my dad had me on the river with a 5ft rod by my 4th birthday, showed me float and ledger fishing from the very start, by 5 was freelineing and "bouncing worms" for trout in small fast streams, spinning came shortly after that , and before my 6th birthday had all on my own but with dad looking on, hooked, landed,unhooked and returned alive my first double figure pike, rivercraft was big with my dad also, what to look for and to see whats going on ,a lost art to some, never had for others.... the "awld boys" round my parish were a great help too,apart from new/modern gear i would still use mostly the old ways i was shown way back then, when i was striking out (allowed
) on my own , 7ish, for a spot of fishing, my area was very popular with "the english" from april to october, i learned SOOOOO much from chatting to and watching them, started feeder fishing about this time with "the english's" help n gear and had at that stage started gillie'n for them, and getting better gear as payment
by 8 i had my first salmon, by 15 i had unknown to myself, as records or hunting records was not a thing, specimen weights caught for perch, roach, bream, river pike, eel, n a funny silvery bream thing
mg: roach/bream hybrid i think there called these days
, other sports have come n gone e.g hurling, girls, rugby, girls, gymnastics, girls in leotards, rallying, girls in overalls, scuba/water skiing, girls in rubber, snow sports darts etc fishing has taken a back seat at times due to work/family and a host of other things, but has been and remains a constant in my life, i dont know any other thing that has been there as mine n mine alone for my lifetime so far, sorry for the long post but OP did ask
mg:
, and im still learning my craft , hope'n to get to grips with the pole this year , may god have mercy on my poor battered soul for entering the black art lol lol lol lol