My Fishing Life
My earliest fishing memory began at around 4 years old in Southern Wisconsin. While visiting my grandparents I was given a Zebco 33 and a fiberglass pool and taught to cast a weighted hook with a worm. The result was a small Bullhead which was quickly release. A lot more than that spike fish was hooked.
In the years before college I was able to fish a couple of times a year for Rainbow Trout / Brim (Blue Gills / Sunfish / Crappie) in Greers Ferry Lake Arkansas while visiting my grandparents. The real turning point came when my parents bought a river front cottage on the Rock River in Wisconsin. I was 8 years old and already had a love of fishing. The purchase included a couple of old boats and oars and off I went. We spent 30+ weekends a year in Wisconsin and I fished almost all of them. For the next 10 years I fished 30+ weekends a year. Most of the time was spent chasing the fairly easy to catch Channel Catfish, but I also had fun with the Walleyes, Blue Gills, White Bass, Crappies, and Carp. During the open water season I was constantly fishing. During the hard water season I was able to fish with family and friends in Northern Illinois and Iowa. I especially loved the shallow water ice fishing in the Mississippi River.
The next phase of my fishing life started with a Canadian fishing trip through my middle school science teacher. A group of about 20 of my friends and I had the chance to travel to Red Lake Ontario and fly into Parker Lake. The pike fishing was unreal. We could troll and cast for pike all week. An average day resulted in catching 20-30 inch pike a day. I could not believe how easy the fishing was. First of all I didn’t have to row the boat! Second the overall number and size of fish was off the charts. A good day in Wisconsin was 5-6 decent fish. That was a good hour in Canada. We also caught a good number of walleyes which was way better than I had ever experienced. After the trip I was talking about the fishing with my good friend and he mentioned he didn’t go because he goes every year to their family cabin. Upon further discussion it turns out his dad was a part owner in a cabin about 50 miles from where I had just fished. He invited me to go with them the next year and that started a 20 year run of fishing Douglas Lake West of Red Lake.
My first year in college in central Wisconsin further expanded my fishing experience. Fishing in North Central Wisconsin offered me the Wisconsin River. I quickly realized I needed my fishing gear and box in my dorm room. I could leave class at 1p and be fishing by 1:30p with a stop at the local bait store. That section of the Wisconsin River offered really fun Smallmouth Bass and Crappie action. College gave me some great memories, many of them on the Wisconsin River.
By 21, I had fished on average 20 weekends a year plus several full week trips. I had the opportunity to fish in Wisconsin, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota and Canada several times. I had chased Catfish, Bass, Crappie, Blue Gills, Carp, Trout, Walleye, and Pike. Not a bad way to get started.
There are many more stories to make and tell.
I hope you enjoy the blog!