My First Fishing Experience

by Makani Christensen

I remember picking up a fishing pole for the first time when I was just two years old. It wasn't much of a fishing rod, just a simple bamboo pole with a hook and a small split-shot weight.

I remember my dad helping me hold the bamboo pole and showing me how to position the bait in the water. Like so many great memories in fishing, that moment has stayed with me throughout my life.

We were fishing close to shore, where I could see a fish swimming just below the surface. The bamboo pole was about four feet long, with four to six pounds of fishing line extending roughly the same distance. One end of the line was tied to the tip of the pole, while the other held a hook with a small split-shot weight positioned three or four inches above it.

On the hook was a piece of raw shrimp.

I remember lowering the bait into the water and watching the fish approach. The anticipation of feeling that first bite was almost overwhelming.

Then it happened.

I felt a gentle nibble at the end of the line. The bamboo pole began to bend ever so slightly, transmitting the movement of the fish through the rod and into my tiny hands.

To a two-year-old, it felt as though the fish was playing with the hook, teasing me before finally committing.

Then the fish grabbed the bait.

I pulled upward, lifting the fish out of the water.

I was hooked on fishing.

The fish was a saddle wrasse, known in Hawaiian as hinalea. Its colors were unlike anything I had ever seen. Brilliant shades of green, orange, and purple shimmered as it wriggled at the end of the pole.

My dad helped me remove the hook and placed the fish in a small pool of water among the wet rocks.

I remember standing there, completely fascinated, watching the fish swim around. Its gills opened and closed as it breathed underwater. I studied its dark red and purple gills, watching them expand and contract as water passed through.

There were two openings, the eyes and the mouth, that almost made the fish look as though it had a face.

I couldn't understand how something could breathe underwater. How could a living creature survive beneath the surface when I couldn't?

Watching that fish opened an entirely new world to me.

It was amazing to see such a beautiful creature swimming in the shallow water. I remember the hinalea keeping itself upright with its side fins, moving so naturally that it almost appeared to be standing.

Questions raced through my young mind, and my curiosity quickly turned into a fascination with the underwater world.

Looking back, that first fish was more than just a childhood catch. It was the beginning of a lifelong relationship with the ocean.

Growing Up in Hawaii

The first fish I ever caught was on the island of Maui, at a small, secluded beach on the southern side of the island.

Back then, my family called it our secret beach.

My parents and their friends would drive along the sandy road until they reached the shoreline. My parents were young. My mother was only twenty-two, and my father was twenty-seven.

From the beach, you could see Molokini and Kahoʻolawe in the distance.

There are countless memories from my childhood, but very few remain as vivid as that first fishing experience. At only two years old, I remember the excitement, curiosity, and sense of accomplishment that came from catching my first fish.

I couldn't have known it then, but that little bamboo pole would be the beginning of something that would shape the rest of my life.

Over the years, I gradually developed the skills that would eventually lead me toward a career in fly fishing.

My experiences began with the simple handlines and bamboo poles of my childhood. As I grew older, I learned to use throw nets and cross nets. Eventually, I became involved in commercial fishing, both nearshore and pelagic, as well as spearfishing and fly fishing.

Each method taught me something different about the ocean, fish behavior, and the importance of understanding the environment.

But of all the fishing methods I have experienced, fly fishing remains my favorite.

Why?

Because it challenges me in ways that other forms of fishing simply don't.