A Walk Down Memory Lane

I was about 10 when I got my first boat, still remember it well and which I had pictures of it. I was given 3 blue 45 gal drums that I layed down and using scrounged 2x4's I bolted 2 of these side by side and the 3rd in front of the two. I them cut a hole or cockpit in the tops of them. The front barrel held the battery and tackle and the back two allowed two of us to sit and steer the electric motor. Man did we get some looks and laughs both fishing in it and towing it behind our bikes to get it to the river. We caught a lot of pickerel out of that for a few yrs. The days when things were just simple

My earliest fishing was a buddy and myself , digging some worms , at a manure pile . We went to a close by crick, and had a great time catching chub, sometimes some pretty good sized ones. Later when I had learned to ride a bike , we went to the Beaver river for specks. I caught a pile of fish with a willow stick with some line wrapped around the end. The fish were more numerous then, than today, and no trespassing signs , hadn't been invented.old243

I did a lot of creek fishing with my chums. Hop on the bikes n go! But my most vivid memory would be a good old fashioned sword fight with a buddy (using our rods of course) I ended up at the hospital with a hook deeply embedded in my finger! Oh ya, a trip down memory lane for sure!

My younger brother and I used to spend countless hours fishing the Otonabee River from shore below Lock 19. Every evening after supper we would head down and fish with Jitterbugs and Hula Poppers until well after dark. You just couldn't beat the excitement of hearing something big nail the top water bait in the dark. I think we started doing this when I was around 10 and my brother was 6. Most parents these days (probably me included) wouldn't dream of leaving their kids unattended after dark near the river.

One summer day few years later, we noticed a family on the opposite shore reeling in some big carp. Of course we just had to know how they were doing this so we got on our bikes and headed around to meet these folks. They had recently come to Canada from Greece and somehow they had figured out how to catch carp. I don't know whether they brought that knowledge with them or learned it after they got here. Anyway, these folks were glad to give us the "recipe" and away my brother and I went to cook up a batch of this magic carp bait. It worked like a charm and we had summer after summer of big fish action after that. This would have been in the late 80's some time and carp fishing wasn't too big of a deal. My brother even won a local tournament one year by exploiting a "loophole" in the rules. It was a kids tournament and "most weight in total fish" would win. They weren't specific about species so I suggested to my brother that he should fish for carp. In the last 1/2 hour of the tournament he landed a 20-pounder and won the tourney. The next year, wouldn't you know it - "No carp allowed".

Of course the best fishing trip, the one we waited all summer long for, was the "Labour Day Trip". My Grandpa, Dad, Uncles, a few family friends and a few of us kids would head out on some sort of 3 day camping, portaging and fishing trip into some crown land backcountry. These memories stayed with us forever. We've recently rekindled this trip only now Grandpa is long gone, we do the heavy work for the Dads, and our kids are just old enough to come along. A perfect end to every summer.

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Originally Posted by Bushmoose

I ended up at the hospital with a hook deeply embedded in my finger! Oh ya, a trip down memory lane for sure!

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Ah yes..the inevitable tip to the ER :) I was casting along the creek at Round Lake and the line caught up in a tree behind me, so I tugged and the hook came flying out and struck me, just above my ear and embedding it into my head. The girl I was fishing with had to cut the line, leaving the worm still hanging there. Dad then had to drive me into Barry's Bay to get it removed. I was maybe 10 at the time and I still keep in touch with that girl.

Trip to ER.
Later in life, would have been 18 or 19 a friend and I drove to the cottage on Chemong, ended up burying a hook in my finger. Off to PTBO we went, but we decided I needed some fortitude first. So there I was in the "ballet" with a 6 inch Rapala hanging from hand and a cold one in the other.

Recall another time in our teens we were crossing a farmers field to hit a small creek. Had to crawl under the electric fence. It didn't go so well.

My grandparent didn't own a car so the trip to the ER for hook removal was no further than the kitchen... Moonshine and Mitosyl were grandmas remedies for pretty much everything!

I can recall quite vividly going for afternoon sits on the old St. Williams pier, circa 1970, with my grandpa. He would have my grandma call me up on our party line and tell me if I wanted to go fishing to get on my bike and head to their place, which was only about ½ mile down our road. Once at their place, I knew the drill - get the worm bucket, the garden spade, and go turn some loam soil over beside the wood pile looking for earthworms.

Then it was time hit the road, at the whopping speed of 60 kph, which was my grandpa's self imposed maximum. We never caught anything of significance, just small perch and sunfish that we tossed back, although I can recall one outing where someone on the pier caught a mud puppy. On the way back to the car afterwards, my grandpa would flip me a quarter so I could buy a pop and a bag of chips at the little mom and pop store beside the parking lot, for the ride home. Those were good times.

I grew up on the Speed river in Preston ! Carp , Bass , Pike , Cats , Suckers , Trout , Perch and Shiners that river had it all ! Best memories were heading up to Harrison Park in Owen Sound for Brookies on the May 24 weekend with the Family camping and fishing with Dad and day long walks while fishing up to Inglis Falls ....bet you can't do that now ! THIS IS A GREAT THREAD !
THANK YOU ! Glen

Well born in 83 and can't go way back in time as some but yes I did just miss the generation of computers and all that crap.

The biggest memory of my younger years was always the 2 weeks to Sandbanks campground. Not the PP But the private one right on the sand dunes.

After everyone was done swimming for the day we would get on our air mattresses and paddle out to the floating swimming platform out in the bay.

Roll of fishing line, splitshot, hook, and a container of worms and we were good to go for the night. Sunfish and Bluegills kept us busy and our stomachs full. Ah man can almost taste those fish while writing this. Cleaned insides stuffed with a slab of butter and a lemon wedge. Wrapped in tin foil and onto the BBQ. Supper around the campfire right on the beach at the Private Park was amazing.

Although I remember my being so sick of sand by the end of the two weeks. Lol.


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