"Dad" Fishing Stories

rogdochar

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I got inspiration for this thread from "on-High" (NavetGator). I'm sure our Dads introduced us to fishing, so there ought to be that tribute of light-hearted fish-tales.

Me still in the crib, but Dad decided to take my sister fishing from a boat on a small, primitive quiet river-creek. She was 6 and hyper-excited. Dad is real-real laid back. Catching fish was secondary to just being there in the Calm. So while he's threading the earthworm on her hook, he begins his slow spiel about fishing is all about patience. While he's still teach-talking, Sis whips that bait at the water and immediately yanks it back. She'd lodged that hook into the side of a decent brim. There went the "how to lesson".
 

BMF

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My dad died when I was 11 years old (in 1982). He used to take me fishing at Lake Lochloosa. If you've never heard a musician named JJ Grey, check him out....he has a song called Lochloosa, which is outstanding!
 

GatorBart

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Never fished with my Dad, but my Gramps took us out all the time when we were younger.
Caught my first fish with him when I was probably 5 or 6 (I think it was a small blue gill) - the only thing I can remember was that I was so excited that I started running with the rod to show my other siblings while Gramps was still getting the hook out. I ended up lodging the hook pretty good into his finger, sinking the barb under his skin. Man was he pissed (don't blame him - he had to cut hook and push it through the other side) - he never let me live that down, which is probably why I remember it so well.
 

GatorBart

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My dad died when I was 11 years old (in 1982). He used to take me fishing at Lake Lochloosa. If you've never heard a musician named JJ Grey, check him out....he has a song called Lochloosa, which is outstanding!
Sorry about your Dad BMF.
Great song - with Mofro.
 

MJMGator

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My dad started taking me fishing as a toddler. We fished together on average once a week until I moved to Atlanta at 35 years old. St. John's, intracoastal, Julington Creek, Mayport (inshore and offshore), Florida Keys, we did it all. Some of my best memories as a child are attending Gator games and fishing with my dad. I'm going to move back to Florida in the next year or two so my 3 year old son can enjoy the same things. Pops is still around, so hopefully it'll be 3 generations enjoying it together.
 

ufgator812

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My dad started taking me fishing as a toddler. We fished together on average once a week until I moved to Atlanta at 35 years old. St. John's, intracoastal, Julington Creek, Mayport (inshore and offshore), Florida Keys, we did it all. Some of my best memories as a child are attending Gator games and fishing with my dad. I'm going to move back to Florida in the next year or two so my 3 year old son can enjoy the same things. Pops is still around, so hopefully it'll be 3 generations enjoying it together.

I'm sorry that you had to live in atlanta
 

MJMGator

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I'm sorry that you had to live in atlanta
It's not that bad. The traffic is brutal and there are too many Dwags, but since we've dominated them for so long it's like a badge of honor wearing Gator gear. I'm gonna miss the weather when I move. Spring and fall are nothing short of awesome and I enjoy the winters, as well. Nothing like a warm fire and a nice whiskey while watching football in the fall/winter.
 

ufgator812

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It's not that bad. The traffic is brutal and there are too many Dwags, but since we've dominated them for so long it's like a badge of honor wearing Gator gear. I'm gonna miss the weather when I move. Spring and fall are nothing short of awesome and I enjoy the winters, as well. Nothing like a warm fire and a nice whiskey while watching football in the fall/winter.

I'm giving YOU a like. I detest that you live in georgia. I used to threaten my son that he'd have to live there if he was bad. True story.
 

stephenPE

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My dad died when I was 11 years old (in 1982). He used to take me fishing at Lake Lochloosa. If you've never heard a musician named JJ Grey, check him out....he has a song called Lochloosa, which is outstanding!
That is harsh. Dad took us to Lochloosa more than a few times. We caught so many bream bass and specks out there. Grass shrimp and even bonnet worms. One day we had caught nothing and dad said, "check those lilly pads for holes in the stalk. " If you see one strip it down and you find a worm. We started catching specks right away. My dad was fishing when my mom went into labor. He took me fishing (or I took him) my whole life,. Our vacations were two weeks of snook (and other fish) fishing on Casey Key near Venice. Years of putting two small john boats on our station wagon roof and heading to Shell Mound. We had a 3 horse Sears air cooled motor and many extra shear pins. We would putt around out there with the 12 foot boat pulling the 10 ft boat all with that 3 horse motor. Afternoon when he got home from work it would be Watermelon Pond for bass and trot lines on the weekend,. We had a small lake we called Sawgrass on 241 south of Archer. Many many afternoon fishing wading and fishing there.
I got to have that old man for fishing till he was 86 and I was 62. I was a lucky boy. I have a hundred fishing stories about my dad and brothers. People would pay to sit in the boat with him and his three sons. It was like a sitcom with profanity.
BMF, thanks for telling me about that song. His comments about the lake gave me chills. I already linked it to my brother so he can see it. A former UF Journalism prof. named Don Grooms sang many songs about the area round Gainesville many years ago. He was also Cherokee and had some great songs. One about the huge cave they built Shands on.
 
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BMF

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That is harsh. Dad took us to Lochloosa more than a few times. We caught so many bream bass and specks out there. Grass shrimp and even bonnet worms. One day we had caught nothing and dad said, "check those lilly pads for holes in the stalk. " If you see one strip it down and you find a worm. We started catching specks right away. My dad was fishing when my mom went into labor. He took me fishing (or I took him) my whole life,. Our vacations were two weeks of snook (and other fish) fishing on Casey Key near Venice. Years of putting two small john boats on our station wagon roof and heading to Shell Mound. We had a 3 horse Sears air cooled motor and many extra shear pins. We would putt around out there with the 12 foot boat pulling the 10 ft boat all with that 3 horse motor. Afternoon when he got home from work it would be Watermelon Pond for bass and trot lines on the weekend,. We had a small lake we called Sawgrass on 241 south of Archer. Many many afternoon fishing wading and fishing there.
I got to have that old man for fishing till he was 86 and I was 62. I was a lucky boy. I have a hundred fishing stories about my dad and brothers. People would pay to sit in the boat with him and his three sons. It was like a sitcom with profanity.
BMF, thanks for telling me about that song. His comments about the lake gave me chills. I already linked it to my brother so he can see it. A former UF Journalism prof. named Don Grooms sang many songs about the area round Gainesville many years ago. He was also Cherokee and had some great songs. One about the huge cave they built Shands on.

Wow Stephen! Great stories....and memories. My dad was retired Navy, died from lung cancer at 47 years old (I'll turn 47 next month). We fished Lochloosa a lot, I was young but I remember the train tracks nearby and the alligators. We'd drive down from Maxville...which, ironically, is where JJ Grey is from. JJ's music is all about northeast Florida, songs such as Orange Blossoms, Fire Flies, Brighter Days. My wife and I go see him anytime he's near DC. If you get a chance, go get a JJ Grey CD or download it.

I hope you still get out to fish often. I rarely fish anymore. I'm transferring next month to the CG Boating Safety Office (at CG Headquarters). I'm hoping I meet some old Auxiliary guys that want to take me fishing w/ them!!
 

Durty South Swamp

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It's not that bad. The traffic is brutal and there are too many Dwags, but since we've dominated them for so long it's like a badge of honor wearing Gator gear. I'm gonna miss the weather when I move. Spring and fall are nothing short of awesome and I enjoy the winters, as well. Nothing like a warm fire and a nice whiskey while watching football in the fall/winter.
The city itself is rough because the traffic and congestion like you mentioned, but that area of the country is beautiful and the weather is better than Florida. It's nice to have a bit of seasons and some actual chilly periods in the winter. The older I get the more the Florida heat drags me down. I'm planning on getting a second house somewhere in the appalachians in 10 to 15 years and split time there when I retire. Summers up there, winters further south.
 

SaltGator

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My dad had me fishing as a toddler, Born and raised in Jax. Grew up on and fishing the St Johns River. Was a bass fishing fanatic as a kid. Started fishing the intercoastal a lot and gravitated to Salt Water/inshore. Started going off shore, and that is by far my favorite.

As a kid , we would stay at a little fishing Lodge on Cross Creek , which connects Lochloosa and Orange Lake. Stayed there a few times, was always a lot of fun. Caught some decent bass and chain pickerel in Orange and Lochloosa.
 

GR8 2B

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My Dad was in the military, so we moved around some while I was growing up. He was stationed at Eglin AFB while I was in elementary school, and the beach was right behind the houses across the street. He taught me how to bait a hook and fish off the pier nearby, and how to clean and prep my catch. We ate a lot of fish, I'm happy to say. He was stationed at the Pentagon during my junior high and high school years. Every summer, the family would road trip through the Blue Ridge mountains, and we always spent a week camping at Lake Gaston, on the Virginia/North Carolina border. It was well-stocked with large mouth bass. He taught me how to troll and operate the boat, and how to cook the fish we caught over an outdoor fire. The year I graduated high school, I recieved my diploma in June, he retired in July, the family moved to the Clearwater area, and he delivered me to UF in August in time for freshmen orientation. We only fished together a few more times over the next many years, off the docks around Clearwater and later, Daytona, where my parents retired. The last time we fished together was on an excursion during a cruise to Alaska in July. We went salmon fishing out of Ketchikan. Didn't get a nibble for the first couple of hours, so we spent the last half of the charter tossing the bait fish in the air and watching these massive bald eagles snatch it with their incredibly powerful-looking talons and eating it on shore before coming back for more. He passed in 2010. I haven't fished since.
 
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NavetG8r

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Most Saturday mornings my Dad would come beat on my door and wake me up to get busy cleaning up our property cutting trees down. My job was to pile the brush up on a huge brush pile that we would later burn once it dried enough, and stack the cut fire wood sized logs between two trees so somebody with a fireplace could come pick it up if they wanted it. Those were most of my Saturdays. Every once in a while, Dad would wake me up and then after I got done wiping the sleep out of my eyes and got dressed, he'd let me know we were going fishing today. Those were the good Saturdays! One very windy Saturday morning we caught 63 specks (crappie for your Yankee folks) at Newnans Lake. That's the most fish I ever caught in one fishing trip. Never will forget it. Dad had a hard time controlling the boat and still managing to get the fish off his hooks because it was so crazy windy. One time he took me to Orange Lake and we caught 45 beautiful purple nosed bluegills off grass shrimp. That was another memorable trip.
 

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