I have to give a little back story before I explain why I love this site... Sorry ahead of time for the book...
When I was very young, my grandfather used to take me fishing a couple of times a week (we lived at Lake of the Ozarks, in Central MO). We were always fishing for crappie off of his dock (right where he would sink the Christmas tree every winter). He must have had 10 years worth of Christmas trees at the edge of his dock! We would get up at 5am, eat some breakfast (his favorite was oatmeal and raisins, which to this day, still conjures up pleasant memories for me), and then we would walk down the road to his dock and sit there for hours. He taught me how to load minnows, we fished, the sun came up, and he taught me things the way that only a grandpa can - patience, kindness, humility, etc... I cherish every moment of those trips - they are among my fondest childhood memories... The times when we would go fishing faded as I got older. Unknown to me at the time, he had developed cancer from asbestos at work and was in poor health, so we didn't go much. I was somewhere around 6-8 yrs old, so I didn't really understand what was going on - I just knew we weren't fishing too much any more (even though I was always bugging him to go)... Looking back, I can now see that whenever he could get the energy together and tolerate the pain, he would take me. He passed in 1978, when I was 8 years old, which was also the same year my parents divorced. That was also the last year I went crappie fishing. I can't say for sure if it is all related or not (I'm a computer guy, not a psychiatrist), but I do know that's when I stopped fishing for crappie...
Fast forward 30+ years - I'm now in my 40's, have a great family and 2 wonderful kids. I have taken my family fishing many times - and we love the peaceful time together on the lake, even if we catch absolutely nothing. But, we have never gone crappie fishing - we have always fished for catfish because it was easier to teach. So my wife and I were out fishing a few weeks ago, and I had a brief flash of my childhood - something about the lake triggered a memory. Remembering "back in the day", what fun I had fishing for crappie with my grandpa, and how much those memories still mean to me today as a grown man. That's when I decided that I wanted to get back into crappie fishing...
Enter crappie.com - considering how long it had been since I fished for crappie, I was (putting it mildly), rusty... I looked around on the web and found this site. I have looked through many of the forums, looking for things to spark an old memory or technique, and have found a wealth of information that has brought back my desire for fishing where there is a bit more action (catfish are good to eat, but kinda slow and lumbering with regards to "action"). I also appreciate that this site is family friendly, and that all of the veterans on here are so willing to share their tips and tricks. It has already helped me unlock a few things that were somewhere in the back of my mind... Thanks for hosting and maintaining this site!
That's my story - sorry for the mush at the beginning, but there it is...
vBulletin Message