Who are your mentors?

[tlapinski]

So, who do you owe or credit much of your learned fishing knowledge to? Is there one person, or group of people, that you credit with much of the knowledge that you did not learn yourself? Sure we all figure many things out ourselves (sometimes that is half of the fun), but I for one owe a lot to the people I have met and fished with over the years.

In my earliest days, my dad was the one that got me interested in fishing. From the start, he would take me out any time we finished the yard work (or sometimes it wasn't done) and at just about every chance we got. Early on we would target freshwater species such a large and small mouth bass, pickeral, pike, catfish, shad, etc... I simply loved being out and really didn't care what I was fishing for. Then, around my 6th birthday, he took me one of the breachways in South County. We happened into a nice bluefish blitz at daybreak, and I was hooked! From there we made a pint to hit the surf every weekend possible. We spent week long vacations in CT at the shore, fishing every moment we were awake. Almost instantly I was facinated by surf fishing. When I got a bit older, and my parents got divorced, I turned to some of the great outhors to point me in the right directions. People like Woolner, Daignault (Mr. & Mrs.), Coleman, etc... enstilled a love of the surf that sticks to me to this very day.

I credit all of these people, and many more, with pushing me in the right direction. To this day I am still learning. Just about every time out, I try to learn something from the guys in my crew.

So, who are your mentors?

[basswipe]

Simply put my mom.Now that I appoach the age at which she died I appreciate fishing for what it is.I don't care how many or how big or whether I'm a "sharpie" the only thing that matters is "it was a good day".

[thewaterfordstriper]

i want to be like krispy.

dress like him, walk like him, talk like he does.

krispy without a doubt.

[LIBassBoy]

My uncle, and Grandfather. My grandfather got me into fishing when i was very young..3 or 4. My uncle got me into surfcasting around age 11, got my first real surf stick at around the same time. I still remember my first bass from the surf vividly, out in Montauk, thats also around the time i got my first custom plug, a Beachmaster danny, never looked back.
I learned alot watching my uncle fish, he was a hard core plugger, and could get fish to eat wood like you wouldnt believe. Hes gone now but i still fish the BM dannys, and think about him watching that thing snake across the surface...

[cchobot]

My fishing mentor was my uncle... He got me started when I was just a little guy. I can remember fishing a small river w/ worms and bobbers like one time and then it was all flyfishing after that.

We flyfished the sweet water all over Eastern CT and RI. He and his friends were some bunch of guys for a little kid to hang around... I really loved it. It was also fun to watch him teach my own dad to flyfish (after he had taught me). There's something REALLY gratifying about watching your own dad get schooled by HIS older brother when you're like 12.

Needless to say I miss him a lot.

[tlapinski]

Originally Posted by thewaterfordstriper

i want to be like krispy.

dress like him, walk like him, talk like he does.

krispy without a doubt.

Looks like you guys are sharing a bed at Cutty next week...

[thewaterfordstriper]

as long as he stays away from the chile

[Pete_G]

My Mom when I was younger always took me fishing . My Dad hates going fishing. He'll go for a boat ride, under protest, but that's about it.

As I got a little older I started fishing with my uncle more who lives in Newport. We often went freshwater fishing though because I was still fairly young. Some of the guys at the old Thompson's Sport Shop in Seekonk, MA taught me a lot too.

Fished saltwater with my uncle more as I got older and then started fishing the salt even more once I got my license.

Then I started working part-time at the SWE...

Guides coming in and out of the shop constantly, great fisherman from all over the country, the Ironman hanging out every day, fishing with all those people...

An Advanced Placement course if there ever was one. I probably learned more in a year then I might have in a lifetime. Corey Pietrazsek, Eric Thomas, Trent Brown, Mike Everin, Chris Aubut, there's a LONG list of people who I've learned a lot from.

The entire crew at the shop, new and older, I've learned a lot from and certainly the friendly competitive spirit helps keep me driven.

[nofish]

My father. And what a long shadow it's been too. Someday I'll catch one bigger than fifty two pounds. Fifty two pounds!!! I've been listening to that one now for forty nine years. God bless him though he's still around to fish with.