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Tag Archives: Bass Fishing

Lead into Gold: A Review of Kenn Oberrecht’s “The Angler’s Guide to Jigs and Jigging”(1982)

30 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by Henry Veggian in Book Reviews, Writings

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Angler's Guide to Jigs and Jig Fishing, Bass Fishing, Book review, Fishing Books, Jig Fishing, Ken Oberrecht

Lead into Gold: A Review of Kenn Oberrecht’s “The Angler’s Guide to Jigs and Jigging”(1982)

 

People sometimes ask me “Hank, why do you read these old fishing books?” My answer is “Shakespeare.” Awkward silence generally follows, or someone accuses me of being a professor.

Let me explain (that’s what professors do, after all). First, there is no such thing as an “old book.” Every book is new the first time we read it. And just like any other book, we ease into it, fit our mind to its author’s style in the early pages, slip into ideas and characters that it presents, etc. We all remember the first time we read Hamlet in high school. It was like learning a new language. If you stuck it out you were rewarded with a mighty drama about choice and regret.

Second, there is no such thing as a “fishing book.“ That’s just a phrase we use to describe writings composed by people who spend a lot of time holding fishing tackle around water. What we call “fishing books” are really just books that explain how a person thinks through a specific type of problem. The central premise of every fishing book is basically “How can I trick and catch a living animal that cannot directly be seen (most of the time).” As such, fishing books are really books about the art of tricking an aquatic animal. Or, if you prefer, books written by people who think too much about fishing.

Does thinking ever get “old?” I hope not. And what would life be without choices, or regrets? I wouldn’t want to know. For one, the fishing stories would be few and far between.

Continue reading →

The Erroneous Classic : Dr. James A. Henshall’s Book of the Black Bass

17 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by Henry Veggian in Book Reviews, Writings

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Tags

19th century Fish Biology, 19th century Fishing Literature, B.A.S.S., Bass Fishing, Book of the Black Bass, Dr. James Henshall, fish biology, Largemouth Bass

James Henshall ‘s Book of the Black Bass was published in 1881. Today it is a considered a classic; for example, the edition I read was a reprint published by B.A.S.S. It is a strange book to qualify as a classic because it is littered with hearsay, the prose is often extravagant (but not always) and many of the scientific facts it alleges are simply wrong. Furthermore, Henshall was limited by tackle options (in those days, fly lines were made of silk and horse hair that had to be hung and dried after use, and bait casting reels –minnow casters, he calls them – were a new idea). How then is it a classic? Because Henshall was the first to argue at length for the merits of the Black Bass species as game fish, and to do so mustering all the available scientific knowledge  to make his case. What is most interesting is that he did so at a time when the Black Bass was not considered a sport fish (he uses the term “Black Bass” to describe the Largemouth, but implies the Smallmouth and other sub-species). In short, Henshall’s book is filled with mistakes, but if you read it Book of the Black Bass carefully you can hear the modern bass angler’s bluster and bounce; read it with an eye for his arguments against the American trout monopoly, and you will see why he was eventually persuasive, even prophetic.

Nonetheless, to the modern bass angler looking for fishing advice or modern scientific data (not to mention a more readable style of prose), the Book of the Black Bass will resemble a work of fiction written by the good Doctor Frankenstein. In the first place, the book is longer than Abe Lincoln’s beard, numbering 455 pages. Henshall divided it in three parts, each with its faults and merits, so I will review each section in turn.

Spine of the B.A.S.S. reprint of Book of the Black Bass

Continue reading →

Hank’s Essay on Tournament Kayak Fishing in the Fall 2016 KBF Magazine

28 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by Henry Veggian in Essays, Kayak Fishing Posts

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bass Fishing, Fishing, Fishing tournaments, Kayak Bass Fishing, Kayak Fishing Posts, KBF Magazine, Largemouth Bass

My essay about tournament kayak fishing, from the Fall 2016 issue of KBF Magazine. Click on the 1st link below for the pdf file of the article only. The 2nd link contains the full magazine (the article begins on page 73).

Thank you for reading!

  1. 4 Types of Kayak Tournament Fishing (article only): HV Kayak Tournaments KBF Mag
  2. Full magazine (free download):  Read it here

Bowfin Country Field Report: Hank on the Water, Fire in the Sky

25 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Henry Veggian in Field Reports

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Tags

Bass Fishing, Bowfin Country, Henry Veggian, Kayak Fishing Posts, North carolina

A rare photo of a common sight, as I sound the deeper water in Bowfin Country.

Photo Credit: Larry Anderson

9/24/16

Link

Henry Veggian on early Spring Topwater Fishing

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Henry Veggian in Essays, Kayak Fishing Posts

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bass Fishing, Fishing, Kayak Bass Fishing, Kayak Bass Fishing national Championship, Kayak Fishing Posts, KBF Magazine, Kentucky Lake, Topwater Fishing

Here is the link to my article about topwater fishing on Kentucky Lake, courtesy of Kayak Bass Fishing magazine.

  1. Click here for a pdf file of the article only: HV March KY Lake KBF Mag

2. Click below to download the entire magazine as a pdf file (it’s free!); the article is listed in the contents index.

Decorous Techniques: A Review of Largemouth Bass: An In-Fisherman Book of Strategies

01 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Henry Veggian in Book Reviews

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Tags

Bass Fishing, Bowfin, Environment, fish biology, Fishing, Gar, In Fisherman, Largemouth Bass, rough fish

Decorous Techniques: A Review of Largemouth Bass: An In-Fisherman Book of Strategies (1990)

Look at the photograph below. It was taken by Dr. Solomon David, a biologist at the renowned Shedd Aquarium. Dr. David is not a scientist to miss the significance of this grouping, which he caught with his eye and then his camera. The fact of the matter is that it represents something many bass anglers wouldn’t easily admit: the Bowfin (Amia calva), Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) and Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) co-exist in the wild. They share waters where they are born, they share food they chase, and they share graves. And here they are, hanging out like three old friends. Very old friends (well, at least the Gar and Bowfin are).

SolomonDShedd

Why the photo, you ask? I posted it because I’d never seen the Bowfin mentioned without scorn in a book about Largemouth Bass. If you listened to Bass anglers, many argue for the eradication of the Bowfin (to be fair, others secretly confess they prefer catching Bowfin, but they chase Bass for the money). Anti-Bowfin-scorn is simply inherited ignorance. And that is where Largemouth Bass: An In-Fisherman Book of Strategies stands apart from the crowd….

Continue reading →

Versatility: A Review of Monte Burke’s Sowbelly: The Obsessive Record for the World- Record Largemouth Bass (2006)

03 Saturday Oct 2015

Posted by Henry Veggian in Book Reviews

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bass Fishing, Fishing, Largemouth Bass, Monte Burke, Nature Writing, Sports

Perceptive anglers know that a successful day on the water requires a nimble mind. “Successful” in this case refers to the art of figuring things out; a raised fish, a hooked fish, a lost fish, or a landed fish are all better than the alternative. Nimble anglers are the ones who adapt tactics to conditions. Yes, the bite’s been good, and this lure has worked. But now the weather changes, or you lose the lure, or the fish have moved on. What do you do then? Bad anglers continue forcing the same pattern into the water. Good anglers adapt, with mixed results. Great anglers are struck by a figural bolt of lightning, and do something brilliant, eccentric, or simply crazy.

I put myself in the middle tier. Take for example a good late summer bass bite I fished on the Haw River not long ago. Early September is when the shadows hurry to grow long, and the water, clear from a dry summer, moved in a cool, unhurried flow. Topwater action had been hot all summer long so I reverted to habit: poppers and plugs. But this was a section of river notorious for its deep, narrow channels and fish that hesitated to rise. After an hour of failing to persuade the fish, I switched my bait from a noisy topwater plug to a jointed sub-surface lure. The tactical change obtained the desired result, and fish that were in no mood to strike at the surface chase down a lure that swam a foot below the air. Stubborn adherence to established pattern – out. Largemouth Bass on every other cast – in. Granted, this was not the grind of a tournament event, where pressure and exhaustion come into play.

Monte Burke’s engaging and well-written Sowbelly offers the literary analog to the versatility I have in mind. Mind you, I refer to the book. Most of the anglers depicted in it are another matter. Continue reading →

Hank’s Kayak Fishing: A Brief History

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by Henry Veggian in Kayak Fishing Posts

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Tags

Bass Fishing, Bowfin, Henry Veggian Kayak Fishing, Kayak Fishing Posts, Kayaks, primitive fishes

Kayak Fishing offers the advantage of stealth to the angler in the boat. A kayak can navigate water that a bass boat or even a john boat cannot enter without running aground or scaring fish – assuming the angler is quiet and controls the vessel. To fully enjoy a kayak as a fishing platform, an angler must be willing to explore,  learn new techniques, have strong paddling skills and take safety precautions. For these reasons and others, kayak fishing has been my preferred style of fishing since 2011.

I was first introduced to the sport by an officer of the UNC Fishing Club who worked at a large kayak dealership in Greensboro, N.C. in 2008. I began to practice, seek out new waters and later, fish in tournaments (primarily for Largemouth Bass). Over the years, I’ve compiled a strong record in competition. Here are a few highlights:

I. Tournament Kayak Fishing Record

Continue reading →

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