When you were a kid

[Wizard]

When I was a kid, my friends and I would fish from the bank of streams and ponds. We would take a clean tin can, canteen of water and matches with us. If we got hungry, we would clean fish, put them on a stick and cook them over a small fire. Sometimes we would boil water in the tin can and cook up some mudbugs to eat. What did you do while waiting for the fish to bite?

[LgMouthGambler]

Backpack full of baits and stuff. Maybe a few granola bars. Walked the banks for hours until it got dark. Sometimes riding our bikes for miles and miles until we got to a good looking canal. 2 pc Berkley Lightning graphite rod, and a Mitchell Spidercast SC30 was my pride and joy.

[Dark3]

When I was a kid, we would go to large mud puddles in my florida neiborhood to catch craw fish or head to the pond with some bread.

[Bud Kennedy]

As a farm kid there was no fishing until the daily chores were done.  My best friend and I would meet up and ride our bicycles to local farm ponds in the late afternoon and fish until dark.  Our tackle was not much, I had my brand new Johnson Century and a 2 piece action rod and a small aluminum tackle box.  The baits were few and basic.  In line spinner baits, jitterbugs, hula poppers.  If the bass were not biting then would put on a fly of some sort with a bobber for weight and catch bluegill.  Even then we rarely kept fish because taking them home on a bicycle was a pain in the rear.  We would usually fish a couple times a week.  When we got older we would visit some local streams and wade for miles.  Was always fun when the weather was hot.  In those days there were multiple time zones so we were able to fish until after 9pm.  It is now sad that today's kids don't have the environment that would allow them to go to places like this on their own.  By the way, I still have the rod and reel and the tackle box that I referenced at the beginning of this post.  Wonderful memories for times gone by but not forgotten. 

[BenFishing]

Even as a kid, I spent a lot of time bass fishing, using lures.  But, those times when lures were all lost to trees, we'd go catch our own bait.  We'd scoop the net along the bottom, catch a few crawdads, and start fishing. 
While we were fishing, we'd keep scooping with the nets, hoping to catch a small alligator snapper to take home and put in a fish tank for a few weeks, or sifting through all of the different bugs and such...learning the hard way which ones could bite the crap out of you.
We'd find a venomous snake, and keep it mad for a few minutes while we tested our bravery, daring each other to get closer (never closer than the length of a fishing pole).
We'd wade through the water, collecting clams, whether for dinner or bait.
Mud fights, wrestling, rope swings.  We'd clip bells to the tips of our poles, and move further down to swim, especially if there was a place to jump into the water.
Start a camp fire, though we hardly ever used it for anything other than watching things burn.
Tell fish stories that had more imagination in it than a Pixar movie.

Once I passed 10, it was almost all bass fishing, and all of that other goofing around pretty much went away.  Bass fishing become enough to keep me entertained for hours....though, it is still fun to hop into the water every now and then, and cool off.

[jocko]

We usually packed a lunch.  PBJ and a can of pepsi. A few little debbies.

My Mom used to drop me off at Burke Lake in NoVA with a dozen night crawlers and $1.  When I got hungry - I'd walk over to the concession stand - where I could buy a hot dog, cracker jacks and a soda.   I always had a stringer of big bluegill and crappies to clean when she picked me up. 

Wish I had summers off now!

[Cheap Hooker]

I grew up in Brooklyn, Fished the Atlantic and Hudson River off bridges  and docks. We used to count the floating bodies and the trash floating across from New Jersey................Just sayin

[Pferox]

I lived in Chicago, my Dad would take me to work with him on Saturdays and when we were done, would go to this pay to fish place in Burbank, I think it was, until they closed, mostly catfish.  Then as time went on we started fish the forest preserves outside of the city which had public fishing.  Whenever we went to visit relatives in Missouri we fished the ponds and creeks. 

I got old enough to ride my bike to Marquette Park, a few miles away it had a Lagoon running through it, I found a pipe and mounted it onto my bike to carry a rod, used to raise night crawlers and rode to the park with my cousin to fish it many times.

[ssj3goten]

I grew up fishing and finally become able to go on my own at Fort Leonard Wood with either legs or bike. I don't remember eating much out there which could have been a reason I weighed under 100lbs most of teenage life??? Some of the rivers we fished we would swim or do dumb kid stuff

[bigjim5589]

I was mostly fishing in a tidal creek for perch as a kid. We had a spot on the bank we had cleared to be able to cast thru the tree branches. Much of the creek was still wooded back then. Now, there's houses all along there. 

A buddy & I fished together a lot & after setting out our baits, one or both of us would wade the shallows looking for crabs in the grass with a dip net, especially soft shells.  If we were catching fish we took turns looking for crabs! Sometimes we took food & drinks, sometimes we didn't.

[BigDBasser]

I grew up in Galveston and Texas City.  My family would fish the bay area for most anything that swam.  We'd spend hours wading the shoreline fishing for trout and red fish.  As we got older, my brother and I would ride our bikes out on the TC dike and we'd wade out catching sand trout and croaker on dead shrimp.  Had more than one stringer taken away by sand sharks.  This was before Jaws.  We always knew there were sharks, just never gave them no mind.  We'd also go crabbing with chicken necks and a net along the rocks on the dike and sea wall.  Back then, you could catch a tub of blue crabs in a few hours easy.  Crabs are still my favorite seafood. 

[Wizard]

I would visit relatives in Mobile and go crabbing. A chicken neck tied on a string and a dip net allowed you to crab Mobile Bay. A half hour and you had enough crabs for a family. In Nam, my unit was on the coast for awhile. We would catch giant blue crabs the size of dinner plates, dig a pit in the sand and cook them in seaweed like they do in Maine.

[analfisherman]

Grew up In LaCrosse, Wi.
We had 3 rivers, Black  River, LaCrosse River, and the Mississippi River.
Multiple back waters and swamps.
Vernon County Trout streams within like 15 miles.
My father died when I was in kindergarden so no one to teach me anything.

Started with sunnies riding bikes like 4-5 miles to the Lagoons over the bridge. They had one specificly for 14 and under kids. Earth worms.
Then crappies, same area. But had started artifical baits. 1/32 ball heads and tubes or 2in. grubs. TO HARD TO CARRY minows on a bike.
Then catfishing the Dams on the Miss. Stink baits, home brewed.
then came the plastic worm introduction and we would mail EVERY SINGLE ad in the back of Boy's Life etc. and get a couple of freebies from anyone who would offer.
We then had to figure out how or what to do with them. 

So on came Bass Fishing.  and a terrible addiction began. 

I had paper route on our side of river and would pack a two piece rod and fish every morning after my morning route till noon and go home eat and roll papers for afternoon route.

Turning 16 in LaCrosse meant getting a vehicle and a flat bottom boat.
Didn't matter what type of vehicle as long as you could rig a hitch on it for a boat.
So early spring we Walleye fished and then bassin, panfishing mixed in with cats and bullheads just to break things up. 
Vehicles also aloud easier accsess to the Vernon County trout streams.

The addiction of fishing has been with me since I can remember.

Best childhood fish tale.

We rode our bikes as mention and used those chains with clips for stringers.
We learned how to clean fish early because in those days, being single mom and 5 kids meant fish were food.
We'd clean our fish after every outing taking turns whose back yard based on whose mom needed garden fertilized. 
So one day early spring the crappie bite was ON!
We had a kid (friend at every single tree (laydown we could accsess.
We had two large chain stringers filled, 2-3 crappie per clip.
It was sandwich time so we took the stringers put a branch through the end and stuck it in the ground.
Headed to the picnic table by the artisian well (man was that good water, better than POP (soda  ).
We ate and goofed off for like an hour because the stringers were full and we new the only thing left was to drag the fish home 4miles and clean them. (which wasn't real appealing after been fishing since 6:30am).
We then gathered the bikes and poles etc. and went to pull out the stingers and head home.

Pulled out both stringers and....NOTHING BUT FISH-HEADS still on the clips.     
We then remember the HUGE snapping  turtle we had been tossing rocks at during the morning.
Dang thing came back for revenge I guess. 
I'm talking not a single fish left...every clip had nothing but heads...talking, had to be 30-40 fish with some Woopers because it was spawn time. 

Lived next to the rich nieghborhood with huge yards with gardners and lawns groomed like golf courses.
We hunted nightcrawlers nightly with flash lights and red clear plastic taped over lens.
But nightcrawlers were for selling on the corners. Never even considered fishing with them even though we knew thats why folks were buying them. We'd sit with a kid on each corner and hawk worms because we lived on the street that led to the bridge...4mi. away, and the Mississippi.
Also caught my first fish in one of the rich folks ponds which were loaded with Koi.
On a stick and string with a hook I found in our basement.
Would catch one and then run like I never knew I could to the next rich guys house and release it and fish there till I caught one or a gardner caught ME. 
Couldn't tell ANYONE because my brothers would have beat me if they knew I was taking crawlers from the sales stash. 

Sorry about the long post but WOW does this thread bring back some GREAT MEMORIES!
Thanks Wiz. !!!!

[OutdoorFrontiers]

When I was a kid, I'd grab my good old Pflueger knuckle-buster reel, spooled with Dacron line, my Pflueger rod, strap it onto my bike and ride into town.  Below a spillway on the Rock River, I'd pinch bread balls onto my line and lob it into the eddy currents below the dam, then wait for a big carp to grab the bait ball.  And then I'd hang on tight, getting my thumbs burnt and knuckles thoroughly cracked when those big toads would hit the current and drag me downstream, attempting to follow them over the rip-rapped shoreline.

When I did land them, usually I had a buyer waiting for that carp, which I would sell for 10 cents a pound based on my old Zebco DeLiar.  Some days I made as much as $3.00!  And that was great money back in the late 60's, early 70's for  kid...

Steve

[Oldfart9999]

I can't remember back that far.
Rodney