equipment poll

About a 40lb. cow striped bass caught in the surf near Jones Beach N.Y. in 1965.
Caught it on a no-name surf rod w/ 17 lb test Ande line, an old Penn level wind reel and a diamond jig w/ a tail of cut squid.
My high school buddies and I used to fish or go surfing every morning before class, when the weather was decent.
We didn't know how good we had it, back then.
 

I have a similar story..lol.  When I was about 10(12years ago) my brother and I were fishing lake arthur.  We basically were putting in a half-arse attempt to catch anything that would bite while trolling.  At the time the only decent rod I owned was a 5' fenwick UL.  But, my uncle gave me a bunch of rods he used in the 70's.  I think they were abu glass rods with rusty steel guides and some type of cheap plastic reel.  Probably about 6' ML if I had to guess.  We rigged up 4 rods, my bro was controlling the motor and holding on to 2 of the rods and I was in the front chair hanging on to the other 2. After trolling for what seemed like hours my rod was nearly ripped out of my hand.  The best part of it was the madness that ensued trying to clear 3 other rods with this musky going nuts putting on a great arial show.  Well, I ended up landing my first musky ever, at the time I would have sworn it was 60".  After boating quite a few more since then I now realize high 30's was more accurate.  So I landed a 15lb musky on a 25 year old rusted up glass rod, a plastic reel of some sort which had the same line on it when it was given to me (not likely it was less than 10 years old) probably about 8lb test, no leader of any kind, and the smallest wiggle wart (trout size) they make with rusty #10 trebles.  How I managed to land that fish still remains a mystery.  Looking back on it I can honestly say that it was a story that I will never forget.

  Hasn't happened yet, still waitin for a big one
 
 That's why my oldest son said I'm the crappiest fisherman ever.

Mine is a tie.....When I was 10 my dad took me to a kids trout derby on the slippery rock creek.  I had known how to fish minnows for a couple of years, but the other 60 kids obvously didn't I was driftin minnies in between them and mauling the trout, that nobody else could catch.  I had a mitchell 308 reel and an old abu glass rod that was so old you couldn't tell what it was if you wanted to........ I won a new rod and reel  (that was a big deal for a 10 year old)
 
However when i was 14 I was fishing the annual conneaut spring musky tourney (bout 150 guys in it) with my grandfather.  I had an old wonder rod, with a ambassador 6500 reel.  Caught a 46 1/2 incher won all the money (which I bought the rifle I hunt with to this day with) and left with a bunch of confused guys asking each other how you get a 14 year old kid to buy you beer........that was funny

In 1967, my dad took me on a trip to the Goergan Bay area. Moon Island if my memory serves me right. In the first morning we caught fish everywhere we went. I liked this one spot that had a large boulder island a few feet from shore. Dad drops me off on it and leaves with the guide. I caught a bunch of lm on night crawlers. Dad showed up once to check on me and I showed off the nice stringer of bass. A wave and off they went, saying something as they were leave.? It ias getting late and I,m waiting for my ride back to camp ,when my shakespear rod was heading off the rock. There was a long battle, the fish would head to the bottom , then I would pull him back up. The mosquito,s were eating me alive. I lit a green , curly repellant, while fighting this fish. I shinnied down that rock and landed a huge cat. Now it is dark and I,m bit up really bad. I drag these fish and my tackle box off this island and have to stay in the water to keep those blood suckers off me. Long story short , the guides wife happened to hear me screaming for help and rescued me.

No offense Mikah, but in 1967 I was in my pop's left testicle!

about 10 years old i caught a 15 pound snapping tutle on a stringer and a stick. had caught a bull head put it on the stringer and before ya know it the **** thing  was trying to steel my fish never let go untill it was on shore  and  i hit it  with  a stick 

Good stories all.

Gentlemen,
      The following didn't happen to me but I witnessed it.  On the first day of trout season a few years ago quite a few of us were fishing a local pond because there had been some palaminos stocked in it.  There was a man there with his daughter who was about 4 years old and she was using one of those zebco princess rods that you buy at Wal-Mart for about 9 bucks.  The little girl wasn't catching anything so I went over and asked her father if I could put some bait on her hook (she was using bread) so I rigged her little rod with a #12 hook and a couple of salmon eggs and a smalll float and told her to give it a real heave into the pond.  She cast the new bait out real far and I turned to walk away.  I hadn't even made it back to my friends when the little ones' bobber went under and her dad told her to set the hook.  The fish almost took the rod out of her hands and her dad had to help her fight the fish.  When the fish came up we saw that it was a beautiful palimino.  I hurried over with my net and netted her fish for her:  a 24 inch palamino.  I hope that memory will stay with her forever because her smile still shines in my memory.  The little ones are the future of our sport.

Years ago fishing the Allegheny River I caught a nice sized musky.  I was just messing around with one of those old zebco push buttoned reels with 8 or 10 pound line and a little size 4 hook.  No liter and used the smallest shiner in the bucket.  Turned out to be a 3 foot 14 lb musky.

My dad took me to Canada lake nippassing when i was 10 i had a hand me down Mitchell 300 and a Garcia rod..
i was fishing from the dock catching 6&7inch perch when something grabed the perch and started to run and did not stop till the spool was empty!!!
I have had that reel for 40yrs and it still runs very smooth...I dont use it...it sits on a shelf on my wall of fame...

When I was 6 or 7 years old in about 1954 or 55 my dad
took me to the paradise on spring creek & I caught a 20
inch brown on a wright McGill fly rod & a south bend automatic
fly reel & a brown hackle peacock nymph. that was some great
times fishing at that age with my dad & all of the big trout in
the paradise will never forget them.

When I was about 12 or 13 my dad took me to the Anawana Club to trout fish.  They never stocked anything less the 12" and there wre always some bruisers cruising the edge that no one could catch.  Well, My late uncle Kenny was with us, and I was using some spinners, and I think i had caught a few by this point.  He let me borrow his Kastmaster spoon, (Metallic Blue and Silver) and that thing wieghed a ton.  I was using the Mitchell 300 I beleive(old metal green?)  I casted clean across the lake and within about 2 reels I hooked onto a 20 inch rainbow.  He put on a show jumping close to 4 feet in the air at one point.  When I got him close to the bank, a fellow right to the left of us brought over a net and my dad netted it for me.  as soon as we pulled it ashore the spoon popped out of his mouth.  Well, I decided right there it was going on the wall, and my uncle gave me his spoon to put in its mouth.  Pretty much the most special moment of fishing I've ever had.

This past summer I landed a 18.5 lb Blue Fish which is by all acounts a Trophy blue. It was worth being up all night fishing with nothing but a handful of schoolie and barely legal stripers. Best fight Ive had with a fish in ten years.caught him using (and dont laugh)a 13 year old '7 BWS heavy action Ugly Stick #15-#40, 10 year old 6500ss Penn Reel (made in USA) 10/0 Owner hook,3.5 oz Bank Sinker #50 Sufix Performace Braid and a big chunk of herring. big fish, sunrise, aint that what its all about? First time in my life people who where strangers wanted pictures of my fish when we got back to the dock. It wouldnt have happened if I were in a tourny!