first memorable fish

[bradley]

I thought this would be a good thread after an evening talking about fishing as a kid with the old boy and a few beers. We got talking about the first time he took me fishing and how i was looking forward to my daughter getting old enough so i could take her, just so happens i still remember that first days fishing like it was yesterday and i put it down to one fish and still think that that said fish is what drove my passion as an angler and the excitement i still feel today.
So heres how i remember it.
My old man was quite an accomplished course fisherman at the time and he decided i was ready to go fishing with him something id been pestering him about for a while but with him having the patience that ive got (absolutley zero) he had been putting it off till the right day, i was around 8 years old and we went to cusworth a local estate pond that was full of fish and sadly now is empty except for a few unwanted koi from peoples ponds. Anyhow i remember all day we were catching crucian carp and roach on the waggler and casters and my dad steadily built the swim feeding hemp that we had cooked the evening before it was brilliant!! Then just before we were ready to pack up the float dived under and i struck into something that i thought must be massive with some help from my dad i landed what i thought was moby dick in reality it was a tench of about 3lb but to me it was huge and i still remember that feeling of triumph and excitment and evertime the float goes under, the rod tip arches over or the alarms screech off i get that same feeling time and time again i suppose its what keeps us coming back.
Anyone else remember there first monster?

[danpy]

My first monster fish experience was a large pike grab a perch just as I was about to swing it in..I wold hAve been abut 11 at the time..at that point I had never even seen a pike before...I remember my legs literally shaking as the pike wouldn't let go of the perch for what seemed ages...plus I was on my own as my mate's had gone to the chippy... eventually it let go and disappeared..when my mates got back no 1 believed me

[bradley]

Haha i thought pike were like crocodiles at that age was scared to death of them

[suggsy]

A gudgeon on nidd. Was a monster compared to the minnows

[danpy]

Aug 30, 2015 13:00:19 GMT suggsy said:

A gudgeon on nidd. Was a monster compared to the minnows

haha...funny but the humble gudgeon was the first fish I actually ever caught on rod and line..the only fish I caught that particular day in fact..unfortunately it had swallowed the mustad hook with the big brutal barb and died a auful death at the hands of a very very inexperienced young lad....?

[suggsy]

Still love catchin em now. Sommet special about em in my eyes.

[zathras]

My first fish was a Gudgeon too. I still love them after all my years fishing!
You are right,there is something special about them - and I think they fight harder than anything (size for size),
and I'd love to meet one about 10lb-12lb - it would be the fight of your life !!
Gudgeon Rule !!!!!!!!!

[stiglet]

Catching Tommy Ruffes and gudgeon on the river Ouse at aldwark bridge when I was about 9or 10yrs of age where are all the Tommy Ruffes these days?.

[suggsy]

Got a tommy on nidd other week Steve. First I seen in a long time. Yer right les. Gudgeon rule

[bradley]

Didnt chris yates say real men catch gudgeon. Gotta love em

[suggsy]

I like it. That's gotta go on a t shirt

[Deleted]

Gudgeon. My son caught one yest and fell in love with them. He wanted to take it home for the pond lol

[zathras]

Oooooh thanks Bradley - I must be a real man ducky
Who said that ?
It seems a shame about the demise of the Tommy Ruffe Steve - the number of times I've stabbed my hand on one !!
I wonder if it is because of changes in the water quality ?

[peregrine]

10lb 8oz barbel from the warwickshire avon never forget that fish was only about 14.

[gavmitchell]

The first fish I remember catching was a Perch of about 3 oz, I would have been 8. It was at junior teaching session at Patterson Ponds run by the local tackle shop owner. He taught me how to set up my 3m whip and how to hook my red maggots. Then proceeded to tell me about the spines on a perch, I remember it like yesterday. That same year at the end of the summer holidays we had a junior match, which I won with the same tactics, for 12lb 3oz of Perch.
I also remember catching a Chub of about 2lb on the same 3m whip and thought I could never better it. Must have taken me about 10 minutes to land on the 12oz hook to nylon bottom. Brilliant.

[justbits]

What a great thread, really prompted some memories! First fish I really remember was a chub of about 3lb and I remember it for a number of reasons. It was a very wet June 1st, the first opening day I had fished (I would have been maybe 6 or 7 at the time). Dad doesn't drive and it was the first time I had been allowed to carry my own tackle as we walked thought Ravensthorpe to a small mill dam, I felt so proud! I even got to choose our pegs. Anyway nobody was really catching much and I came up with the idea of hooking the last crust of my sandwich and casting that out. The float had hardly settled before the rod hooped around and the fish was on! I remember how hard it pulled and seemed like a monster to me. Dad stood with the landing net telling me to hurry up as he was getting drenched in the rain and other anglers were gathering to watch me play the fish. I felt like a world champion when they all clapped and cheared as it slid into the net. Happy days!

[csd4t]

Tommy Ruffe a small Perch and a Crayfish from Roundhay Park.

[jollyjohn]

perch at Walton hall, down road from where I used to live, you could see them swimming under bushes, dangled a worm in front of it's nose, hooked for life ever since

[bobj]

As a kid in Castleford, a pike with my uncle, 1947

As a young adult in British West Bradford, a pike on a home made lure in Doe Park.

As a young adult in Australia, a murray cod (20lbs) on a home made lure

As an oldie in Queensland, a 60 lb barramundi

[bernherkins]

I was fishing on the Norfolk Broads with my grandad. The fish were plenty but one has stayed in my mind. A little 2oz roach that i swung in and it fell from the hook and hit my chest before sliding down and into a small hole in the bank. At the time i was pretty upset that this fish was out of the water and even my small hands could not pick the fish out of this little hole. Fortunately (and i cannot remember how) we managed to get it out and it was returned still alive .