my dad or grandad weren't really fisherman, so I only remember going as a kid maybe 3 or 4 times total...
When I was in the Air Force(1985-1989) a buddy of mine asked me if I wanted to go fishing with him. I told him sure, but that I didn't have a pole or anything, so he said he had one I could use... we ended up at a lake in central Oklahoma called lake Thunderbird, fishing for catfish at nighttime.
Man, our chicken liver baits barely reached bottom and we had a fish! It was like that for literally hours... we caught em as fast as we could reel em in!
Not knowing that fishing wasn't always like this, I thought "holy crap, fishing is awesome!"
I quickly realized after more trips that the first night was simply a stroke of luck - but I was already hooked!(no pun intended)
After getting bored with simply tossing out bait and waiting, I started looking into bass fishing. I saw those guys on TV constantly busy, casting, retrieving, moving here and there, so it looked alot more exciting than catfishing. I started watching all the usual suspects - Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston(a fellow Okie{a nickname for Oklahoma natives}), Hank Parker, and the Bassmasters tv show...
I poured over all the fishing magazines and bought waaaay more tackle than I could ever use, not even knowing what half of the lures did, I just bought em because they looked cool. LOL But I started to do what they said in the magazines, and began to put 2 and 2 together and I started catching fish! Hey, this stuff really works!
I got a late start on fishing compared to most folks, but man, what a great time I've had... and continue having! I've fished in Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada(I lived in Las Vegas for a few years), and now Massachusetts.
My biggest bass came on a Strike King spinnerbait, chartreuse w/ dual-willow blades and weighed 6lbs. I also got a walleye almost 8 lbs on a Rapala ShadRap. These were both back home in Oklahoma. My biggest bass here in MA was a 4 pounder caught/released at Norton reservoir. I did catch a cod that was probably close to 10 pounds on one of those charter trip things, but saltwater fishing never really interested me... not sure why.
When I was in the Air Force(1985-1989) a buddy of mine asked me if I wanted to go fishing with him. I told him sure, but that I didn't have a pole or anything, so he said he had one I could use... we ended up at a lake in central Oklahoma called lake Thunderbird, fishing for catfish at nighttime.
Man, our chicken liver baits barely reached bottom and we had a fish! It was like that for literally hours... we caught em as fast as we could reel em in!
Not knowing that fishing wasn't always like this, I thought "holy crap, fishing is awesome!"
I quickly realized after more trips that the first night was simply a stroke of luck - but I was already hooked!(no pun intended)
After getting bored with simply tossing out bait and waiting, I started looking into bass fishing. I saw those guys on TV constantly busy, casting, retrieving, moving here and there, so it looked alot more exciting than catfishing. I started watching all the usual suspects - Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston(a fellow Okie{a nickname for Oklahoma natives}), Hank Parker, and the Bassmasters tv show...
I poured over all the fishing magazines and bought waaaay more tackle than I could ever use, not even knowing what half of the lures did, I just bought em because they looked cool. LOL
But I started to do what they said in the magazines, and began to put 2 and 2 together and I started catching fish! Hey, this stuff really works!
I got a late start on fishing compared to most folks, but man, what a great time I've had... and continue having! I've fished in Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada(I lived in Las Vegas for a few years), and now Massachusetts.
My biggest bass came on a Strike King spinnerbait, chartreuse w/ dual-willow blades and weighed 6lbs. I also got a walleye almost 8 lbs on a Rapala ShadRap. These were both back home in Oklahoma. My biggest bass here in MA was a 4 pounder caught/released at Norton reservoir. I did catch a cod that was probably close to 10 pounds on one of those charter trip things, but saltwater fishing never really interested me... not sure why. 
I started when I was young in cub scouts in MI, Me an a friend use to ride our bikes to the lake to fish in Lum MI back in the '70, My parents move to Tulsa OK. an watch people pull in some big cat fish at the river of a bridge I think it was the Mississippi River that ran thru the city , And that was the first time I saw a duck bill fish! being pull in there.
Like you Tony , my dad really wasn't a fisherman. If your greek from the old country, either your a farmer or a fisherman. My dad was a farmer. We went on a few father & son fishing trips but, that was it.
I was into motorcycles from my early twenties. Then 3 or 4 years back I decided to spoil my self & picked up a used Suzuki intruder 800 off ebay. It was my stress relief from the everyday B.S. Then 19 months ago my wife and I had a little surprise. child # 4. I had 3 kids but, they were older so, I didn't feel like I was being too reckless. But with the baby in the house I decided to sell my bike.
Not having that stress relief any more, I thought fishing. There is Horn Pond rite down the street from house. It gets me outside, I can take my kids with me. Little did I know how much I would enjoy it! Its been a year now that I have been mostly bass fishing, my wife thinks I nuts over it.
I don't know what it is, maybe the challenge, the thrill of hooking a fish & not knowing what you have till you real it in. Now I'm getting a little completive too, looking to better my last catch or out fish who ever I'm out with that day. I hoping to fish one of the tournaments from this forum. I guess I have to wait a see where my fishing hobby goes from here? Who knows? Maybe in 5 years I could be standing next to Kevin Van Dam on the podium! HAHA!!
I was into motorcycles from my early twenties. Then 3 or 4 years back I decided to spoil my self & picked up a used Suzuki intruder 800 off ebay. It was my stress relief from the everyday B.S. Then 19 months ago my wife and I had a little surprise. child # 4. I had 3 kids but, they were older so, I didn't feel like I was being too reckless. But with the baby in the house I decided to sell my bike.
Not having that stress relief any more, I thought fishing. There is Horn Pond rite down the street from house. It gets me outside, I can take my kids with me. Little did I know how much I would enjoy it! Its been a year now that I have been mostly bass fishing, my wife thinks I nuts over it.
I don't know what it is, maybe the challenge, the thrill of hooking a fish & not knowing what you have till you real it in. Now I'm getting a little completive too, looking to better my last catch or out fish who ever I'm out with that day. I hoping to fish one of the tournaments from this forum. I guess I have to wait a see where my fishing hobby goes from here? Who knows? Maybe in 5 years I could be standing next to Kevin Van Dam on the podium! HAHA!! 
My dad, who passed away last month at 82, taught my brother and me how to fish. We fished freshwater for sunnies and bass at Kurzon's Mill in West Newbury, and saltwater on party boats out of Newburyport. I remember walking up and down our street with a plastic bag full of mackerel, handing them out to the neighbors. Later, we got our own boat and fished up and down the coast. I was just fishing at Spy Pond today with my daughter and thought of my old man and what a great dad he was. Hope the fish are biting wherever he is these days!
i grew up in michigan and started fishing with a friend when i was around 10. we would ride our bikes down to the lake almost every day every summer. got a 36 inch chinook salmon out of the river when i was 12. then i discovered girls and guitar around age 14 and pretty much stopped through my teen years.
picked it up again for a couple of years after moving to mass in my early 20's. first place i went was the sudbury river. i had never seen a sign on a shoreline warning not to eat the fish. never had to think about that growing up. i quickly learned that was the norm around here. at least back in the early 90's.
then gave it up again when i had kids, real job, etc. and didn't get back into it until a few years ago when i started taking nicholas. now we go every chance we can and it's something i don't plan on giving up again.
picked it up again for a couple of years after moving to mass in my early 20's. first place i went was the sudbury river. i had never seen a sign on a shoreline warning not to eat the fish. never had to think about that growing up. i quickly learned that was the norm around here. at least back in the early 90's.
then gave it up again when i had kids, real job, etc. and didn't get back into it until a few years ago when i started taking nicholas. now we go every chance we can and it's something i don't plan on giving up again.