OLDIES BUT GOODIES

BY DAN CHASON

I remember when the first foot controlled trolling motor came out. It was a cumbersome, low powered contraption that after one stump strike, you were back to paddling. For years, I fished with a hand controlled motor on my big boats. When fishing large impoundments in bass tournaments, you are on your feet all day and the foot controlled motors yielded more back aches than they were worth. Standing on one leg for 9 hours or so can really do a number on you. Just ask my lower back and left knee even today.
But today’s rigs not only have self-guiding motors that require a degree from MIT to figure out, the foot pounds of power now are unreal. I recall the first time I was in a boat with my friend, Jackie Howard, who had bought a 36-volt trolling motor. I can tell you one thing, if you turn the boat and accidentally have it on full throttle, someone is going swimming. Then there was the prototype self-guided trolling motor I was offered when they first came out. There should have been a camera rolling and music from the “Benny Hill Show” playing when I first tried this thing out. It had the shore line track, depth track and speed control. This meant “hold onto something as you have no idea where this thing is going.” The manufacturer sent a representative down to Toledo Bend with me to “field test” this thing. The rep showed all the features, demonstrated each one and with him standing there, I was quite impressed. However, the next Saturday, after having dreams of not fighting a trolling motor all day on a Sam Rayburn tournament, I was off to give her a try. Let’s just say that after literally knocking the gell coat off of my boat in the buck brush, I made a run back to the landing and finished the tournament with my old trusty hand control.
Same way with lures now days. I rarely go to the tackle store for bass lures anymore. I went to the tackle store and with a straight face this salesman was honestly thinking I would pay $17 for a top water plug. Then after nearly having heart failure through the crank bait aisle, I started really missing the old days. DD 22’s were my favorite right behind the old Mud Bug. I will say this loudly: I will buy any 3/4 ounce Mud Bug in the parrot color. Ok, now that we have settled that let’s go to spinner baits. I have never seen such a conglomeration of blades, sizes, colors and choices in my life. It just made me look like I was outdated and didn’t know anything about fishing.
But after catching my breath and realizing I don’t make nearly enough money anymore to keep up, I realized one thing. Fishing has come a long way, and the new electronics are another story. If you are shopping, they are talking Helix, G5 astronomically lined up with the seventh moon phase of the next millenium stuff that only a computer scientist with a PhD could figure out. I mean folks, they have depth finders that actually show the lure under water and the fish looking at it. If you had told my pop that back in 1973, he would have laughed. His depth finder was a brick tied to some trot line cord. I don’t need a depth finder or graph with GPS, water temperature, color selector and tomorrow’s stock prices. I need to know the depth and see the cover. Heck when I was hard after them we used a FLASHER. You could read all of this and interpret it. Now days we have to log into a smart phone, find the GPS coordinates, lock in our spot and pray that Johnny Megabucks doesn’t drive way and ping our honey hole as he goes by at 92mph in his boat that drives itself. It is insane.
But again, it has progressed where the new breed of angler has adapted. In my opinion, they have adapted to the technology but not necessarily to what makes a fish do what we want them to do, bite.
When I used to do fishing demos or seminars, we talked about moon phases and how to get them from all things…. a newspaper. We discussed barometric pressure and its effect on fish. We had lengthy conversations about tactics using mother nature. Not once have I ever had a conversation about the latest technology to make it easier. I’m not saying it is not still a sport, but this sport of fishing should be determined by ability and knowledge, not money. This started way back and I’ve seen it first-hand. You go to a lake, practice hard, locate some fish and hope the bite holds. But then Team Buyabass shows up with all the latest gadgets, compares notes and remains at the top of the board. You cannot compete with that level of money and intelligence. That is sad because there are some really talented anglers who never get their names in the lights because of a factor they cannot control. There are exceptions as tournament fishing has a simple rule: When it is your day it is your day. I can remember one tournament where I won the event, big bass, second big bass and the door prize. I could do no wrong. But I can also remember tournaments where I slung 4 pounders over the boat and into the woods. I was on fish but it was not my day. My point is this, fishing has grown but is leaning heavily towards technological measures to make an angler more successful. My fear is that new anglers will be discouraged and not take up the sport due to the expense. That is why I left the tackle store with a pack of Wobbleheads, some trick worms and one frog. At the end of the day, I had a limit of bass and did not turn on anything resembling a smart phone or computer to catch them.