Hello there, how you doing?
I’m returning back to fishing after a 20 year hiatus. Back in my youth I did a lot of walleye, northern pike, perch, etc fishing in NE Minnesota. With air force, school, wife, kids, work, etc. I slowly got out of the sport.
I was talking to my 16 year old son about his Shimano rod\reel combo Its your basic combo that works just fine for trout and pan fish. He was complaining about his equipment and had decided he needed a newer, high end package.
I started thinking about my first rig. When I was about 8 years old, I was given an old used rod\ reel from my father. It was an old bait cast reel mounted to a steel rod. The reel was something like a low end South Bend, kind of scratched up and dirty with oil leaking out of the oiling hole. The line was thick and black (Dacron?) and most likely had been on that reel for 10 years. The rod was all steel with cork handles and ruby red inserts in the guides and about 5’6’ long. The rod was more like an old fashioned car antenna then a fishing pole. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever owned. With practice in my backyard and some pointers from my father I actually learned to cast with this that rod. Maybe not proficiently and not without birds nests, but I could cast it.
The opening day I loaded up my gear (rod, net, tackle box, minnow pail) and headed down to a local river by myself. This was the first time I was able to go alone and with out a life jacket. Did any of you every have to wear a life jacket when you were kids and bank fishing?
I granny tied a hook on the black line, crimped on a sinker, baited my hook and cast. Most of my morning involved casting and working out birds nests or casting and losing my hook and bait because of a poorly tied knot. Overall I was having a great time.
Finally, late in the morning, I was somehow able to hook a fish. Even more amazing I was able to land it. It was 3 lb walleye. A decent sized eating fish and the biggest fish I had ever caught. I grabbed my stuff and ran home with it. My father filleted it out and I had it for lunch. After lunch I returned to the river to fish but did not catch another. Overall it was a pretty great day for me.
Since then, I have caught bigger and more fish but I’ve never caught a better fish.
I guess the moral is you don’t need the best gear to create a memory. You just need to go and have fun.
Best Regards
PS: Hauki is what we called those northern pike I used to fish for in MN.
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