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I got mine for my 8th birthday and man was I one pound boy!! Up until that point I was hangin' on to the end off an old bamboo cane pole and darn bobber. It worked great for the sucker's or a small cat's close to bank along the river my folks would take us to fish, but I caught very little else..
Then came my 8th birthday and boy was I tickle to find a "real" fishing pole that even had a reel attached!! I believe it was one of those old 202 Zebco combo's loaded with 300lb test line and,, I wish I still had it a a keep sake.. At any rate,, we went fishing the next day at little lake not to far from our home.. And before leaving I'd been out side all morning practicing my new found casting ability and was set to cast and reel all day long if that's what it took to actually catch what would be my first rainbow once we'd reached the lake.
However,, upon arriving at the lake I found not to much had change. I was stuck setting on my butt next to my uncle who'd loaded a hook, sinker, night crawler,,, along with a darn bobber on my new fishin' pole!!! Whats more,, I didnt catch a trout the entire day. But,, I kept practicing those casting skill's in the back field knowing someday I'd get one! Yeah I got one alright,, I caught my first rainbow by hand in a ditch 50 yards from house after a kids fishing day was held in the park and later the pond was drained. But hey,, I was one proud lad anyway!!
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i got a late start in getting my first pole like you i startd off with the ole cane pole and bobber this was when i was living in texas when i was 14 we moved to ca. and a older brother was going to take me on my first sportfishing trip to catlina island so we went out and got me my first pole can't remember what brand but it had a penn jigmaster on it again like you i also caught no fish as i was sea sick the whole time but not to be detoured i started pin heading that year and ended up spending the next 7 years working on sport boats a time in my life i would never change if i could "go back" and do it all over again
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I remember my first
Twas a long long time ago,
I was a scared to my vary toes of getting in a boat, but my uncle was bound and determined to take me fishing...
His charm I remember, I could not resist, (comparable to a rusty nail) he whispered in to my ear inviting me to get in or he was going to put me in the boat with me kicking and screaming. looking around and seeing all the other kids boys and girls alike were getting in with out a fuss many younger than me, (I was 5)
Reluctantly I got in, but I had no pole to fish with. I remember not being vary happy about this, but still my uncle had the answer for this as well, he grabbed a stick from the ground before he got in the boat and handed it to me and said this was my new fishing pole. I was pissed to say the least. I wondered had my uncle been hanging his head over the deep end of the boat to long.
As we headed out to the lake and I asked him how far out we were going to fish and he replied not more than 20 feet from shore. Well we headed out towards the middle of the lake and I checked my life jacket to make sure it was on tight and held on for dear life. We road for what seemed for ever over the wake of other boats slowly but ever so steady, my uncle just looked straight ahead watching where he was going as if he had some designed purpose never looking in any direction or even directly at me.
Half-hour later we come to rest about 20 feet from shore, all the way on the other side of the lake!!! Uncle was full of surprises like that. We never knew what he was up to but it always had a pleasant effect on our lives.
He dropped anchor and said lets start fishing. and I looked at him bewildered as what I was supposed to do with a 5 foot long stick. He told me to hand him my pole after which he tied on piece of fishing line he striped from his pole and tied on a bopper and hook. I asked rather complainingly how am I going to cast with this? he replied saying we are not casting today we are fishing beside the boat.
He to fished beside the boat not casting. We must have sat there for hours pulling gill after gill. we filled a five gallon bucket full of 10 inch or better gills. I remember after we got back I counted the fish, 98 in all, uncle said to me not bad for your first day, 2 more and I would have caught my daily limit. I had out fished my uncle by 2 fish...
The next time I saw my uncle heading towards the boat with a pole in his hand, I grabbed my magic stick as he called it and was ready to go, it seemed that fishing overcame my fear of the water. and a stick in the hand is better than no fish at all...
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I think mine was a little zebco. I caught so many perch and bluegill with that it when I was little. MAN THAT WAS A BLAST!
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mine too was the zebco 202 combo. batteling many a fish landing loade of gills and yes dozens of 10-30 pound carp yearly, that was untill a 30 inch largmouth bass snaped my rod in half. what a sinking fealing that was....
I still today would buy my kid a starter 202 zebco combo. ya cant hardly go wrong.
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My first brand new fishing rod was inherited from my little brother. He had gotten it for Christmas, and never got to use it. Actually my husband inherited it, and we didn't use it for about 5 years. Then another 3 years later, we broke out with it again and it became MINE! It's an Ugly Stick. I already had to replace the reel with a Durango reel.
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Good story! I remember when I got my first rod, played with it as much as I could. Even caught a few fish too.
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I PRETTY SURE MINE WAS A ZEBCO 202 ALSO. IF I REMEMBER RIGHT IT WAS 5' WHITE (OFF WHITE) WITH GREEN WRAPS AND THE REEL WAS WHITE WITH GREEN PRINTING AND A GREEN BOTTON. I CAUGHT ALOT OF BULLHEAD AND CORP OUT OF THE CREEK THAT RUNS THROUGH TOWN. I EVEN REMEMBER TAKING MY LITTLE SISTER WAS AND I HOOK A SNAPPER I MANAGED TO GET IT TO SHORE. WHEN SHE SEEN IT SHE STARTED SCREAMING LIKE SOMEONE WAS TRYING TO KILL HER. I WAS ONLY TEN OR ELEVEN SO I WAS SCARED TO SO I CUT THE LINE. HEY THANKS FOR STIRRING UP SOME GOOD MEMORIES.
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