My favorite memory would have to be the first time my grandfather took me trout fishing. I was like 7 and I had my own fly rod, waders, and vest. It was so much fun.

I hesitated to share this story in my post yesterday, because I was still too in the moment, but I feel the need to share.

I got seriously into fishing less than a year after my dad died (5 years ago). I have many great memories of my father and many involve us fishing together. The only regret I have now about the amount of time I get to spend on the bank is that some of that time is not shared with my dad.

Most of the time I fish alone and truth be said I enjoy the solitude. I do however enjoy fishing with others and especially seeing others catch fish. Seeing Nic and Don catch their two carp at our recent social was far and away the highlight of the evening for me.

Yesterday as I was fishing a guy wandered into my spot with two fishing poles in hand. I have fished this location about 8 times now and have never seen anyone else fishing. He politely asked if I wouldn’t mind if he set-up and fished with me. I said no problem. As he was rigging up, I got into a long lean yearning to be 20 carp and he netted it for me. WOW, he says, “that’s a real nice fish.”

Yea, I say, “I love catching carp.”
“No way.” he responds… “that was my dad’s favorite fish to catch.”
I ask him if he has fished here before and he states, “Yes, quite a few times with my father, but not for a couple of years.”

It was almost noon and I was about ready to leave as I had been fishing for about 5 hours. My rods are still in the water, but I start to organize my other gear on the bank. We are having casual conversation as I’m packing up and I ask him why he chose today to come back to this spot to fish.

He replied, “Today’s my dad’s birthday.”
I ask… “Is your dad going to meet you over here?”
“Nah” he said… dad died last year.
He then proceeded to reach into his bag and pull out fishing photos of him and his dad. They were ALL photos of carp and some real nice ones.

His rods were in the water and I had watched him set-up. I’m sure he may have caught a carp with his set-up, but I knew my rigs would stand a much better chance.
He cast out as far as he possibly could. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but when I’ve spent over a week establishing a feeding area that was much closer in I again figured the odds were in my favor. I had already caught three carp that morning and I was bound and determined that this guy was at least going to catch one. If not on his rods, then on mine.

We sat for about an hour trading fish stories.
Nothing was happening, and he says… “Well, at least I saw and netted a carp today.”
Then what I was waiting for happened… one of my rods goes off.
“You got another one he yells”…
I turn to him and say…”that’s not my fish, that’s yours, and you better grab the rod fast or it’s going to end up in the water.”

Well, four nice fish later all caught by John on my rods we decide to leave together. It was truly a magical experience for both of us.

My memory goes back to the first time i have ever fished with my dad.
I will never forget the first cast he made with a Red devil.
He bent back and flug his rod but i dident see the lure. then i heard him curse under his breth and said lets go home.
When he turned to walk away i couldent stop laughing the lure was stuck on his butt cheek.. lmao it was my shortedt trip but spending time with my dad in the hospital to get it cut off was so funny.
I will never forget this till the day i die.

My favorite fishy tail is the one about the ‘Bitey WOrms’. I’ve posted this story before but it’s worth repeating for its’ oddness.
I was fishing the little pond next to a giant lake out here in Colorado. This old man passing by tells me a story….He says this little boy one day out here was just raking in fish-big ones. He asked the little boy what he was using. The boy responded “Bity Worms”. Intrigued the old man asked him if he could see this bait. The boy opens this little can and there they were- baby rattlesnakes. GOOD bait.

When I was only 7 my Dad took me fishing with my brother. I did not want him to go so I was pouting. Having never baited a hook, I was in for a surprise. Dad said: Sugar grab that bucket over there & bring it to me. The smell in that bucket almost made me throw up…I said Ew! Dad do I have to put that stinky stuff on my hook? He said Yep!
My brother kept laughing at me…calling me a stupid girl! I showed him…I baited my own hook & caught the biggest fish that day out of all of us! A 3 pd. catfish, which seemed like a 40 pd. fish to little ole me. The best memory of this trip was twofold. Spending time with my Dad which was rare & precious, and putting some of that stink bait in my brothers shoes & hair! I will never forget it, he liked to never got that smell out of his hair and shoes! I sure showed him I was more than JUST A GIRL! Thanks for letting us post a story Lizzy!

Welllll Fisherbabe, To choose only one out of all kinds of fond fishing stories is tough however I can sift through the big fish stories, the tipping of canoes, forgetting the plug in the boat stories and fishing my first major bass tournament to come up with the #1 fishing story. It really doesn’t have to do with fishing in particular but it was on a fishing trip. My father and I go to Canada every year to Quetico Provincial Park to fish and backpack. It’s a trip we look forward to each year and the memories that come from the trip are timeless, just as such as my story. We were on a third day of our trip and had the perfect campsite over looking a big cove with a small island that harbored some bald eagles and a huge marsh where we frequently saw moose. My father and I were setting on a huge cliff at sunset just in awe of the what was around us. At the time I had a lot on my mind and he knew it and asked a few times about it, with me never divulging into details. This time we were sitting there sipping on our nightly crown royal and the subject was brought up again on my troublesome thoughts. At the time he didn’t realize that just a few weeks before the trip my future wife told me that we would be starting a family. I was so excited yet didn’t know how I could tell my parents. Alas something told me that this was the best moment and I told my father that I had a great, unexpected surprise, and he knew exactly what I meant because I replied with “I’m going to be a grandpa aren’t I?” I told him yes and I had never seen my father more happier, not even after catching the 5lb smallie he caught earlier the day. That trip will never be forgot. Along with completing my grand slam for the trip by catching a nice 26″ walleye on my last cast of the trip. So many good memories from fishing trips.

Great contest Lizzy, your blog is awesome!! Can’t wait for our fishing trip together.. I have never had a fishing trip with another lady so I know it’s going to be a BLAST!!!

One of my favourite memories of fishing was the first time I went in a derby. It was a walleye derby, which they have in the area I live in every year. I remember going to the weigh-in area as a kid and they had a huge tank with all the fish, it was so interesting to me and I dreamed of catching fish that big one day.

It was a couple of years ago that I entered the derby. I went out at midnight on opening day with my two friends and we fished ALL night from 12am-8:30am without a single strike. I got my first bite at 6am and caught a mudcat, and about a half-hour later I caught a little perch. The guys didn’t catch anything!!

We were trolling on our way back home in an area that was loaded full of boats. I threw my line in and suddenly I felt something. At first it moved but then it felt like it was stuck on bottom. My friend said ‘I think it’s weeds or something’ and then it started to move. I kept reeling and then all of a sudden the fish of my life surfaced by the boat, I screamed!! It was huge!!! The fish was only hanging on by a hair.. the end of the lip with only 1 hook in and just barely! Another boat nearby heard my excitement and they started moving closer to take a look.. the problem was we did not have a net. At this time the Ministry Officers were going around checking for licenses and they saw me reeling it in. The fish was now at the surface and we had one small problem… getting it in the boat!! My friend wanted to grab it but it could have easily broke free. The other fisherman saw what was going on so they docked up to our boat, the one guy jumped in with his net and scooped up the fish for me. I was so excited, and the Ministry began snapping photos of the catch!! They told me they had not yet seen a bigger fish that day so I was really convinced I may win the grand prize – a fishing boat!!

We weighed in and the fish was 8 and a half pounds, which did not make the top 10, but it was that day that I got hooked on tournament fishing! It was so amazing to catch such a big fish, and although I did not win anything, it sparked a new passion for me.