Remember your FIRST big Catch?

[kingston-Mike]

Perhaps these pix will help joggle the memory.

This guy was so excited and pleased with himself, I had to get the camera! An excerpt from an email I recieved from him.."I thought these are the best fishing pictures I ever have, thank you so much. No problem at all for posting my picture...". He and his family had been there for hours with no luck, I show up and catch a 2 lb LGM on my 2nd cast, then 10 minutes later I see him winding and rod bent over like an old...., well, just bent over.

Anyone care to rent me as a good luck charm?

[Chuckles]

yeah, I remember my first big fish. It's this fish that gave me the itch to go fish every year and to fish for pike. This was my first summer fishing since I was about 7 years old. The only time I would fish was with my grandfather, and he died when I was 10 years old. Didn't fish for all those years until I started volunteering with a 8 year old boy in guelph. I decided to take him fishing and I got the bite again, boy what was I missing. So, the story of this fish is simple. I tried to go fish off shore at guelph lake, but the winds were too strong and blowing my way and made it very hard to cast out. I go for a drive to the local bait shop and he tells me that I can catch some bass and pike in this local river. So I start off at the one end of the river that is fishable from shore. Catch a little bass, nothing much, but still catching. I decide to walk down the river a little. I see this deep whole in the water which goes down deeper then the rest of the river and it's right by a drain from the fields I guess. So anyways I decide to cast out in the hole, and bang, I get a big hit, and it's a big fish. Takes about 5 minutes for me to see what I have on my line. I get it to come to the surface and my eyes wow, my biggest ever, this is huge. of course I'm still just starting off, my first thought is "how am I gonna land this huge fish". I'm by myself, I've been told not to grab the pikes my the mouth, so not too sure how I'm gonna do it. I eventually get it tired enough to get to the shore, and, with my disposable camera I take a picture with the one hand and still holding the rod with the other, or the fish would take off with my rod. This is what I got, again keep in mind this is with one hand and holding a rod in the other. You can kinda see the lure on the side of it's mouth.



So I take the picture, and now try to get it on shore to take a better picture. What to do? What I do next is probably good to go in the "ediot move" section. I grab the pike by the tail "no gloves" duh!! and with the other hand try to pull on the line to get it's front end on the shore. Well, surprise surprise, the line snaps right away and the pike takes off. I tried to catch it again the next day, but no, not that stupid I guess, or maybe still in shock. I caught this pike on a 8pnds test line. The day I go back to guelph to visit friends, I'll make sure to look for my best friend of all, the pike that just got away.

Thx


Chuck

[Mike Lennox]

still waiting for that 'Big Fish" I catch alot of nice ones,,,,,but nothing truly enormous, ive got a7 lb pike in gano and a 4 pound bass at dows lake, but im still waiting for an enormous fish to give me a story, thats worth telling,YFF

[kingston-Mike]

yeah, I remember my first big fish. It's this fish that gave me the itch to go fish every year and to fish for pike.

As a shoreline fisherman, one of the challenges for me is to locate a spot deep enough that may hold some decently sized fish. I have a couple of favorites spots which I hear stories of 10lb+ Pike being taken on occasion...So I keep going back hoping.

In my very short fishing history, I've landed an 18" 4.5lb LGM, 5lb 34" Pike and nearly landed a 7-8lb Pike. It's about that moment in time that the realization of whats holding onto your lure is no small sunfish. But speaking of Sunfish, take a gander at this FAT 11" Sunfish caught by my brother in Michigan just last week. We didn't have the heart to keep him, still has some grwoing to do.

[Duker]

First big fish eh??? hmmm well theres been fish i actually caught that were memorable but the biggest i actually caught by hand on a class trip for wild egg collection for salmon spawning. Although we had nets there was one or 2 i could get by hand.
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/050624.jpg[/img][/url]

But my most memorable big fish was on Pigeon lake with a class buddy, its a long story but it was my first musky since i was young and me and my buddy just had a great evening fishing, i think thats what made it that much better.

http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/050630.jpg[/img][/url]


Duke

[Duker]

Ooops, see what i mean Fishhawk...no computer skills at all, haha.

Duke

[Rocky]

We're nearing the 40th anniversary of my first big fish, and it happened in Ontario - go figure. It had been years since I had gone fishing - long before my marriage. My wife convinced me to join her family on a trip to the Lanark area in Aug. of 1965. I borrowed a rod and reel from a friend, bought some lures, and away we went. It wasn't the easy trip it is today. We first had to drive from our home in MD to meet her folks in Johnstown, PA and then the back roads up to the NY Thruway and across to Syracuse, then to the TI bridge. It seemed like forever to get to Lanark and then miles more on dirt roads to our destination. It was worth the drive. I still never tire of the beauty of Ontario.
Bright and early the next morning, I mounted my 2 hp ourboard to the wooden Peterboro boat that was tied up at our dock. I set out to explore the lake, knowing little about boats and fishing. It was said that trolling for northerns was the preferred method to catch them. It put out my silver spoon and white pork rind trailer, and motored slowly around the shoreline of the small, but beautiful body of water. It wasn't too long before a pike slammed my lure. A fierce battle ensued, but the fish was finally netted and in the boat. It measured 36" and I thought it had to be the biggest fish in the province. Little did I know that it wasn't, nor that it would be several years before I landed another that large.
I can still remember the details after all these years. It started a love for fishing, and Ontario in particular, that lasts to this. day.