A Walk Down Memory Lane

We've touched on a topic in another thread that tickled some old memories I have of fishing as a kid back in the 60/70's when we went camping or headed down to the river on our bikes.

It sure was simpler back then, hardly ever had access to a boat, only a rich Uncle had one up at a Round Lake near Killaloe where we visited ever so often, It was a 14' tinny with a small Johnson that barely lifted the bow out of the water with 2-3 of us in it.

Most of my fishing was shore fishing or off bridges, docks and piers. I spend a whack of my summer days fishing by myself off the old public pier by the lighthouse in Kincardine as a young lad using nothing but hot dog pieces, grubs/worms I would dig up at the camp site. Never even owned a lure till I had a paper route.

Living in Kitchener (near the old Hiway Market) we used to bike down to the Grand River on Sat morning and shore fish for most of the day, Mom hated it when I would bring home and old stinky carp...

I wonder if kids even bother fishing by themselves anymore ? Most kids Dad's seem to own Boats now and haul themselves around big Lakes on the weekends. I don't imagine too many shore fish anymore. I hardly see any kids fishing from bridges along old country roads and in the villages anymore. Used to be hard to find a spot on the government docks, but I rarely see folks fishing off them on a cool summers eve anymore

How about some 'Old Foggy' stories of being a kid and going off fishing with your bike, a cheap rod and just a hook and a bobber.

Stop it Mike!!!! I'm tearing up a little.:fish:

Most parents are too protective now. I grew up beside the south saugeen and walked it for miles searching for smallmouth bass or blackbass as we knew them back then.

Used to hop on the bike to fish the outflow of the old Coal Gen at the bottom of Leslie street. Rainbows in the fall, smelt runs in the spring. Few time as young teens the TTC to other places. We always had a cottage growing up, so probably by the time I was 10 I was allowed to take the tinny out by myself on Chemong, by 12-13 I was taking canoe out by myself on the Pigeon.

Dont know how many nights I'd be on the front lawn with hot mustard getting worms for the coming weekend.

I moved from Toronto to St. Marys when I was in grade 8 and I spend many hours in the spring fishing for Speckled Trout in Trout Creek near the train bridge.

There was a huge local gravel pit that the railroad used for track bed material and through the center of this pit was a creek formed from springs percolating through the gravel. It had a very nice population of specks. We'd sneak up to the shore and when a speck darted under overhead cover, we'd toss as large a boulder as we could lift into his hiding spot. Anything that came belly up we'd grab. A poor kids dynamite I guess.
I never owned a fishing rod til I was much older--usually it was hand me downs from my older brother. All we did was cut a long, whippy birch or willow stem, wrap the end with that old black nylon line and toss it into the water, usually baited with a leopard frog. I caught a pile of pike doing that.
My first rod was the old square steel thing with a Shakespeare True Blue casting reel. There must be one or two of them around the house somewhere--still with the obligatory birds nest.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sawbill

, usually baited with a leopard frog. I caught a pile of pike doing that.

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I had forgot about using live frogs....yes indeed they worked !!

30 years ago, I was used to leave from the familly farm with my three pieces bamboo rod, set with 5' of 20lb test line, a split shot and some big worms that I dug up from the pile of cow manure. It was a 45 minutes walk, thru field full of cows, fences and bush to get downstream. The creeks I fished were anywhere from 1' to 10' wide and from half a foot to 10+ deep. The average speckled trouts was 8" and the big one around 15" but 30 years prior to that a 3 pounder was common. Grandpa, who taught me all of it, always blamed the invation of the car, before that only locals were fishing those places but then people from the city shows up. They were long gone at my time though, not too many people were fishing this creeks anymore. It was pretty much all for me, the only thing I had to be carful was bulls and vipers. And CO, but grandpa also taught me how to deal with that....
I know some of my cousin kids are still going out but the quantity of the water is not that good anymore, few degrees warmer and the level have dropped too.

I remember when I was a kid not being able to wait for the spring walleye run in the river. Some time in February when the river was mostly ice free, I would get my dad to drop me and my friend off at the river. I remember there would still be snow on the ground and it was cold but that didn't stop us from spending the day there. We would build a fire to warm up and cook hot dogs on the end of sticks. From that point on we would fish the river right to the end of fall, caching are own bait, worms, bugs, minnows, crayfish,frogs you name it. When we got old enough to get are hunting licences and carry shotguns we would do combo duck hunts and fish. Ah the memory's, I feel sorry for this generation of children growing up with there Xbox's and I pads. They don't know what there missing, Sad.

50's

Have fond memories of sitting with Dad on the pier at Port Stanley fishing for perch. Nice hook scar too.

When the smelt ran we had bonfires on the beach as we hauled in nets of smelt.

Also remember trout fishing with Dad. One day , I caught the biggest trout - in a quart basket. Just scooped him up in the eddy. :)


edited to add a date