When you think of your past fishing trips, what is the one that stands out the most?

 

 

I know I said one but I've got 2. First one, Early to mid 80's my dad grandfather and I would take annual trips to Eagle Lake Ontario to fish for walleye, pike and bass. One trip in particular we hired a guide for the week. All the guide asked for as a tip was that we bring him a case of beer every morning. He finished the case by himself each day by the time we were off the water. We were on fish every day of the trip except one. Hadn't caught a fish all morning and my grandfather hooks into a 29" 9lb walleye. My dad proceeds to tell him if we don't catch anymore fish, were eating it for shore lunch. We ended up getting a few more and the guide made lunch. My dad had the guide hide grandpas trophy and at the end of the day told him we ate it. He was ticked. My dad had the walleye mounted and gave it to my grandfather a year later. Second one. My first trip to KY Lake. I was with my dad and son. We had a banner 4 days on the water catching 50 bass a day with the average being over 2lbs. My son was mocking me on day one because I was crappie fishing with my dad while he was casting cranks for bass. He had already caught a number of bass and I said I'm going for quality, not quantity. Not 5 minutes later, I caught my PB largemouth of 6 1/2lbs on a crappie minnow.

 

Let's hear some stories...

The time i went to visit my uncle in Missouri during summer vacation and he took me bass fishing at this private club he belonged to. On the way to the club he told me we had to stop at this small bait shop and pick up these red rubber worms with white dots on them (pre rigged, i think creme made them?) I didn't know much about fishing back in them days so this was going to be a fun learning experience  for me. I remember we pulled up to this chain link gate and he got out and unlocked a padlock and we drove down this gravel road till we came upon this skinny looking body of water that looked like a narrow canal. He put his jon boat in the water and we started casting these special red worms along the shore line and it was amazing, we were catching bass after bass on every cast.I had never seen anything like it.I was used to going out with my friends and fishing some of the local forest preserve ponds by me and getting skunked . I thought my uncle had just introduced me to this special magical lure that would catch fish anywhere, any state.I talked him into stopping back at the same bait shop on the way home so i could stockpile up on these special worms that couldn't be found in Illinois.I envisioned myself catching bass after bass back home while my friends looked on in amazement .I was too young at the time to realize that there was nothing special about these red worms we were using, in reality this small private canal was so loaded with bass we could have caught them on any worm or lure.I came back home to Illinois with this big pile of red worms that i couldn't wait to show to my friends and i don't think i ever caught a bass on one around here,i bet if i looked hard enough, i still have some of those lying around in my garage and thats been over forty years ago.

1. When I fished my first BASS State team many many years ago on the California Delta. Had to drive all the way from Oregon with heater in truck on as radiator was acting up...so was warm trip. Had the second slowest boat out of all ten states and won the tourney. Was in top five first two days an caught an 8# 4 oz largemouth the last day for kicker and truth be told. There was some head shakin to be sure among all the big boys.

2. I have to many...thanks for bringing back some memories.

Tight lines

First time I was ever at Bull Shoals.  I couldn't believe how clear the water was. 

I don't really have 'past trips' the closest was my pop would hand me a rod on the bank and sit there.

Started officially fishing with my wife a few years back so in a couple decades perhaps I'll think about those trips that we have now.

Man there are so many that "Stand Out."

 

I think the one that keeps coming to my mind as I reflect, is one of the first fishing trips I ever had with my dad in his boat. My grandparents had a place on grand lake ok, and my dad had recently bought a beautiful blue champion with a 200 on it. Prior to going out fishing, we went to the local baitshop and they put us on a hot bait. It was some 8 inch paddletail type worm that floated, in red shad color and it was made by pradco. I can still almost remember the way the bait shop owner looked. We texas rigged that bad boy up and flew up the elk river to a point that wasn't far away from our dock.  My brother and dad weren't catching anything. Neither was i, until I threw my worm in only inches of water at the beginning of the point. I set the hook, and in she came. My dad made me feel like it was a monster. We put it in the livewell (even though I'm sure it wouldn't have measured), and took it to our dock to show mom and snap some pictures.

 

I think I still have that package of worms in my tackle bag. Special times.

Last year I was fishing close to my dad’s house with him and my brother.  My brother was in his bass raider and my dad and I were in my inflatable boat.  I had built a wood floor and had a trolling motor on it.  My dad was sitting in a fold up camping chair and had just got a bluegill that was bleeding a little bit.  He leaned over to wash his hands and him and the chair went overboard.  I jerked him in the boat by his overall straps and then proceeded to laughing til it hurt with my brother.  Didn’t catch a whole lot of fish, or any monsters but I’ll never forget that fishing trip!!

That story is priceless buzzed bait, you guys will be laughing about that for decades.

That story is priceless buzzed bait, you guys will be laughing about that for decades.

 

We will for sure, easily one of the funniest things that I've ever witnessed....  I found the photo of him in the boat after I pulled him in....

 

 

I have Two  ~  but I'm always looking to add to the "Best Trip" List.

 

A-Jay

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/100960-a-week-on-lake-erie/?p=1109652

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/115628-a-week-on-lake-baccarac-video-added/?p=1263929

One time my dad's friend, also the pastor of our old church took up fishing on his boat. We were using blue with firetail 5 inch curly tail worms. We cast to a fish attracter and I caught my first bass. It was a dink but I was hooked about fishing.

I remember a florida trip with my brother & dad. We rented a small plastic construction boat with an electric motor from the park service dock . We were fishing a saltwater bay off the west coast of florida near sanibel island. Mostly a seatrout fisherie. The bait of choice was a jig tipped with cut shrimp or a curly tail grub. We would slowly troll to cover water looking for a school of trout. My dad was sitting in the back of the boat running the trolling motor set up like a tiller. Suddenly I hear the drag singing on his spinning reel & he is shouting he has something big. He proceeds to stand up yanking his spinning rod skyward. The sudden movement of his standing up & fighting this monster fish contributes to his loss of balance & he goes overboard. In the process he flips the narrow beamed boat & we are all three in the water along with all of our gear and the trolling motor battery which was just connected with aligator clips. I yelled to my dad to just hang on the boat as he was older and not a good swimmer. I soon found out the water was not too deep & I could bounce off the botttom & push the boat towards shore. We soon got to shallower water & could stand. We managed to hang on to our rods & reels & the cooler & tackle box floated. We only lost the battery , a few baits that sunk and our pride. Fishing for that day was over as we returnned the boat & paid for the lost battery.

 

Later on I commented to my brother that dad had actually got his line caught in the trolling motor prop but we never told him that.  

Twice in my life, I landed 25-pound smallmouth bags. The winters are so long in northwestern Ontario and the smallmouth grow slowly. Catching a hundred bass in a day isn't rare, but catching five averaging five pounds each is rare...for me. I've only done it twice. One evening we launched late because of heavy rain. It was still raining, but not pounding. There were two little islands at the base of a series of cataracts. There were weeds between and behind the islands, so the spot was perfect: cover, structure, and current. Even today, I remember their lengths: 19.5", 20", 20.25", 20.5", and 21". They were all big-shouldered footballs and the length to weight chart says that's nearly 25 pounds.

The other time was when I was on a wilderness lake by myself and I fished a strait between a long island and the shore. When the light was overhead, I would see the bottom, which was a mix of boulders and bowling-ball-sized rocks. It was perfect structure and I managed to land another five big gals with two reaching 21 inches and the other three between 19" and 20.5".

This thread is awesome ! @Dwight Hottle - that story had me belly laughing - glad you all made it out alive but wow hilarious! 😂😂😂😂

@Swamp Girl - 25 lb bags of small mouth is still insane any time anywhere from where I’m sitting - epic!

I think it’s gonna be pretty hard to top my PB smallmouth because it was the fish that set off the life long addiction to bass fishing with lures - it’s written well somewhere on the forum - long story short - full moon fishing Lake Huron at night from a canoe with my dad and uncle and I nail a 4 lb smallmouth on a wiggle wart in 4 feet of rock flats. It was epic.

Another one I’ll never forget was my son thinking he was hung on a log when he was all of 7 years old trolling a crankbait - only to pull up the biggest bass he’s ever hooked to this day - easily over 10 lbs- didn’t have a net and was using 6 lb mono - I was at the wrong end of the boat to lip her - my wife got scared - snapped line. We bought a net on the way home from the lake - Jake still hasn’t let her live that one down some 6 years and many big fish later! 😂

For me I’m gonna go with June 1st last year I fought a 10+ lber for over an hour in a beaver dam - got her to the surface and she came off right when she was in range. It was one of the most amazing fights I’ve ever had and she was massive. It’s a battle that forever has me wondering if I should be bringing a chainsaw and hedge trimmers with me into heavy wood cover! 😂😂😂

An old post resurrected with some good stories.

I'll chime in ;)

As a kid who enjoyed fishing, I would often tie on my fishing pole to my bicycle and go to the nearby waters. I'll be back for dinner I would yell to my mom.

For my birthday , my mother surprised me with a new fishing pole and I remember her telling me the salesperson said this was a really good setup.

And it was, a very good setup (ABU Garcia ambassador reel/pole), however, it was a fishing boat rod meant for saltwater applications and I fished freshwater from the bank.

So here I am, a 11ish year old kid tossing a jitterbug lure with a boat rod and later with a bobber and worm for panfish :)

My mother meant well and had a heart of gold and it was later that my uncles set me up correctly.

This was a sweet revival of a thread. Miss seeing Oregon Native/Gary on here (RIP brother) and even though he was a tad cantankerous at times the board also misses Slonezp who started the thread.

I've been super blessed to have countless wonderful fishing memories with my dad and many other great memories with my daughters. Probably my favorite memory was trolling for trout in the middle of a blizzard on a high mountain lake (almost 6000' elevation) and catching three rainbows in the 5lb class within 30 minutes of each other. I was 7-8 years old and the weather was so bad my dad and his buddy decided it was safer to troll in than use the big motor because of the lack of visibility with all the snow. Neither of them got a bite, and I landed 3 giants that had them shocked and complaining about the kid catching the biggest fish of the trip. 😆

Man what a great thread to revive! Thank you @Swamp Girl !!

I tried to come up with one story to add, but man, there are SO MANY! From fishing with Hank Parker for 3 days, to taking disabled kids fishing, fishing with many pros, all the Bassresource roadtrips (Kentucky lake, Pickwick, Guntersville, Lake Fork, and other bucket list lakes), fishing Lake Toho with my wife on our honeymoon, to fishing out of a SeaDoo on Stickmarsh 13, and MANY others....there's just too many to list!

Any time on the water is a good story, no matter what!

My first fish ever was an 18.5" carp caught fishing with my grandpa from his dock when I was 4 years old. I'm now 56 and that memory is still vivid in my mind. It ignited a lifelong passion.

Love these great stories!

I fished as a kid all the little creeks in town with my rod strapped across the handlebars of my bike. My Dad and Mom owned a gas station and would work 7 days a week but every summer my Dad would take me to a lake for a weekend. We would pay the farmer to camp in his pasture a dollar. The lake was a shallow, dirty water lake that was one step from becoming a cornfield and was full of big, yellow bellied bullheads. I would catch them by the buckets as my Dad would set and drink coffee (he didn't fish). The farmer would clean them for a penny apiece. Early one Sunday morning I was awakened by a cow sticking his nose in the door of our pup tent. Scared the heck out of me! This was back in the 1950's when I was a young boy. It was a "wilderness" trip for me.

I love your story, Al! So, you graduated from catching bullheads in a cornfield to giant bass in a cornfield. Life is good, huh?

Thanks, @Glenn! When I've read all the current threads, I like going back, back, back in time.

Unfortunately the 1 fishing trip that really sticks with me was a business trip out of Snug Harbor, RI.

A gorgeous September day that started at 4:00 AM. We got to our first stop and were into False Albacore, Yellowfin, Skipjack & Blackfin Tuna. We even had a Bluefin Tuna which was super exciting for me!

We were having a lot of action and a lot of fun. Then the news of a plane had gone into a building and we didn't hear much because our signal was weak at sea.

We came in with all kinds of gutted fish just waiting to be cut into steak and eaten fresh and then we heard what really happened ... That day was September 11, 2001

I will never forget the fun and then the stress of that day

I grew up in central Mississippi. Our family owned a fish camp that was an oxbow lake from the pearl river (river in central MS). The lake was loaded with both white and black crappie, catfish, bass and the occasional “other” things. My cousin once caught a spoonbill bass (paddlefish) out of there. But, the best story from Arm, MS (that was the community) was one morning my dad walked into the cookhouse and my aunt Barbara (we called her Baboo) was in there making coffee and breakfast. My dad asked her “Baboo, how long have you been in here?” “An hour or so, why?” There was an 8-9’ gator uunder the cookhouse dining table. They both backed out slowly.

The one fishing story I have that Sticks out the most is the time we got stuck on the river...Henderson Ford Boat Ramp White River just north of Martinsville. I had a a 14x36 foot Jon Boat, 55 lb thrust trolling motor 2 batteries and no outboard. In my infinite wisdom I somehow thought we could get back up river with just a trolling motor. Didn't take horribly long to kill both my batteries and I have no idea what to do next. We can't row upstream. There is a powerplant along the river and we tried to get out there. Stranded and hungry, we were happy to abandon the boat and just get an uber home. We climbed up the ladder and bang on whatever we can to try to get someone to let us in. Security guard refused to even let us walk through the parking lot. He kept saying "This is IPL property...you can't be here." I was very mad and very annoyed with the whole situation. We ended up floating down as far as we could. Happy to have a place to just get out because the Low head dam at the time was literally right there. I couldn't float over that. My buddy Brett and I get this boat out of the water and some nice fisherman helped us carry our gear what felt like a 1/4 mile back to the parking lot. I had a second or third date with this girl scheduled for that night. I called her up and say Ill be late or not make it. I explain my whole broke down on the river situation. She volunteers to drive from Irvington to Martinsville to give me a ride back to my car. She gets there and is mad I'm with my buddy and not alone. She also mad I smell like the river and stunk her jeep up. She gives me a ride back to my car, we made out for a minute, and I never heard from her again. I back to my car and go south picking up my buddy and load up the poor boat. If this boat was any bigger heavier we have had to leave it behind. I actually met my wife the very next day. I also had a horrible case of poison ivy/oak from whatever we got out of the woods.

1 hour ago, jitterbug127 said:

She also mad I smell like the river and stunk her jeep up. She gives me a ride back to my car, we made out for a minute, and I never heard from her again.

She was definitely NOT a keeper: She owned a Jeep and worried about its smell. A Jeep should be smelly if you're using it like they're built to be used.

5 hours ago, Smirak said:

My dad asked her “Baboo, how long have you been in here?” “An hour or so, why?” There was an 8-9’ gator uunder the cookhouse dining table. They both backed out slowly.

Wow, what a story!