fishing club at age 14 and started climbing down the cliffs of the eastern suburbs, where fishing really opened up with heaps of species available and no crowds.

The passion has only grown

[Ryder]

My Grandfather was a NSW country policeman from Uralla, he was brought up hunting and fishing. Ducks, pigs, yellowbelly and cod.

He spent most of his career in country areas, Broken Hill, Bathurst, Leeton, Gundagai, Albury etc. He was nicknamed 'The Sherrif ' not just because he was a cop, he was the best shot in the area. He was a good sport, played golf, cricket and tennis, but I think fishing was his favourite.

After many holidays to the coast, he and my Nan retired to Forster. Fishing and vegetable gardening were a supplement to the pension, (and back in those days there weren't the same bag limits we have today.) Most of the neighbors also fished, and they would share the catch between themselves or freeze it if someone was heading to Sydney to supply Mum and Dad with fish for 5 grandkids.

We went up every year for a couple of weeks. I went out fishing with him, he always got fish, but as a little kid, I didn't catch much.  I guess I didn't know what was really going on, but I was fishing with my Pa.

First time out, I was maybe 4, we fished Wallis Lake. Pa and my sister caught about 30 Flatties between them, I caught a Blue Swimmer crab and nearly jumped out of the boat at the sight.

I still have some of his gear.

 

 

[frankS]

Can't remember when, or where , but I think I started fishing on the days I wagged school just to fill in the time of day till it was time to go home, the passion soon developed into an obsession and I bought a boat before I left school, I worked in a fish and chip shop to earn pocket money and the shop owner went guarantor for me to purchase a 12 foot alloy boat with 4 hp Johnson outboard from Nock and kirbys . The brother inlaw would drive me down to the ramp and pick me up at a designated time. I would start of with a small bag of prawns and usually end the day with almost as many as when I started. I soon developed the knack to find fish and the slaughter began. By the time I got a licence I upgraded to a 15 ' Savage boat with 70 hp Johnson. That was 1965 and I started venturing outside. The rest is history.

Frank

[61 crusher]

Great stories people keep em coming, sounds like most of us got the bug at quite a young age & as @rickmarlin62 said got “HOOKED” & also dabbled with the old cork hand line in our early days, which brought back a fond memory for me of a time when one of my family friends whom I treated as an uncle took me out in a hired open putt-putt around the spit & we’d caught a few bream & all of a sudden my cork line bounced around the boat like a jack rabbit & over the side before either of us could get to it & emptied just as fast, that episode taught me to tie my line off to the wooden hand spools & then later on to the plastic spools

[Yowie]

Been fishing since 4 or 5. Started at Yowie Bay wharf, hence the name.

Taught by my great grandfather, grandfather and father. My father was a professional fisho at 11 years old, as  his father was a pro fisho, and my father could not always get to school.

Hand line fishing for many years, until I could afford a rod, solid 6 foot fibreglass and cheap reel. Caught many fish on it, including my first jew. 

As a teenager, I picked up a few tips when fishing with Gary Chapman, and won a few fishing comps as a junior (don't mean to brag) at the St George and Sutherland Shire Anglers Club (think that was the name). Gary showed me that prawns and nippers survived best in shallow water, so that their heads were just out of the water. His nippers survived for several days in the plastic trays - he had a couple of trays in the coolness of his garage at all times, and he picked what he needed for a fishing session.

Learnt by trial and error, also finding that whiting will swim into shallow water on the early morning rising tide. Observed a couple of them swimming with their backs out of the water trying to grab soldier crabs that had not buried back into the sand. Cast nippers to them (on 2 occasions) and watched the whiting almost walking sideways in the shallow water to grab the nipper.

[Guest Guest123456789]

Did some fishing since young but really focussed on it about 6 years ago from terrigal north Avoca and wamberal rocks. Met some great people on the rocks who taught me the basics and are now life long friends, though my life will probably be a lot longer than theirs 😂 

Edited March 31, 2020 by Guest123456789
Typo

[Yowie]

14 hours ago, 61 crusher said:

all of a sudden my cork line bounced around the boat like a jack rabbit & over the side before either of us could get to it & emptied just as fast, that episode taught me to tie my line off to the wooden hand spools & then later on to the plastic spools

I have always secured my lines to the cork/hand caster/reel. 

As a young bloke, I was fishing from the old Yowie Bay wharf, with a chunk of mullet gut on a cork line. While I was attending to something else, the mullet gut line bounced around on the wharf and the cork bounced over a one foot high railing and into the water.

Before I could cast another line into the water, the cork disappeared under the surface. About half a minute later, I saw the cork surface on the other side of the bay, slow down a bit and make a left turn around a mooring, then disappear. I'm guessing a rather large bream took hold.

[Yowie]

15 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Grandparents had a permanent on-site van at Windang and Grandma bought an aluminium boat that was just left chained to a tree next to the van. 

 

My grandparents also had an on-site van at Windang. Their boat was an 8 footer, fibreglass, red and white so it stood out like dog's b****. I had various people follow me as I knew a few spots, a bit hard to dodge them sometimes as they had small motors, and I was rowing.

I rowed it up and down the main channel, a bit hard on the big christmas tides going against the current.

[Green Hornet]

I was introduced to fishing by my parents as far back as I can remember. Living in an isolated, south coast town, fishing was an important food source to our family, along with the huge vege garden in the backyard.

My dad travelled for work a lot and part of my morning and evening chores was to check and rebait the mullet traps we had in the lake across the road. We had a largish cage in the water nearby where the kept the poddies alive and it was my job to feed them as well.

When dad was home we'd drift for flathead from an old clinker, put put boat and if it was too windy for the boat, we'd fish from a protected bank. When he was away, mum and I would fish the lake for bream.

As soon as I was old enough to ride a bike, I'd ride to the river mouth to chase bream and blackfish. Dad was never a blackfisherman and my first attempts were crude to say the least. An old, aboriginal chap who referred to himself as Captain Midnight, took me under his wing and taught me the art along with the habits of jewfish and how to catch them. He was one of the nicest blokes you'd ever meet and I kept a strong friendship with him 'til the day he died. 

[nutsaboutfishing]

I blame a mate who took me out in his tinny. Had a rippa night sesh pulling in mainly bream. I'd been fishing before but that evening  I caught the bug.

 

[fragmeister]

My Dad taught me to fish when I was very about 5. I recall pulling a chair on to the verandah on Saturdays when he worked up until lunch so I could see when he got home because that meant we would be off to Gunnamatta Bay wharf for a  fish into the early evening. I think I sat there for hours impatiently waiting and the excitement never wore off.

He had a German mate who paid me a penny for the yakkas or slimies I caught at the wharf. Get paid to catch fish.. bargain!  I remember him catching jewies from that wharf that were longer than me at the time!

I remember being bitterly disappointed when they went on night fishing trips and I couldn't go. I think I told mum I had to go because they needed me to catch the live baits!  She didn't buy it ... and not the sulking 5 year old either!

When I was still only 12 or 13 dad often left me overnight at the Lugaro Street Wharf to fish until the morning ( not sure what mum thought about that!  You certainly wouldn't do that these days!

That wharf ( gone now) was an absolute gem in those days. Right on a narrow channel with weed beds in close and a sand bank over the channel in casting distance you could catch the limit of squid and bream in a session plus the odd John Dory, jewie and flathead in between. From time to time schools of tailor would appear and a frantic session would follow. I think many of my pb's  came from that wharf.

I had three brothers and in some way we all connected with dad but my thing with him was a love of fishing.

Great memories.

Cheers

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

[wazatherfisherman]

4 hours ago, fragmeister said:

My Dad taught me to fish when I was very about 5. I recall pulling a chair on to the verandah on Saturdays when he worked up until lunch so I could see when he got home because that meant we would be off to Gunnamatta Bay wharf for a  fish into the early evening. I think I sat there for hours impatiently waiting and the excitement never wore off.

He had a German mate who paid me a penny for the yakkas or slimies I caught at the wharf. Get paid to catch fish.. bargain!  I remember him catching jewies from that wharf that were longer than me at the time!

I remember being bitterly disappointed when they went on night fishing trips and I couldn't go. I think I told mum I had to go because they needed me to catch the live baits!  She didn't buy it ... and not the sulking 5 year old either!

When I was still only 12 or 13 dad often left me overnight at the Lugaro Street Wharf to fish until the morning ( not sure what mum thought about that!  You certainly wouldn't do that these days!

That wharf ( gone now) was an absolute gem in those days. Right on a narrow channel with weed beds in close and a sand bank over the channel in casting distance you could catch the limit of squid and bream in a session plus the odd John Dory, jewie and flathead in between. From time to time schools of tailor would appear and a frantic session would follow. I think many of my pb's  came from that wharf.

I had three brothers and in some way we all connected with dad but my thing with him was a love of fishing.

Great memories.

Cheers

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

Good story Jim- when did they get rid of Lugano St wharf? What a pity, it was a great spot

[Yowie]

5 hours ago, fragmeister said:

 

He had a German mate who paid me a penny for the yakkas or slimies I caught at the wharf. Get paid to catch fish.. bargain! 

What a tight arse  😂 - I was paid sixpence for every 2 yakkas.

The old bloke was the cleaner at the primary school at Yowie Bay. He gave me a few tips, took me fishing a couple of times, and one of the spots he showed still produces fish for me.

[JonD]

Started off as a toddler with a handline catching crabs but when I became a grown up at 4 yr old my parents bought a boat. From then on I became addicted, though these days I'm just as happy to be simply driving the boat and let others catch the fish (55 now).

My first born daughter suffered reflux bad but carrying her on my back in a kids backpack was a great way to get her to sleep and for mum to have a break. The backpack walks consisted of an 8k beach walk twice a day with a spin rod in hand. As soon as my daughter could hold a rod, she also became part of the addiction family. She started before she could really even walk properly, turning the reel handle seemed to come easier than mastering walking upright. Now she totally outfishes me and fishes virtually everyday and night. Even after two charter trips back to back ( now she's gained her coxswain ticket) and leaving home at 4.30am she still manages a social fish after work. She also hunts and spears with great success, quite a hunter gatherer. 

[blaxland]

Back when you could roam the streets as a little kid as long as you were back by dark a mate took me fishing at tunks park where the tunnels come out we used dough made from bread and a small hook no sinker to catch poddy mullet. Instant attraction to fishing for me.

 

[Yowie]

4 hours ago, JonD said:

 but when I became a grown up at 4 yr old my parents bought a boat. From then on I became addicted, though these days I'm just as happy to be simply driving the boat and let others catch the fish (55 now).

 

Younger than some of us old farts.  🤣🤣😂

This post has some of us laughing, better than catching a virus.  😎

[big Neil]

I was born at a very early age in the North of England, on the banks of the River Mersey. In those early post - war days the river was severely polluted. The Industrial Revolution had brought the importance of canals into focus as a form of transport. Canals and farmland storage ponds provided the opportunity to catch freshwater fish. By the time I was 4, I had 2 brothers and we did most things together through our formative years. Kinda like the 3 amigos of the North West. We weren't well off (though we wanted for nothing) and seldom bought things for our entertainment. Our travels as kids took us to lotsa places where there were fish swimming around in the lily pads. I knew nobody who went fishing when I first became interested in the exercise. I had no burning desire to catch fish and didn't even know what a fishing rod was. In fact it was many years later that I became aware of a hardware shop down the main street of town which sold fishing gear.

I have mentioned many times (on Fishraider) that my brother and I (the other one wasn't interested) actually made our own fishing tackle and it provided us with the opportunity to catch most of the "coarse fish" which frequented the ponds and canals near to home. For those who may not have seen the descriptions of my home made fishing gear, this is it. A 6 ft bamboo cane which I tied some cotton thread to, a bent pin, and a matchstick (for a float), a small stone for a sinker. Bait consisted of bread, worms or maggots. I was never aware of a moment where fishing became a major passion (that came much later in life). While I lived in the UK i dabbled in many types of freshwater fishing experiences but it was never a "passion". Eventually I bought proper fishing gear.

After moving to Sydney I had a job at Walsh Bay and used to fish during lunch time. I caught plenty of species but fishing was still not a significant pastime. So I guess I have slowly developed a passion for the hobby which now occupies a significant amount of my time. In the nearly 50 years that I've been in Australia I have had many amazing fishing experiences and tried lots of different methods to catch many different species. Without a doubt we are privileged to be anglers in this country. Great country, great people, great weather, great fishing opportunities...what else do we need?

I'm not one to rubbish the UK. HOWEVER, there is a myth that Australians think that it rains all the time over there. I wish to set the record straight. I lived there for a long time and my experiences showed that it actually only rained twice a week...once for 4 days and once for 3 days. 

bn

 

[Speedmaster30]

Being born and Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, we didnt have much either and both parents worked long days during the week.

The only trip or holiday we could afford was a monthly camping trip (which was really awesome).
We'd explore both the East, and West coast of the Western cape.

We were 4 boys, and a few of my dads friends would join as well.

My First fish was probably in '95, it was a white Steenbras (aka pignose grunter)
it was caught in Kogelbaai

Those were good times!

Thanks for the thread, really bringing back some good memories