# Do you remember



## 1basshunter (Mar 27, 2011)

Do you remember what was your first fishing pole was and type? Mine was a zebco 808 a d I was 7 years old at the time. My first fish was a rock bass .


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## gitarzan (Feb 19, 2012)

A Bamboo pole...


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## Priorityfishing (Aug 12, 2012)

Cane pole shortly followed by a snoopy pole


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

A telescoping tubular steel rod with a Langly baitcaster back in 1944. Broke the rod on a largemouth and my fishing buddy (Dad) bought me one of the first solid glass "Action" rods with a Nobby level wind baitcaster which I still have today and occasionally take out for Old Times Sake.


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## BottomBouncer (Jan 20, 2005)

I can't remember, I think it was a Shakespeare spinning combo. Then a Shimano FX spincast combo. I still have the Shimano. The rod has a broken tip but the reel is still good. When I was a kid I put one of those gator grip handles on it.


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## sbreech (Jun 6, 2010)

1.) Cane pole
2.) Zebco 202 combo
3.) Abu Garcia Kingfisher combo - medium light spinning, silver rod and reel with foam grip. I still have the reel.


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## ron92 (Jan 29, 2009)

cane pole, telescoping steel pole, zebco 33..still like a zebco 33 for crappie.


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## Deazl666 (Mar 30, 2012)

When I was 10 or 11, my dad bought me a Shakespeare combo that was entirely too big for any type of fishing in Ohio other than musky, lol. I struggled with that monstrosity for years until I bought my first Shimano ultra-light combo with lawn mowing money...


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## injun laker45 (Jun 28, 2011)

Shakespeare spincast...largemouth bass


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## Jigging Jim (Apr 3, 2010)

Zebco 202 Combo. Years later, I wore the Rod out. Placed that Reel on another Rod and used it for years until I wore the Reel out... Sadly, I don't remember my First Fish.


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## weekend angler (Dec 31, 2011)

Cane pole and first fish blue gill

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## lukejhoward (Jul 1, 2013)

Since I just recently got into fishing I still use my very first setup in my lineup of rods. Shimano Sahara 3000 paired with a 7' medium fenwick eagle gt spinning rod.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

The first that was just mine, not shared with siblings, was a Zebco 202 combo when I was 5 years old. Wore that out, then a couple more, before getting a 33. That was 48 years ago & I cannot remember my first fish as Dad took me quite a bit. Likely either a smallmouth from Darby or a crappie from a nearby quarry.


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## snuff (Apr 19, 2007)

My first Rod was given to me by my dad. It was an old square steel rod with some kind of an old openface bait casting reel. Then he took me to the kokossing river where I caught my first fish which was about a 10 inch smallmouth. I was about five or six years old at the time. Now it is 60 years later and I'm still fish in the kokossing and other rivers and streams for smallmouth. Will continue to do it as long as my old body will let me.

Snuff.


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## Jayhat (Aug 3, 2012)

I had a cane pole but graduated to the trusty zebco 202. My favorite catfish pole today is an 808. Gotta love the simplicity of that Zebco design.

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## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

Mine was also a cane pole, i dont remember my first fish, but i assume Bluegill. The cane pole was my Grandpa's and i still have it today... it hangs on the wall above the patio door, i pry will never use it again.
The fisrt combo that was mine from start to finish was a True Temper underspin push button spincast(the red reel). It was stolen from me


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## gerb (Apr 13, 2010)

i do not...but im sure it was a cheap combo that i got at Andersons General Store


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## FishNutz (Mar 10, 2009)

A snoopy pole, and the first fish I remember was a catfish that I caught by myself using hotdogs as bait about 3 feet from shore and I reeled it in and had to run back to the campsite to get help and the tail hung out of a 5 gallon bucket. No one believed I was using hotdogs and that I caught that big of catfish on a snoopy pole. That's how I got hooked on fishing!

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## mrw2713 (Mar 30, 2014)

Mine was a snoopy pole as well! I can believe you got that big of a cat in on it. I once reeled in a cender block on mine. Still have it. (the pole not the block lol) and my first fish was a yellow perch on lake Erie.


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## gerb (Apr 13, 2010)

i have no idea what gear i used as a kid, but i will always remember the first time i went fishing....my grandpa took me to this small bridge in a park, and we caught bullheads. he took me fishing several times over the years, even when he couldnt fish anymore. he would drive me to a park and watch me fish. i'll never forget those times.


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## dstiner86 (Jun 5, 2012)

Priorityfishing said:


> Cane pole shortly followed by a snoopy pole
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


My first pole was a snoopy pole too..thing had some magic to it I tell ya. Always remember going out my dad and grandpa and some old dudes on vacation and they'd always got so mad because a little kid with a snoopy pole always seemed to show them up..where pole hasn't seen the light of day in many years I still have it laying around somewhere in storage. 

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## Priorityfishing (Aug 12, 2012)

Grandpa made me kill and clean them. It may not look it but I was only 4 when these pictures were taken. 


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## Fishman43078 (Apr 16, 2013)

Mine was a cane pole and I can remember catching creek chubs out of a culvert.

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## Eriesteamer (Mar 9, 2007)

To my first was the cane pole also known by bamboo pole. Then my brother older then I gave me his home made rod. it was a sawed off section off a broom handle and an old Pontiac car radio antenna. as this car had longest ones back then and it would fold in and pull out and was some first that did so. He gave it to me as he did like shortdreft got a sears clear solid fiberglass as our dad got one and set the change from steel poles to the fiberglass age. I still have and use the solid see threw fiberglass 1950 sears rather then a lighter spun one as shakespear came out with these hallow lighter ones that broke easy but set the now used idea that all poles most like use today.


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## saugeye2 (Feb 15, 2009)

think my first one was an ole zebco 202


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## basser53 (May 14, 2005)

My very first fishing pole was a gift from my grandpa.It was a Zebco9BZ,a dark green reel with a 5 1/2' rod.He would take me up to Knox lake and we caught lots of Bluegille and bullhead cats.Those are very fond memories.Thanks for starting this post.


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## lomssl (Mar 25, 2006)

Bamboo pole First fish was either a bullhead or creekchub :G


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## FISHHEAD22 (Jul 11, 2012)

Cane pole for me my first fish was a bull bluegill 6yrs old i've been turned out ever since.


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## Fishingisfun (Jul 19, 2012)

I think the first fishing I did is with a Zebco 33 don't remember what my first fish was. We had some metal poles and fiberglass also. The first reel I bought myself was the Zebco 202. I saved up for a long while to buy the first one. I think it was two dollars back them. Got in the habit of buying a new one each year to start the spring fishing with a new 202 reel. Does anyone remember The Zebco company would send out repairmen to the stores and you could take in your Zebco 33 and they would fix them up for free or minimal charges. That was always an interesting trip to watch the men tear down your 33 and make it work like new as a kid. I remembered Dad had one different model Zebco 33 that was all black can't say I remembered seeing another like it. Good memories.


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## rk91279 (May 7, 2011)

My first was a Viking spincast, I remember it had a bright red face plate with black krinkle side plates. Was a nice looking reel but didn't last long getting beat around at the local ponds which we traveled to by bicycle. The first I actually bought myself (can't believe hasn't been mentioned yet) was a Johnson Centry, great little spincast for the time too. Remember it costing me all of 10$ of my hard earned money. This was back in the late fiftys maybe early sixties. As it is now was all about the bass back then too.


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## dstiner86 (Jun 5, 2012)

Priorityfishing said:


> View attachment 95878
> 
> Grandpa made me kill and clean them. It may not look it but I was only 4 when these pictures were taken.
> 
> ...


That face reminds me of my girlfriends boy first time I took him out fishing. Was so stoked to reel in a bluegill(his first ever fish). .that was until it got within site, that's when his Lightning McQueen pole hit the dirt and he took off running... i finished the job held up his catch and all I can see was the look of terror on his face..would of thought I was holding a shark! 



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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

With a 3 acre pond behind the house I was out every night. Quarter mile back one way and I used to run on the way there. Had a set of walkie talkies so my parents could keep in touch and tell me dinner was ready. 7.5 inch purple flame tail worm and an ultra light with 4 lb test. He taught me how to fight a fish early. By the time I was 6 we discovered saugeye and I used to wake up at 5 every Saturday without an alarm clock and wait on him to hit Delaware spillway.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Cane pole.

Being that was 50+yrs. ago, can't remember the first fish.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Cane pole. 1st rod and reel was a zebco 404. Caught 4 keeper northerns on it in Michigan when I was 9 or 10..


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## Jayhat (Aug 3, 2012)

I know that the first Buckeye Lake Carp by tying a line to a bridge with a big Rye Crisp doughball with a few drops of Anice extract. Woke up the next morning and had a 7 lb carp on my line. I was probably 9 years old. That fish was huge to me. I love reading your stories. That's what this site is all about? 

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## kwizzle (Apr 7, 2012)

Great post love reading about all the good memories. First for me was a zebeco 33, loved the way those 8 inch blue gills felt like monster, and the 2lb bass where true giants


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## Photog (Jun 18, 2010)

One of my first memories of any kind is fishing with my mom, I must have been four. I had a bamboo pole and when I caught my first fish I didn't understand that if you lift the pole, the fish would come out of the water. I did what any little kid would do in such a situation...I ran dragging the pole, line and that poor 'gill behind me. Mom finally stopped me, had me touch the fish and we let it go. 
She just turned 79 and asked me to come down to her new place to see if I can catch some of the bass in her little pond... she says they're bigger than anything we have ever caught. Challenge accepted.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

My first outfit was an old solid steel rod with red "agate" line guides, and a Pflueger baitcaster loaded with black Dacron line on it that was laying around the garage. The reel could not be cast, and when I stripped line off it by hand it pulled like a seized up lawnmower and sounded like it was full of sand! It would probably be priceless these days if I'd have thought to keep it, clean it up and rescue it. But, it wasn't "new", I was a kid, and you know how that goes. However, it was useful. 

I discovered that I could strip enough line off the reel and sort of "shlob" a cast out to where the bluegill beds were and catch a ton! If I needed a bit more distance, I'd just strip off more line, wrap some around a rock, and throw the rock out there! Then I'd totter home with a gigantic stringer of 'gills. And I didn't keep dinks. Even back then I understood that the big ones were much better than the little ones. So, I was into selective harvest at an early age. 

I'd clean them all myself as well. I was shown (once) how to do it, and then left to my own devices to work out the details. My Mom would set me up with a pot of water, plenty of newspaper, and a nice sharp knife. Do that today, and you might get a call from Children's Services! But, I always presented my Mom with a big pot full of cleaned bluegills while still managing to keep all my fingers!

So, that was my first "outfit", and my intro to fishing. But even back then I took notice of these wise old, mysterious fishermen. One was Mr. Strohmeyer. I knew a couple of his kids from school. He had a wheat colored Eagle Claw fiberglass rod, and this incredible looking reel from a company called "Garcia-Mitchell" that looked like Heaven itself. He also used some space age line called monofilament that didn't look anything like the black Dacron that I had. He was casting this new fangled lure called a Creme purple worm out among the stobs and catching these fish he called "bass"! 

I noticed right away that these bass were some bigger than the bluegills I was catching, and I began to want them badly. I also noticed that Mr. Strohmeyer never kept any of them. He'd remove the hook(s) and put them back. I wondered about that for a long, long time!


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## 1basshunter (Mar 27, 2011)

Thanks for all the posts on this . It make me wish my dad would have fished . He was a golfer but he did get me my first pole after I let him know that I don't like golf


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## smith07 (Feb 28, 2009)

Zebco 202.


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## brettsky225 (Aug 10, 2012)

Mine was a snoopy pole that I believe I still have today!


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## kayakmac (Aug 4, 2013)

We lived up at Howard and my dad was a school teacher there. That was back in 62. He paid us to catch soft craws for him in the creek behind the HS there. He used them to catch smallmouth out of the kokoosing. My brother and I convinced him to take us down to the big river! I was 5, my brother was 7 we cut a couple of branches and dad gave us enough line to tie to the end of the branch and gave us both a small hook and a small red and white bobber, many a sunfish and blue gill were caught on that branch, I used it for over a year.


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## TIC (Sep 9, 2009)

Mine was a Zebco 77 rod/reel combo. The reel was integrated into the rod. The reel had a hinge on top and a latch on the bottom and it broke into two pieces. When you took it a part, the rod handle stayed with the back part of the reel and the fiberglass rod stayed with the front part of the reel.

It was bought for my by my Grandfather who was my first fishin' buddy. That was about 1965. We drove from Paris, KY to Mount Sterling to get it. We stopped at the Pool Room and had lunch before heading back home.

We lived on a farm and had an acre pond out in the back. I caught hundreds, maybe thousands of nice bluegill and sunfish on that pole. I also caught many, many large mouth bass.

I miss you Grand Dad..........


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## Crestliner167 (Apr 11, 2009)

First that I remember using was a cane pole catching blue gill with my dad. But my first real pole of my own, after using my dad's solid steel rods, and bait casting reel, was a pflueger pelican spinning rod and reel. My first fish off Lake Erie was blue pike that we would catch at night in my dad's 15 ft. Thompson with a 35 hp. evenrude. We would fish straight out of the grand river with shinners and coleman lantern hanging off the side. It was a long time ago, but will never forget it.


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## Perch-N-Quackers (Jun 26, 2011)

A Dr. Danny the Dinosaur combo that is burried under all my spinning rods now. I caught a bass with it at Leesville. Was my first fish. Didn't get out for awhile after but before getting back into it I used a Zebco 33.


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## Minnowhead (Jan 12, 2011)

cane pole


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## rippin lip (Dec 3, 2005)

loved this thing!!! bought one off ebay and fish with it from time to time lol


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## yakfish (Mar 13, 2005)

My first fishing rod was a little Mickey Mouse pole. The first fishing trip I remember was when I was five with my dad. We lived in Timmins, Ontario and we drove up into the bush with a canoe tied to the roof of our Volkswagen. We (he) paddled across the first lake to another one and camped on an island. The first fish I remember catching was a 36 inch Northern Pike. Caught on a worm harness and minnow and that little Mickey Mouse fishing rod.


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## SlabSlayR (Jan 23, 2012)

Mine was a bamboo cane pole followed by a Zebco 33. I still have the Zebco 33 reel, the rod is long but gone now.


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## Bigfisherman (Sep 10, 2011)

Sure do,still have it. Mitchell 300 and a Garcia 6' rod still use it!


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