What’s Your Fishing Resume?

[Whiskers]

What’s Your Fishing Resume?

By that question I’m referring to your fishing background. What got you into fishing? Did you come from a fishing family or have mates who fished, or did you come to it by yourself and picked things up as you went along?

I was lucky. My father fished and from a very early age (probably two or three) I fished too. Growing up as a kid I had plenty of mates who fished too.

I grew up in the U.K. and mostly fished freshwater and my fishing ethics were shaped there. Most fishing was catch and release; it would only be very rarely that a fish was kept for the table. Also, the emphasis was on finesse fishing. Light lines and small hooks. Now, seventy years on, that background has stayed with me. It amazes me that folks fish with heavy lines for small fish. Skull dragging has never been my thing. We caught plenty of big fish on light tackle. It was rare that we’d ever use line of more than 4lb breaking strain. Often our hook lengths (leaders) were no more than 2lb bull.

When I came to Australia ( nearly fifty years ago ) it was a whole new ball game. But, gradually I learned and I’m still learning. There’s so much I haven’t done yet, but old habits die hard and I still tend to fish lighter tackle than most folks.

With a fishing background going back for seventy years I could probably write a book or three but it would probably bore the life out of folks.

:water:

I’ll leave it to other fisho’s to tell their tales.

[purple5ive]

Born and lived in India for quite some time prior to moving to Australia. ive lived here longer now than i have in India. i have Portuguese and British Ancestors.
Living on an Island, fishing was second nature. bamboo poles with some line tied onto it and a stone for a sinker is what i started fishing with. never knew what a lure was and bait was generally prawns or worms.
saltwater was the only fishing i did, i got into it by going fishing with my dad and uncles, friends and cousins as well.
there was no catch and release practiced, all the fish was eaten or given to the maids. i dont remember what line i used to fish with but it wasnt very thick and was bought by the meter from the local milkbar.
after coming to Australia fishing was quite different, i got my first rod and reel from Kmart and flinders was my first pier to fish off. never caught anything and lost a lot of sinkers hahaha.
these days i prefer finesse lure fishing for bream, pinkies, salmon and whatever else i can catch, also love my squid fishing!

[fishnut]

Im from India as well,came here when I was 17 but always wanted to fish as long as I can remember
When i was 19 i met a guy thru a girlfriend who took me fishing for the first time in 1976 and my first fish i caught was a salmon at San Remo.Since then i havent stopped
I lure fish for bream,flatties and baitfish for luderick at lakes entrance and also love prawning there
I fish for just about all the species around Melbourne in a boat and have a few trips to Whyalla for big snapper
Have also fished coast of queensland as far as Cairns

[croe04]

I was born in New Zealand and moved to Melbourne with my mum, dad and sister when I was 3 years old. Dad grew up on a farm so fishing was one of the things that he did with his brothers to entertain themselves. When I was about 5-6 years old dad took me and my sister down to station pier in an attempt to get us into fishing, we fished on tiny kids rods with unweighted pipis. Kept doing that a couple times, never caught anything because I had no idea what a bite felt like, sister wasn't keen but I loved it even though we always came back empty handed. Kept doing that for years until I was about 9 where I heard about a fish called trout, and how they stock lakes around Melbourne with it. Me and my dad grab some gear, headed to Lilydale lake, and all of a sudden I catch my first ever rainbow. I was rapt, even more keen to fish and me and my dad would hit stocked lakes almost every weekend in search of some trout. I head back home to NZ usually once a year to see family, and when I was younger we bought a cheap rod and reel combo and brought over with us and bush bashed around, wetting lines in small streams and rivers, hunting for big trout. Haven't stopped since.
Now I lure fish for trout and perch in freshwater and for flatties, pinkies and salmon around Port phillip bay. I fish from a yak every so often too and have had good results. I bait fish occasionally, not very good at it, nor squid fishing. Still improving though.

[Lightningx]

My dad loved his fishing and got me into it from a very young age. It never stopped from there

[smokin_reels]

I grew up fishing for India.
Mostly bait\course fishing background. My uncle introduced me to the sport when i was a teenager and then I sort of taught myself.
I moved to Australia 5 years ago, made some lovely friends off this forum and now try and catch everything around me.
:a_goodjob:

[ChrisD]

My uncle was a keen fisher and took me on my first trip when I was about four....don't recall where.
Manage to catch a little redfin and was hook.
Dad used to take us fishing when we went on holidays, not that he was much of a fisher, but he tried. I always recall him using his Blackqueen rod for everything - generally with a tonne of lead on it....even if he was spinning.
My early teenage years we lived within walking distance of the Plenty River in Greensborough. Spent many, many hours catching roach and little redfin, the occasion eel.
My later teenage years I didn't much fishing done, once I was married and the kids came long fishing just didn't happen.
However once the kids got older and were doing their own thing I was able to get back into it and haven't looked back.

[happyfriggincamper]

Good topic idea Whiskers!

For me, interest was solely developed and driven by two main things. I grew up in Rowville near the lakes, would always drive past them and was fascinated with the concept of catching fish in general. Whenever we would walk past the lakes, i would have to be dragged away from anyone fishing there, either just silent watching hoping to see a catch or peppering them with a million child-esque questions. The other driver was being in a tennis family, i was lucky enough to spend all my holidays in places like Euroa, Myrtleford, Benella, Wangaratta etc at tennis tournaments in the early 90s. Being an only child, some could imagine spending your holidays in those country towns watching amateur tennis as an only child was an absolutely riveting holiday (not!) - so the only form of interest and entertainment for me was the waterways they were on and exploring them. One trip upto wang, i remember seeing and feeding carp at the river edge and moulding bread onto the end of a willow branch to try and catch them.

Finally, when i was about 10 my parents got me a cheap JW combo and i started fishing up on the trips to the country. No success, but i wasnt detered. When i was 12/13 and had a bit more free to ride my bike outside of our court, id frequently go down to rowville lakes and try to catch there.

With no youtube and limited access to books or advice, success was non existant until i met a guy down there who frequently coarse angled for roach and he gave me some tips and advice that got me onto catching carp, reddies, roach, tench and trout. I also did a lot of clueless stuff back then as well like buying a 10ft surf rod for fishing the lakes cos of course, big rod and tackle = big fish regardless of where you are fishing haha.

I stuck with it with moderate success from 13-18, stopped until about 25/26 and picked it back up as i needed a hobby at that stage of my life. Started back on stocked trout, then progressed to "wild" waters such as the plenty, and dandenong creek targeting carp to get the thrill of a bigger fish. Progressed again from stocked trout to proper trout rivers (which also brought an interest in hiking and camping) and started exploring the yarra which brought about maccas and occasional cod on top of my targeted prize catch - big carp.

Only in the last two years have i developed an interest in natives and have slowly been learning how to target them when time allows, making heaps of dumb-in-hindsight blunders in the process. This new upcoming season will be my 3rd,so hoping to have the most success ive ever had - but also, as ive gotten older, life responsibilities have started to accumulate so i dont have the ability fish every weekend and go bush/camping 2-3 times a month like i did in my mid 20s. Regret not getting into natives earlier, but thats how it goes i guess.

[Sebb]

Great topic! Get to know fellow FV members.

Mine is pretty short. Was born in Indonesia, moved to Australia when I was 17 and I am now 34, thats exactly half of my life each!

Fished with Father and brother occasionally back when we're younger in Indonesia. Moved to Oz and busy with soccer. Started fishing again around 10-11 years ago when I saw breams in the yarra on a hot summer day, handlining for them.

Was 10% fishing and 90% soccer til gradually changed to 10% soccer and 90% fishing especially after ACL surgery on the right knee.

[ben475]

I grew up in Northern Victoria in a few different towns close by to the Mighty Murray.

My father was a keen fisherman and shooter. He handmade timber lures in the 80's and 90's before going to moulded.
My grandfather was also a keen fisherman and shooter like his father and grandfather, and I guess probably so on up the family tree. He was a custom rod builder, I still have many of his rods.

So as you can imagine growing up I spent a lot of time fishing and in the bush.
Mainly fished freshwater around Northern Vic, Natives and reddies mostly and the odd trips to the estuaries in Gippsland.

Hardly fished after I left school, too busy with other things, now I have a young son I've tried to get back into it but never get out as often as I would like and the fish seem harder to find these days.