[King Kong]

What's your favorite fish to catch?

---

I love catching giant panfish,  Blue Gill and my all time favorite Red Ear Sunfish, aka Shell Crackers!  I'm talking about jumbo,  looks like skillets,  frying pans swimming in the water!

From around mid April to mid June,  this is the type of fishing I do most.  Fishing road beds for bedding gills and shell crackers. 

I like to target catfish.  I miss out on alot of good catfishing,  because I gotta get the panfish spawn outta my system,  before I can focus on anything else!

If I ever won the powerball lottery,  I wouldn't spend on anything crazy except for one thing.  I'd build a man cave.  The walls and ceilings would be aquarium.  I'd load it with big blue gill and shell crackers! Mostly shell crackers.  That orange or red flaps on their ears,  plus their body coloring,  I just can't get enough of. 

I'd definitely be at peace while in that room.  I'd have part of the ceilings left open,  leading into a loft.  I'd have handles where I could open parts of the top up, and go fishing 

[Old School Hound]

My best day of fishing ever was in Crossville TN on vacation with my mom, stepdad, and sister back in early 80's.   My stepdad and I found a hotspot and caught probably 50 or 60 BIG shellcrackers, some of them weighed  a pound or more.  Needless to say, we had a helluva good fish fry that night. Those things were tasty.

[Jarons]

I don't fish much anymore. I didn't care what fish was on the line, I only use night crawlers as my bait. I just enjoyed the thrill of reeling in the the fish and the fight with the fish I am reeling in. Bluegill is probably the most fun because they always give a big fight for their size.

[King Kong]

My best day of fishing ever was in Crossville TN on vacation with my mom, stepdad, and sister back in early 80's.   My stepdad and I found a hotspot and caught probably 50 or 60 BIG shellcrackers, some of them weighed  a pound or more.  Needless to say, we had a helluva good fish fry that night. Those things were tasty.

That's awesome OSH! That's definitely a fun and memorable day of fishing, a trip of a lifetime!

---

I don't fish much anymore.  I didn't care what fish was on the line,  I only use night crawlers as my bait. I just enjoyed the thrill of reeling in the the fish and the fight with the fish I am reeling in.  Bluegill is probably the most fun because they always give a big fight for their size.

That's me to,  just as long as I'm catching something I'm happy.  I have my favorites to fish for , but I've been enough times and got shut out,  I'd been happy with anything. 

Night crawlers is one of the best all around baits for catching different species.  And blue gill,  pound for pound,  may be the hardest fighting fish there is.  If they grew to 10lbs, as hard as they fight,  we may never be able to land them!

[Jarons]

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time. We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing. I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

[Old School Hound]

My favorite fish to EAT is SALMON. If I was ever on death row and asked about a last meal, it would be grilled salmon AND fried salmon patties. Gosh , I love salmon. It would be fun to fish for salmon, as well. Bucket list, maybe???? I also love me some fried catfish, too.

[King Kong]

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

Idk if it was salt water or not.  We caught a few flounder there.  So I just assumed it was salt water.  Wasn't far from the ocean.  We caught a few fish there,  have no idea what they were lol

---

My favorite fish to EAT is SALMON.  If I was ever on death row and asked about a last meal, it would be grilled salmon AND fried salmon patties. Gosh , I love salmon. It would be fun to fish for salmon, as well.  Bucket list, maybe????  I also love me some fried catfish, too.

Catfish and Salmon are two of my favorite fish to eat.  Fried Catfish are hard to beat anytime. 

We trout fish a lot.  That's one fish I do keep more than I release.  We can them a lot using a pressure cooker.  You fix them just like you do salmon patties,  fry them up the same way. 

Warning: looking at the trout in the jar after they're canned,  they don't look good at all.  They look gross,  like one of the last things you'd eat.  From the looks of them you wouldn't want to eat them!  But in this case,  looks are deceiving.  They fry up like salmon patties,  when done,  they're just as good,  if not better. We eat them pretty often.

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

Idk if it was salt water or not.  We caught a few flounder there.  So I just assumed it was salt water.  Wasn't far from the ocean.  We caught a few fish there,  have no idea what they were lol

---

My favorite fish to EAT is SALMON.  If I was ever on death row and asked about a last meal, it would be grilled salmon AND fried salmon patties. Gosh , I love salmon. It would be fun to fish for salmon, as well.  Bucket list, maybe????  I also love me some fried catfish, too.

Catfish and Salmon are two of my favorite fish to eat.  Fried Catfish are hard to beat anytime. 

We trout fish a lot.  That's one fish I do keep more than I release.  We can them a lot using a pressure cooker.  You fix them just like you do salmon patties,  fry them up the same way. 

Warning: looking at the trout in the jar after they're canned,  they don't look good at all.  They look gross,  like one of the last things you'd eat.  From the looks of them you wouldn't want to eat them!  But in this case,  looks are deceiving.  They fry up like salmon patties,  when done,  they're just as good,  if not better. We eat them pretty often.

Salmon fishing is something I'd love to do. I watch YouTube videos about it a lot.  I'd love to fish a small stream you could almost step across,  and catch a giant salmon! That never ceases to amaze me,  how those giant salmon make their way into small streams and rivers like that,  every year.

[Jarons]

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

Idk if it was salt water or not.  We caught a few flounder there.  So I just assumed it was salt water.  Wasn't far from the ocean.  We caught a few fish there,  have no idea what they were lol

---

My favorite fish to EAT is SALMON.  If I was ever on death row and asked about a last meal, it would be grilled salmon AND fried salmon patties. Gosh , I love salmon. It would be fun to fish for salmon, as well.  Bucket list, maybe????  I also love me some fried catfish, too.

Catfish and Salmon are two of my favorite fish to eat.  Fried Catfish are hard to beat anytime. 

We trout fish a lot.  That's one fish I do keep more than I release.  We can them a lot using a pressure cooker.  You fix them just like you do salmon patties,  fry them up the same way. 

Warning: looking at the trout in the jar after they're canned,  they don't look good at all.  They look gross,  like one of the last things you'd eat.  From the looks of them you wouldn't want to eat them!  But in this case,  looks are deceiving.  They fry up like salmon patties,  when done,  they're just as good,  if not better. We eat them pretty often.

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

Idk if it was salt water or not.  We caught a few flounder there.  So I just assumed it was salt water.  Wasn't far from the ocean.  We caught a few fish there,  have no idea what they were lol

---

My favorite fish to EAT is SALMON.  If I was ever on death row and asked about a last meal, it would be grilled salmon AND fried salmon patties. Gosh , I love salmon. It would be fun to fish for salmon, as well.  Bucket list, maybe????  I also love me some fried catfish, too.

Catfish and Salmon are two of my favorite fish to eat.  Fried Catfish are hard to beat anytime. 

We trout fish a lot.  That's one fish I do keep more than I release.  We can them a lot using a pressure cooker.  You fix them just like you do salmon patties,  fry them up the same way. 

Warning: looking at the trout in the jar after they're canned,  they don't look good at all.  They look gross,  like one of the last things you'd eat.  From the looks of them you wouldn't want to eat them!  But in this case,  looks are deceiving.  They fry up like salmon patties,  when done,  they're just as good,  if not better. We eat them pretty often.

Salmon fishing is something I'd love to do. I watch YouTube videos about it a lot.  I'd love to fish a small stream you could almost step across,  and catch a giant salmon! That never ceases to amaze me,  how those giant salmon make their way into small streams and rivers like that,  every year.

Sounds like you were fishing in brackish water. Brackish water is a mixture of salt and fresh water. Most water around the ocean is brackish. 

A few years ago, I decided that I was going to fish here in NC. I asked a man that I used to work, a retired marine, with the best place to fish in town. He started to tell me a story about the time he bought a new lure and went to a lake in the area. One of the casts he got a bite and he hooked it. He said it was the biggest fight he ever had. He fought for several minutes and got it out and it was a baby alligator. I asked him if cut the line and let the gator go. He said,  "I paid a lot of money for that lure, I fought the gator and got it back."

[King Kong]

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

Idk if it was salt water or not.  We caught a few flounder there.  So I just assumed it was salt water.  Wasn't far from the ocean.  We caught a few fish there,  have no idea what they were lol

---

My favorite fish to EAT is SALMON.  If I was ever on death row and asked about a last meal, it would be grilled salmon AND fried salmon patties. Gosh , I love salmon. It would be fun to fish for salmon, as well.  Bucket list, maybe????  I also love me some fried catfish, too.

Catfish and Salmon are two of my favorite fish to eat.  Fried Catfish are hard to beat anytime. 

We trout fish a lot.  That's one fish I do keep more than I release.  We can them a lot using a pressure cooker.  You fix them just like you do salmon patties,  fry them up the same way. 

Warning: looking at the trout in the jar after they're canned,  they don't look good at all.  They look gross,  like one of the last things you'd eat.  From the looks of them you wouldn't want to eat them!  But in this case,  looks are deceiving.  They fry up like salmon patties,  when done,  they're just as good,  if not better. We eat them pretty often.

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

---

This thread reminded me of the first time I took my now 21 year old son fishing for the first time.  We were living in Shelbyville at the time, he was 5 and I took him fishing for the first time. It was a hot June afternoon at Lake Shelby in Shelbyville. I'm trying to get his rod baited up, he was excited to fish and kept bugging me to get it done faster. I got it all set up and I dropped the bait into the water about 2 feet from the shore to keep him occupied so I could get pole ready in peace. My plan was to teach him how to cast when I came to start fishing.  I didn't have time to get to my tackle box when he tells me that his bobber is gone. Without turning around, I tell him to reel it in thinking it was a small bluegill or sunfish. He tells me he can't. Aggravated, I turn around and he is fighting just to stay on the bank, his pole was was doubled over and he is fighting it as hard as he could. I run up to help him and we pulled up about a 15 in largemouth bass.
He has been addicted to fishing ever since. It was only thing that would calm him down as a child. After he fishes or surfs, he comes back energized and happy. He likes to go out in the intracoastal water and fish for red drum or whatever he can get a hold of.
I haven't been fishing since we moved to NC. I don't have a boat and we have alligators here and I really don't want to meet one. My son has the good fortune of having friends with a boat and they just fish from the boat to stay away from the alligators.

That's awesome! A 15in bass thats a heck of a first fish! Thanks for sharing,  I love hearing stories of kids getting into fishing.  Hat's off to you and much respect to you for taking him.  That's a great way to make life long memories. That's great that he's still into it. 

Those gators,  reminds me of a trip we took near Myrtle Beach as a kid.  We were fishing some kind of back water.  Idk really what it was called.  Set up like a big pond that salt water some how backed into.  This thing had gators in it.  I just put a big gob of chicken liver on the hook.  About the time I casted out a gator sticks it's head outta the water,  in the direction I casted.  My liver landed,  smacked that thing right on top of the head! The gator went under and my bobber disappeared for a few seconds.  Thankfully my bobber popped back up.  It'd definitely broke the line or yanked my pole in the water lol

Idk if it was salt water or not.  We caught a few flounder there.  So I just assumed it was salt water.  Wasn't far from the ocean.  We caught a few fish there,  have no idea what they were lol

---

My favorite fish to EAT is SALMON.  If I was ever on death row and asked about a last meal, it would be grilled salmon AND fried salmon patties. Gosh , I love salmon. It would be fun to fish for salmon, as well.  Bucket list, maybe????  I also love me some fried catfish, too.

Catfish and Salmon are two of my favorite fish to eat.  Fried Catfish are hard to beat anytime. 

We trout fish a lot.  That's one fish I do keep more than I release.  We can them a lot using a pressure cooker.  You fix them just like you do salmon patties,  fry them up the same way. 

Warning: looking at the trout in the jar after they're canned,  they don't look good at all.  They look gross,  like one of the last things you'd eat.  From the looks of them you wouldn't want to eat them!  But in this case,  looks are deceiving.  They fry up like salmon patties,  when done,  they're just as good,  if not better. We eat them pretty often.

Salmon fishing is something I'd love to do. I watch YouTube videos about it a lot.  I'd love to fish a small stream you could almost step across,  and catch a giant salmon! That never ceases to amaze me,  how those giant salmon make their way into small streams and rivers like that,  every year.

Sounds like you were fishing in brackish water. Brackish water is a mixture of salt and fresh water. Most water around the ocean is brackish. 

A few years ago, I decided that I was going to fish here in NC. I asked a man that I used to work, a retired marine, with the best place to fish in town. He started to tell me a story about the time he bought a new lure and went to a lake in the area. One of the casts he got a bite and he hooked it. He said it was the biggest fight he ever had. He fought for several minutes and got it out and it was a baby alligator. I asked him if cut the line and let the gator go. He said,  "I paid a lot of money for that lure, I fought the gator and got it back."

That's one tough dude right there! 

I understand all about not wanting to lose a favorite lure.  I've waded out in the water and other times cut down tree branches to get one back.  In that case I'd just let the gator have it,  I'd wish the gator the best and hope it caught some fish with it 

I would love to go gator hunting or fishing sometime.  I watch guys on YouTube do it.  Even when using poles and heavy lines to catch them with,  they shoot the gators before getting them in the boat. That would be more my style right there lol