Then and now: Anglers seeing major changes on the water

Friday, June 18, 2010

They say that the only thing that doesn't change is change. Recently, I saw a case in point. At the weigh-in of a bass tournament held on Table Rock, all the anglers in the tournament had big bass boats powered by 200-horsepower motors and all kinds of electronic equipment -- a far cry from the '60's when I fished tournaments.

Back in the early days of tournament fishing, if you had a 50-horsepower motor, you were one of the few with that kind of outboard. Most of the anglers had a 25-horsepower motor and their boat was usually a 14-foot aluminum one with no livewell. Tackle boxes were metal compared to the plastic or cloth ones of today.

Fishing back in the earlier days was nearly always good as the big impoundments like Table Rock and Bull Shoals were new, you didn't need a big rig to get to the fish.

Back in the '60's, most fishing tournaments gave trophies to the winners and very little cash compared to today's anglers who can make thousands of dollars by winning a tournament. The big money and televised tournaments were still a long way away.

Tournament fishing had really changed from the 60's when Hy Peskin, a photographer for Sports Illistrated, had a vision of a fishing tournament that would be a big television event with lots of spectators watching and attending the weigh-ins. Peskin wasn't a fisherman, but he started the World Series of Freshwater Fishing that turned out to be the start of the big tournaments of today.

Most of today's tournament anglers would find it hard to believe just how good the fishing was some 50 years ago when you could go almost anywhere on a lake and catch fish. Of course, we couldn't move around that much, but then you didn't have to. We didn't even have trolling motors. Instead, we used the paddle to move around, but we caught fish.

Back then, there were no fish finders to tell you how deep the water was, you had to guess or tie a rock to a line and drop it into the water. Instead of a livewell, stringers were used to hold your catch.

In spite of all the big motors and electronics, most of the record fish were taken back in the early days, including the Missouri record largemouth bass that weighed 13 pounds, 14 ounces, caught back in 1961.

Another thing that has changed is the number of boats and fishermen on the lakes. Bob Neal, Joplin, 81, recalled that when he fished Bull Shoals years ago, he might see two or three other boats on the lake all day long. However, he said, "The last time I fished Bull Shoals, I counted 14 boats in less than a half hour and most of them were flying down the lake. It's a different world out there today," he said.

A case for today's anglers is that there are more species of fish to catch, including muskies, stripers and walleye. hatcheries have made a big difference and stocking programs have created a supply of fish that wouldn't have been thought of a few years ago.

Fishing today is still good and much has to do with good fisheries management as well as the sophistication of today's anglers and all the things they have learned about fishing.

Although lakes across the state have much more fishing pressure then ever, anglers' gear is better and anglers are more educated than back in the early days. However, even with all the new equipment and you know the fish are there, that doesn't mean that they will bite.

Yes, things have changed in the world of fishing, but its still fishing. As Neil said, "It may always be fishing, but it isn't always catching."