9 hours ago, whitwolf said:

 

These boys were unselfish and taught me all I needed to know about the basics of bass fishing for the next three years. If not for them the learning curve would have been much steeper.

 

I can imagine how steep of a learning curve it would be if people didn't do research and went by trail and error.

9 hours ago, whitwolf said:

 

These While I would have fished now and can never thank my daddy enough for getting me started those two boys we gracious enough to start me on a life long passion chasing those beautiful green fish. 

 

I think for most of us fishing goes beyond just a hobby or something we do for fun, it's a passion and love that lasts for a lifetime.

My first memory of fishing was with my dad, fishing for trout in the sierras on a camping trip. I vividly remember using salmon eggs and actually seeing the trout in the river. My grandfather had property up in the local mountains and a few of his neighbors had ponds on their property. Fishing those ponds is when I fell in love with bass fishing. Every weekend I wanted to go visit grandpa so I could go fish. I had a favorite lure, my blue and Crome rattle trap, and it worked for me every time. Looking back I think most of the fish were no bigger than 2 pounds, but I remember one year there was an explosion of frogs at the ponds. My grandpa told me to go catch a frog and he'll make sure I catch the biggest fish in the lake. Rigged up a bobber, hooked the frog through the back leg and cast it out. I kept thinking I had a fish because the frog swimming was sinking the bobber, but my grandpa said to wait until it stays under water for 3 seconds before I set the hook, and set it hard. Well, it finally sank for 3 seconds, and I set the hook as hard as I could and I got a good one. It was probably only 4 pounds, but it was the biggest bass I had ever caught. I was hooked:). Every time I would go up from then on I asked if the frogs were back, but no luck. So, he taught me to catch bluegill and use them for live bait.  Man, what great memories:)