Whats your favourite fishing memory

[GoingFishing]

The ocean and inland water ways certainly can throw some real mind blowing stuff at you. Over the years ive witnessed some of natures most amazing sights. Earlier this year i encountered a pod of almost a thousand dolphins, i remember my very first kingfish off kurnel headlands, hands shaking and adrenalin pumping. Schools of salmon so vast that you could cast in any direction and my very first mahi, the colours took my breath away. 

Ironically, my favourite fishing memory comes much earlier than all of that and before i got into boat fishing, i was about 9 yrs old, never fished before and dad had taken us on a family picnic to apple tree bay inside ku ring gai national park. I would say it was the day that i got "hooked" on fishing forever.

I remember the kookaburraas swooping down and stealing my pilchard bait, later i caught my very first flathead and screamed out to dad " i got a shark i got a shark". Yes it was a very big deal haha.

Later that afternoon as i continued to fish i turned around to grab another bait and ended up petting a 1.2m goanna which was feasting on my bait. Fresh pair of undies please. 

From that day, every trip to the beach would consistently see me exit the car leaving a smoke trail behind, bait in one hand and rod in the other, pretty much up until home time. 

One of my biggest hopes is that my young ones grow up to share this passion.

So, whats your favourite fishing memory?

[Ryder]

My first trip out was with my Grandad and Nan, Forster 1972 ? From the long gone BP boatshed next to the swimming enclosure.

My older sister got 15 flathead and 2 flounder, Grandad got around the same.  I caught 1 Blue Swimmer and freaked out when I saw how big crabs get. I was 4 years old.

Back at the cleaning tables Pa filleted the fish, and my sister and I threw the frames to the pelicans. The boatshed dog snuck up and swiped some of the fish. I can still smell the tables, old wood but just smelled like fresh fish.

 

 

 

[wazatherfisherman]

Very hard to pick a favourite from a lifetime of fishing 'joys', so it has to be an early one.

My Grandparents had a permanent on-site caravan at Windang (Lake Illawarra) and my Grandma bought the first Aluminium boat with an outboard motor that the Windang end of the lake had seen. She won a big daily double at the races and surprised Grandpa by not telling him, instead having the new boat delivered to the caravan. The boat was bought from Knock and Kirby's hardware at Warrawong and as it didn't have a trailer was delivered by a big truck, along with the outboard, which came sitting on a 2 wheeled trolley.

The Windang end of the lake was always alive with fish (and prawns) in those days and you only had to go and anchor in one of the 2 channels, use either fresh lake prawns or squirt-worms and you'd catch heaps of fish. Mostly didn't even bother taking the motor, just unchained the boat from the Casuarina tree next to the water and rowed straight out from the van, which suited my Mum, who used to love taking me out and loved handline fishing too.

A cork handline with about 30 yards of about 10 pound line was all you needed. The rig was a small sinker sitting above a half a matchstick for a 'stopper' then about 10-12 inches of line to the hook. There were only 2 kinds of hook (so I thought)- bronzed longshank "Whiting" hooks (which came in larger sizes for Flatties and Tailor) and silver (cadmium plated) "suicide" (octopus they're called these days) pattern, which were also known as "Bream hooks"- I liked the Longshanks because the fish didn't swallow them! 

Method was simple- peel the prawn, then break it into about 4 or 5 bits, each one only about a half inch long, put it on the hook (it only covered the hook-bend!) and drop straight over the side of the boat, hit the bottom and bring it up a few inches. This rig and method used to catch pretty much everything, you never knew what the next fish would be- That was over 52 years ago and I can still remember my excitement every time we hopped in the boat and rowed out to the '2nd channel' - fish of some sort would soon be pulled over the side, as a 5 yr old, that was about as exciting as life could be (for me anyway) and I guess that started the lifetime passion (obsession?!) I've had ever since

[Ah Me Ting]

Great thread / topic@GoingFishing !!! 👍

Sheesh, I'm going to need a coffee and a keyboard to write up mine. Tapping away on my phone just doesn't feel 'right' for all the memories. 

[kingie chaser]

Time spent fishing with dad from the age of 7 or 8, mostly out of his 1969 Quintrex sportsman runabout(which he gave to me & I still use today) at Nelson bay, collecting bait like pippies of Bagnals & pumping for nippers, then jumping in the boat & running over to across the bay to put in the poddy mullet trap & chasing thousands of soldier crabs down the beach, no need buying bait in those days.

Also him trying to teach me how to fish for Luderick off the old breakwall at NB.

We also went on a camping trip up the Myall in the same boat to the top lake camping along the way up & back, good trip but nearly ended in tragedy when we nearly sank on the return trip crossing the bay at night in a storm.

Now that he is 91 & in a nursing home with dementia those are the memories that come back to me, more than any achievement or particular moment of my own.

 

Edited April 28, 2019 by kingie chaser

[mrsswordfisherman]

Great thread @GoingFishing thanks Sam

@wazatherfisherman as a youngster in the late 60’s we used to camp every Christmas holidays at Windang council caravan park. Many fond memories there. We used to go at night to the lake at Primbee with all the Dads. They used a big dragnet while we wandered with our scoop nets and Primus lamps! The Mums would have big pots ready to boil the prawns. We ate prawn salads, prawn sandwiches, prawn omelettes etc for days on end. 

@kingie chaser I had a resident once in a nursing home that was sad and uncommunicative. I found out he was an old fisho and I took an iPad and showed him pics and stories from fishraider. He started to respond and smiled. It was amazing how happy he was looking at all our pics in the record section. Reminiscing  with dementia patients is rewarding sometimes for them. 

It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that I discovered that fishing wasn’t just putting a bit of prawn on a hook. Enter swordfisherman with his expertise, experience and unrelenting encouragement. I have caught tons of different species of fish, using mostly lures as I hate the mess and smell of bait. We have fished in interesting overseas destinations. The thrill of my first marlin on a stand up stick (no chair for me) still sits in my memory and I love reading the FR reports and vids on these captures. 

We took on this FR forum and developed a community of wonderful humans from all over Australia, NZ and the world. It had about 50 members and now almost 40,000 with thousands and thousands of guests. The forum is now owned by Deckee and I remain as the Community Manager. 

Recently retired registered nurse with management, educational and an inaugural CHIA (certified health informatician) I instigated lots of educational meetups and great FR weekends. We ran MROCP classes and I even sat the exam and was awarded a licence! I used to love sitting around board room tables with men and dropping in that I owned FR. Suddenly they all wanted to chat about PB’s, boats and checked out pics of captures!! A real ice breaker. 

FR and fishing has broadened my horizons. It’s not just a man’s world  

Thanks to every member, visitor, guest and all the fantastic mods past and present for sharing their experiences and of course my mentor Stewy. 

Thanks for reading this very long post. 

Donna

[frankS]

Well I have so many favorite memories it would take a fortnight to write them all up. I grew up in the 50's and none of my family were into fishing so was on my own. My earliest memory's was riding my push bike over to Menai ( from Enfield ) where my sister had a house up in the bush, I would go down to the ferry and wait till the ferry came in and would run onto it with a bucket and collect the Garfish that would be trapped on the gangplank of the ferry. I would fish on the Lagarno side for Briem using cheese for bait ( yes even back then ). Then as I grew up a bit more another sister lived in Lurnea and I would visit here and go down to the Liverpool weir and fish for Mullet, this was the early 60's I met a guy who I became friends with who also liked fishing, we would go down to Tom Uglys and hire a wooden boat with a single cylinder inboard motor, you would start it by turning the huge flywheel, we learnt lots together, we are still best mates. I bought my first boat before I had a drivers licence and my brother in law would drive it down to the river and me and my mate would go fishing and arrange a time for him to come back and collect us. Once I got a licence I started going all over the place and fished all different conditions. I bought a 15 foot half cab and started going outside and getting bigger fish and more species, I traded that for a 17'2" pongrass waverider in 1972 with 120hp Johnson on the back, this was the boat that I caught most fish in. ( still parked on my front lawn, different motor now and haven't used it foe several years but it is centimental to me ) Caught my first Marlin in it was a 244lb Black at the banks off Jervis Bay. 

I have had many different boats over the years from 12' tinnies to a 28' Bertram and at one stage had 5 boats, got 3 now.

But my favorite story and memory that I like to tell people is. I was over holidaying in Britain 1992 and a friend owned and operated the Killin Hotel in the highlands of Scotland and I dropped in to see him, had lunch and he had the rights to a section of the river that ran beside the hotel, he offered me a chance to have a fish and I took him up on the offer. First time in my life I have touched a fly rod, first cast I done OK and he gave me encouragement, second cast I could not believe the result the line came tight and I was onto something, first felt like I snagged up but as the rod began to buckle and jerk all over the place I realised I had actually jagged a fish, well after I don't know how long up come this huge Salmon , didn't measure or weigh it but it would have gone easily 85 cm. Mate kept it for his restaurant and it gave me a memory I will never forget. I haven't touched a fly rod since. Just that once in a lifetime experience will do me for my fly fishing .

Well hope I haven't bored you to death and if anyone actually reads all my ravings I thank you for doing so. I have heaps more I could tell. Like Waza a lifetime of fishing and learning and we still learn something each time we venture onto the water, you never know it all.

Frank

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by frankS
typos

[Ah Me Ting]

Well, now armed with coffee and a keyboard, here goes.

For me, my greatest fishing memory is elicited every time I see the picture below.

Let me set the scene.

BB, (before boat), back in 2008 / 2009 we had been taking our daughter 'land based' fishing at Hastings Point on the Tweed Coast in Northern NSW on and off for just over a year. I'd 'target' the always biting small bream on the western side of the bridge (young kids, attention span vs entertainment factor). Using a half prawn,  small hook and very light sinker, I'd bait up, cast out, and hand her the rod. Which to our 'surprise' she ALWAYS seemed to have caught a fish. She'd reel them and in, and we'd repeat.

So, fast forward to May 2009, our daughter 4 at the time, and we're down there again, but due to some other people fishing in our usual spot, we were fishing on the Eastern side of the bridge. With the bream confined to the Western side, I changed up the rig and hoped for a Flattie to show up while her attention span and excitement of going fishing lasted.

A few casts and a few nibbles, but nothing caught, so her excited was going fast since I had set the expected of plenty of fish on previous visits. So, I put on a whole prawn and cast out into a drop off on the Northern side (we were on the Southern bank).

Now, keep in mind, this is with a 2' 'ugly stick' combo we'd picked up from a shop. A great little combo and at a good price at the time, that little rod did a lot of work. Reel never missed a beat for years, and the rod outlasted her desire to use it (kids grow, so she wanted a bigger rod like her cousins etc. - ah 'rod' envy starts young hey?)

And, so, within literally a second of the bait hitting the water, it was struck, so I handed her the rod.

I did not know at that point what was about to unfold. Otherwise I might have thought twice!

So, she starts to hold the rod, and wind, and says 'dad, I got something' ... so I encourage her to wind it in.

She starts, but it starts to pull her....

A bit panicked, she pulls back on the rod, and gets some ground, and instinctively winds as she gets the slack. Yep, the full on pump and wind in action! Over and over, she would pull back, and wind ... and all I could do was watch and encourage, with a smile the size of Sydney Harbour bridge.

After a minute she started to tire, so I just encouraged her to keep going. A few people had started to notice the 'action' now, and her little rod bending so heavily. She keep going, and in the next minute the fatigue on her little arms was showing, but she had made good ground so I told her to just walk backwards up the sand ... which she did, and in about 20 steps, she had the fish up and onto the sand out of the water.

Stoked!

 

 

 

 

[connico]

Father and Son fishing. Favourite so far!

[61 crusher]

I always loved & was drawn to the water as a Rugrat but didn’t get to fish as we lived inland in my birth country of South Africa. My first fishing experience which got me hooked was at aged 11 when we arrived in Sydney there was a wharf near school, I used to watch an old Italian man catching yakkas, one day he gave me a hand line to use & before long mum was suspicious as to why I wanted to leave for school before 7:30, before long I was catching handfuls of yakkas & the odd fantail, mince meat was his bait of choice, 1 1/2 years later we moved & I had a say in the area we settled in because it had a wharf nearby😃, at age 13 I was fishing under fig tree bridge one hot humid Saturday with my trusty JW black queen outfit using cooked king prawns which I pinched out of the fridge, the bite was quite slow & being peckish started eating the bait but saved one for the hook, tossed it out dead on high tide into the muddy water no more than a minute had passed when my rod buckled over & line was screaming off, saw the back of my spool a couple of times in the ensuing battle which seemed to last forever with a lot of head shakes , I managed to get the fish to the sandstone wall twice with huge tail swirls at my feet, nearly beat it went for one last run under the bridge & being inexperienced instead of standing my ground I moved & tried to poke my rod tip around the concrete pylon which was to short & parted ways, I was gutted & on a high at the same time,for weeks after I was dreaming of me riding my bike home with a big jewfish tied to my old Malvern star, my friends & family got sick of my fishing stories because I became obsessed with fishing & that was all I could talk about, that was Christmas 1973 

Edited April 29, 2019 by 61 crusher

[wazatherfisherman]

5 hours ago, frankS said:

Well I have so many favorite memories it would take a fortnight to write them all up. I grew up in the 50's and none of my family were into fishing so was on my own. My earliest memory's was riding my push bike over to Menai ( from Enfield ) where my sister had a house up in the bush, I would go down to the ferry and wait till the ferry came in and would run onto it with a bucket and collect the Garfish that would be trapped on the gangplank of the ferry. I would fish on the Lagarno side for Brim using cheese for bait ( yes even back then ). Then as I grew up a bit more another sister lived in Lurnea and I would visit here and go down to the Liverpool weir and fish for Mullet, this was the early 60's I met a guy who I became friends with who also liked fishing, we would go down to Tom Uglys and hire a wooden boat with a single cylinder inboard motor, you would start it by turning the huge flywheel, we learnt lots together, we are still best mates. I bought my first boat before I had a drivers licence and my brother in lay would drive it down to the river and me and my mate would go fishing and arrange a time for him to come back and collect us. Once I got a licence I started going all over the place and fished all different conditions. I bought a 15 foot half cab and started going outside and getting bigger fish and more species, I traded that for a 17'2" pongrass waverider in 1972 with 120hp Johnson on the back, this was the boat that I caught most fish in. ( still parked on my front lawn, different motor now and haven't used it foe several years but it is centimental to me ) Caught my first Marlin in it was a 244lb Black at the banks off Jervis Bay. 

I have had many different boats over the years from 12" tinnies to a 28" Bertram and at one stage had 5 boats, got 3 now.

But my favorite story and memory that I like to tell people is. I was over holidaying in Britain 1992 and a friend owned and operated the Killin Hotel in the highlands of Scotland and I dropped in to see him, had lunch and he had the rights to a section of the river that ran beside the hotel, he offered me a chance to have a fish and I took him up on the offer. First time in my life I have touched a fly rod, first cast I done OK and he gave me encouragement, second cast I could not believe the result the line came tight and I was onto something, first felt like I snagged up but as the rod began to buckle and jerk all over the place I realised I had actually jagged a fish, well after I don't know how long up come this huge Salmon , didn't measure or weigh it but it would have gone easily 85 cm. Mate kept it for his restaurant and it gave me a memory I will never forget. I haven't touched a fly rod since. Just that once in a lifetime experience will do me for my fly fishing .

Well hope I haven't bored you to death and if anyone actually reads all my ravings I thank you for doing so. I have heaps more I could tell. Like Waza a lifetime of fishing and learning and we still learn something each time we venture onto the water, you never know it all.

Frank

 

Never boring Frank! I for one, love reading the 'old' stories of times past, when there were fish everywhere and all the different methods that were used to try and get them- we didn't realise then, how good we had it. I started writing my own fishing 'memoirs', thinking how do you 'catalogue' so many tales? It came down to doing it by species, but after a year or so of writing I've only got as far as 'E' alphabetically and will probably never finish!

[wazatherfisherman]

6 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Great thread @GoingFishing thanks Sam

@wazatherfisherman as a youngster in the late 60’s we used to camp every Christmas holidays at Windang council caravan park. Many fond memories there. We used to go at night to the lake at Primbee with all the Dads. They used a big dragnet while we wandered with our scoop nets and Primus lamps! The Mums would have big pots ready to boil the prawns. We ate prawn salads, prawn sandwiches, prawn omelettes etc for days on end. 

@kingie chaser I had a resident once in a nursing home that was sad and uncommunicative. I found out he was an old fisho and I took an iPad and showed him pics and stories from fishraider. He started to respond and smiled. It was amazing how happy he was looking at all our pics in the record section. Reminiscing  with dementia patients is rewarding sometimes for them. 

It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that I discovered that fishing wasn’t just putting a bit of prawn on a hook. Enter swordfisherman with his expertise, experience and unrelenting encouragement. I have caught tons of different species of fish, using mostly lures as I hate the mess and smell of bait. We have fished in interesting overseas destinations. The thrill of my first marlin on a stand up stick (no chair for me) still sits in my memory and I love reading the FR reports and vids on these captures. 

We took on this FR forum and developed a community of wonderful humans from all over Australia, NZ and the world. It had about 50 members and now almost 40,000 with thousands and thousands of guests. The forum is now owned by Deckee and I remain as the Community Manager. 

Recently retired registered nurse with management, educational and an inaugural CHIA (certified health informatician) I instigated lots of educational meetups and great FR weekends. We ran MROCP classes and I even sat the exam and was awarded a licence! I used to love sitting around board room tables with men and dropping in that I owned FR. Suddenly they all wanted to chat about PB’s, boats and checked out pics of captures!! A real ice breaker. 

FR and fishing has broadened my horizons. It’s not just a man’s world  

Thanks to every member, visitor, guest and all the fantastic mods past and present for sharing their experiences and of course my mentor Stewy. 

Thanks for reading this very long post. 

Donna

Windang was a fishers paradise for catching 'eating fish', prawns and Blue swimmers and most of the folk in "Oaklands" caravan park seemed to be connected by fish, prawns or the cooking/eating of them. Wonderful memories

[Rebel]

Hi,

Catching my first fish when I was Ten at camping at Narooma on school holidays. My dad hired a Tinny for me to go fising. I caught a couple of Whiting, then all of a sudden I was nearly pulled out of the boat by five kilo snapper. I will see if I can upload the photo. It is an old black and white photo.

Cheers.

[GoingFishing]

I'm loving the responses.

It's obvious that for alot of us, fishing is more than just about catching fish. There's lots of sentimental memories with loved ones.

Another one of my favourite memories was gunamatta bay. It was one of my dad's favourite places to go with the family. There is a shallow rocky section which fills up on high tide and is also fed by a stormwater drain. I'm sure the locals will know it.

I literally spent HOURS in those rock pools catching crabs, baby fish and all other sorts of creepy crawlies. I've taken my kids to gunamatta a fair few times and everytime we go we catch a few crabs, admire them and then let them go. Even came across a tiny octopus there in January. 

[Ah Me Ting]

13 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

I'm loving the responses.

It's obvious that for alot of us, fishing is more than just about catching fish. There's lots of sentimental memories with loved ones.

....

Agreed.

Fishing is accessible to everyone and being outdoors is great way to have an experience upon which to build lifelong memories.

I think at times we over complicate it with rods, line, rigs, bait nuances etc. Sometimes the simplest things are best. 

Hope more of the members of this forum post up their best memory.

[Rebel]

Hi,

It is a great post, keep it going. One thing you learn about on Fishraider is the people. Lots of help and dedication.

Cheers.

[fragmeister]

Great topic and like many other fishraiders  I have loads of great memories.

The ferry wharf in Gunnamatta Bay (circa 1965)    where,  as a 6 year old I was responsible for catching live bait ( slimeys ) for my dad and his mate with my new, all plastic fishing rod.  I think they paid me threepence each fish!

In my early teens, fishing & camping the Murrumbidgee river below the Burrinjuck Dam with two of my brothers and my Dad.  Chilly mornings by the side of a misty river eagerly awaiting the next take from a prime brown or rainbow.  Exploring the surrounding hills and feeder streams, collecting yabbies and cooking over the open fire.

My first trip to Broome and the experience of the incredible abundance of fish life. Big Spaniards, A Spinner Shark leaping clear of the water just meters from the boat, turtles and sea snakes drifting by, GT's so big you just couldn't get them to the boat before the sharks got to them. Schools of tuna literally everywhere. Fantastic!

The special fishing gifts and pearls of wisdom my father would bestow on me. I have three brothers but I was the keen fisherman and that was our special bond.

Sitting on the end of a wharf with the kids, on a summers day, baiting their hooks, untangling their line and reveling in their excitement when they catch a tiny bream and of course throwing them back in ( the fish , not the kids!)

Wading the sandflats at Bonnievale in the heat of summer with my fly rod. Half submerged in the warm water sight casting to whiting and flathead. Felt like paradise and time seems to slow down.

The first trip outside the heads in my boat ( I was a land based fisho until about 6 years ago who suffered crippling seasickness - how I got over that is an other story )  That was a real accomplishment for me and it put me in touch with more reliable places to catch fish.

Many more ofcourse but those are some of my favourites.

 

Cheers

Jim

 

 

[T_Bert83]

So many great memories from time spent with my dad fishing to fishing with my kids. 

One memory that sticks with me like it was yesterday happened May 12, 2012. 

I took my now wife to the river for a picnic/ fish. I said I’d show her a spot I had been catching a few cod recently. 

As we ate cheese and biscuits and drank a bottle of wine we threw a few lures around. Chloe soon lost interest but I kept casting while continuing to eat.

After an hour or so of casting I wanted to cast under a willow tree on the far bank that the fish had been coming from but it was just out of reach so I was getting a run up and heaving a bassman mumbler as hard as possible to reach the sweet spot. After a few running casts a cast landed right on the money. 

Hop...pause...hop...BANG! 

Instantly I knew it was a fish bigger than Id ever hooked. I yelled for Chloe to grab the camera as the beast of a fish swam up and down the river totally in control of the fight. 

I still remember the laughter as I shook uncontrollably when the big cod came to the surface for the first time. 

I fought the cod to a sandy bank and after a few quick photos and measure she was set free. 

My first meter cod a beautiful 104cm fish and a memory that will stick with me forever. To share that moment with my now wife was extra special and Chloe only now realises how rare these encounters are and why I was so excited by it. 

Cheers Trav.

[PaddyT]

The next one

[GoingFishing]

4 hours ago, PaddyT said:

The next one

? The next what Paddy

[Scratchie]

Hmm 🤔 

I might have a couple! Lol 😝 

But, one that has been permanently remembered is the first marlin I caught, on my little boat, with my gear and team scratchie with me! 

We ventured out of Port Stephens many years ago with the Mrs and two eldest that were very young at the time. Trolled lures through a calm rolling swell when we see a small black bathing in the sun! 

I did two circles around it until it finally hit the lure and line peels off! The kids were so excited and after landing and releasing the fish, the kids reminded me that now I have to get a tattoo! 

So that story is permanently etched on my arm forever! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[PaddyT]

11 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

? The next what Paddy

Next fish or fishing trip, they are all good! reckon any sight fishing or that moment when a marlin comes into the spread are the ones that really do it for me- its all about the bite.

[61 crusher]

Great topic @GoingFishing I hope this post keeps on going as being an avid fisho like most if not all members on this site there is great enjoyment from reading a good yarn about other people’s adventures & memories