A Boyd's Eye View: Finding a way to get kids into fishing.

For the past few years or so I have been asked to speak to a group of youngsters in a local summer-school class that are learning all about fishing. It's honestly one of the funnest things I get to be a part of and I look forward to it every year. The first few years I did this I spoke primarily about what was involved in producing a fishing TV show. I told a few entertaining stories, talked about how they could go about making their own fishing videos, and then the kids got to watch an episode of the program I was involved with. But the last time I did this, I sat back and observed the kids and realized that while they were watching the TV show they weren't really learning about fishing; I was simply entertaining them, not engaging them in the sport. I realized I needed a new plan.

I began to think about what it was that got me so fired up about fishing as a youngster and how I was introduced to the sport. Like so many of us, I was lucky to have family that fished and were willing to get me involved. My grandfather and uncles were my early mentors, teaching me the basics and getting me out on the water. And while those experiences obviously played a key role in my love of fishing, I can honestly say there was one special moment in my past that set my path to where I am today, and it happened in an upstairs closet of my grandmother's house.

My Grandma Boyd was tiny in stature but big on self reliance. She'd worked in a clothing factory most all her life operating large pressing machines. But while digging around in a closet in the seldom-used upstairs of her house one day I discovered a box that piqued my interest. When I opened it, I found it was filled with hooks and feathers and thread and a fly tying vise. My initial thought was that it must belong to my granddad. I mean, I knew he fished alright, but as far as I knew he was a bank-sittin' catfish kinda guy, not one that would use a fly rod. I took the box downstairs to ask Grandma about the items I had found.

"Oh my", she was obviously taken back by my discovery. "I have not seen those things in many years. I didn't even know they were still around." As it turned out, the fly tying materials were hers. The story goes that one day a man from Montgomery Ward came to the clothing factory where she worked to enlist a handful of willing ladies to learn to make flies that were to be sold via the Montgomery Ward catalog. Grandma figured she could use the extra money and signed up. She was taught to tie a half dozen popular fly patterns including a couple streamers, an Adams, a Royal Wulff and a few others. She told me she was then supplied with a box of materials, a vise and a bobbin along with some shipping envelopes. She tied flies in the evening after dinner and once she got a couple dozen finished, she would ship them off in the envelopes provided and a week or so later she'd receive a check. She made about twenty five cents for every fly she tied. It was only a few extra bucks every month, but back then, it was a nice bonus.

So she sat me down and taught me the basics of tying a fly. I didn't fly fish, but it was the idea of making my own fishing lures that got me so excited to learn. Within a few years I was making fishing lures out of all kinds of things. I purchased some materials from mail-order catalogs, but using things like tableware and old costume jewelry also proved effective. Some of my creations were junk, but a few actually caught fish, and the satisfaction of catching a fish with a lure I made myself was immeasurable. 

That was the passion I wanted to instill in the kids in the fishing class. So the next time I showed up to speak to the group, I came toting a box of feathers, thread, hooks, split rings, wire, 

Speaking to the River Studies class about making fishing lures.

beads and even some old silverware - all sorts of things I could show them that they could use to make fishing lures themselves. The effect was more than I could have ever hoped for. The kids were engaged. They asked question after question, their minds churning as they came up with ideas of their own. The instructor for the class later told me I had created "some monsters" as the kids were excited to head out on their next class fishing outing to try the lures they had made at home after my visit.

Those of us in the fishing industry are constantly talking about ways to grow the sport. Putting rods and reels in the hands of kids and getting them out fishing is no doubt great and effective. But if you can tap into a kids own creativity and show them how it can relate to fishing - that's a special gift you can give a young angler. At least that's my Boyd's Eye View on it. Carry on.

A Boyd's Eye View: Warm memories win out over cold adventures.

As I write this it is the eve of the opening of the 2016 Deer Gun Season in Wisconsin. Few places in the country (or the world for that matter), place more importance on this long-standing tradition. For days now, even weeks for some, preparations have been underway to make the opener a successful one, whether a deer is harvested or not.

Over the past several years I have watched from the sidelines as the annual event took place. I used to participate, enthusiastically, but these days my memories of past hunts seem to be enough. Am I envious of seeing the big antlered bucks that are shot and registered every year (especially when it's one taken by my son-in-law and/or daughter)? Absolutely; the big one always eluded me. But it never really bothered me. I guess I never hunted for the trophy. Hunting to me has always been like all my other outdoors pursuits, a way to reconnect with what ignites my inner flame. 

Don't get me wrong, I've had more than my share of outdoors adventures. The mere thought of all the miles I trekked chasing pheasants and other upland birds across the Dakota prairies, farm fields and endless seas of CRP makes my knees hurt even now. Then there were the hours trying to sit still in a tree stand when the temps were single digits and shivering was involuntary. I was always better at walking than sitting, which is no doubt why I still prefer wing shooting over still hunting.

The same goes for fishing too. While angling has and always will be my greatest outdoor passion, I haven't done nearly as much of it the past few years for a number of reasons. Part of it was that I did what everyone said I should do many years ago and turn my passion into my profession. That has allowed me to fish in some fabulous places and catch some amazing fish over the decades, but it's a double-edged sword really. The problem comes when it becomes work and not a break from work. The day I began to think of fishing as work, it lost a good bit of the charm and attraction for me it once had. I found myself in a boat in a place most would only be able to dream of fishing, and I really didn't want to be there. I suppose that's not all that unusual really. We all go through changes in our life. That was just one I never really saw coming.

Oh I still love fishing. But now I find joy in the simpler aspects of the sport that I paid little attention to in the past. Gone now is the big boat rigged with fancy electronics and equipment to make the fish want to throw up their fins and just jump in the net (at least you'd have thought that's the way it was supposed to work). Now I've scaled back to a simpler style of angling ... float tubes and shore fishing are more appealing now than spending a $100 to fill the truck and boat with gas for the weekend. Sure, I don't catch as many fish, but I enjoy my time more when I do fish, whether or not they're biting. 

So these days you might call me a "fair weather" sportsman, and I'm just fine with that. If I wake up and its cold and rainy, I do something other than go fishing or hunting. If I have to decide one day whether to take an opportunity to go fishing during a hot bite or play golf on a nice course I've never played, I'm more likely to hit the links that day. It's not that I wouldn't like to go fishing, but it's a case of "been there, done that", and life is so much more interesting if you take the path less traveled more often.

I will spend some time in the deer woods this fall, and I will hope my arrow flies true and I get the chance to harvest the big one that has eluded me all these years, but if I don't, I will have all my memories to keep me warm. At least that's my Boyd's Eye View on it. Carry on.

A Boyd's Eye View: What is it with the classic red and white color pattern in fishing lures?

Some vintage plugs in the red and white color pattern.

Fishing lures have been a fascination of mine for most of my life. It all began back in Joplin, Missouri, on the corner of 32nd and Main. The old Southtown Bait & Tackle store was there, marked forever in my memory by the iconic bass sign right out front. The store is no longer there, but the memory of that magical place will always be with me. The open bins that lined the isles were filled with every conceivable contraption ever designed to catch a fish, or at least it looked that way to me. 

The first lure I bought there was an inline spinner. It was a couple inches long, had an elongated metal body on a wire shaft with a French-style spinner blade on the front and a small treble hook dressed with white feathers on the back. The color was a brilliant white background covered in bright red dots. My granddad helped me pick it out. We were headed for the river to take advantage of the white bass run. I remember distinctly him telling me, "You can't go wrong with that color pattern. Red and white lures catch everything that swims."

Well granddad was right (as usual when it came to fishing), and the red and white spinner did the job nicely that day. Over the years I have owned many baits colored red and white. The most popular pattern over all has to be what in lure lingo is known as the Redhead pattern; white body with the head portion painted red. From deep diving plugs to topwater baits this pattern has been adorning fishing lures as long as these hard-body baits have been made. 

I have no idea why this color combination is so effective. One could speculate it has to do with the contrast, or the fact that in slightly off-colored water the white of the lure is easily seen. It really doesn't mimic any baitfish I've ever seen, but the predator fish eat it on a regular basis. Heck, it may be the same sort of reaction a matador gets waving a red cape in front of a bull; it just irritates the fish into hitting it.

No matter what size lure or material, you can most likely find one in red and white.

And it doesn't matter whether you are talking saltwater or freshwater. No one goes on a Canadian fishing trip without a red and white Dardevel Spoon, and anglers fishing off the east coast rarely hit the water without a red and white surface plug in their tackle box.

While the red and white color scheme is not my first choice on the water these days, I can honestly say I don't leave the dock without at least one red and white lure in my box. Its just not right going fishing without one handy. Its been like that for me since that first trip to the tackle store in Joplin. As a matter of fact, I'm hard-pressed to walk past a red and white lure these days without at least picking it up, and more often than not it finds its way home with me. I have a ton of them; most will never get wet. But they are eye-catching, and for me that's the sign of a really good fishing lure. It must catch the angler before it can catch a fish.

That's my Boyd's Eye View at least. Carry on.

A Boyd's Eye View: Social media includes "face-to-face" contact.

Not long after my last Boyd's Eye View I had a great discussion with a friend who also has a long history in the fishing and outdoor industries. He liked what I had written with regard to "professional anglers" needing to pay attention to details in their posting on social media, but he also made a point to remind me that it's important not to lose sight of the one aspect of marketing one's self that seems to have really gotten lost the past few years; Face-to-face engagement.

Instantly I realized he was right. It's almost like we spend so much time on the computer with "social media", we have lost the ability to be "social" in person. I have seen this in action first hand from one of the best. For years, I had the pleasure of working with Hall of Fame walleye angler Gary Parsons. I have no doubt that if you took aside 100 individuals that had met Gary in person at least 80% (and probably more) would say he was personable and great to talk to. Truth be known, there were many times we would be at a boat ramp or on the road headed to a TV shoot or an event and stop in to fill gas or make a pit stop and Gary would get approached by and spend 30 minutes or even more talking fishing before getting back to the task at hand. Was that something he "needed" to do? Absolutely not, but he saw an opportunity to share his passion for the sport he loved with other like-minded individuals and took it. Seriously, I don't even think it is something he can help; his passion for fishing and the outdoors is just so strong he can't help but share it at most every chance he gets.

Face-to-face may very well be the most influential form of social media.

Many professional anglers (or other professional influencers for that matter) don't work on their "people skills" nearly as hard as they do their social media skills because companies that sponsor them have no way to track the effectiveness of their face-to-face contact. That's a shame, and while it's true that its not a real measurable commodity, it very well may be an infuencer's most powerful tool in the long run.

It's amazing how many times I have seen guys completely blow the perfect opportunity to build on their face-to-face influence. Working sport shows is an ideal situation. Whether you are there to support a sponsor or to give seminars, you have a captive audience that are there to hear what you have to say. If you are standing around in a booth with your nose in your phone, you are not doing your job. After you give a seminar, there are inevitably going to be individuals walking up to talk and ask questions. Engage them with a smile, shake their hand and be "in" the conversation. If you need to take the conversation to another room to make way for the next presenter, do so. This is your job. Do it with courtesy and enthusiasm. If you can't do that, go find a 9-to-5 gig because this line of work is not for you.

It's an art that few have and anyone working to be an "influencer" in any industry should master. Being able to connect face-to-face builds brand loyalty, and it can do it in a manner that's much more effective and long-term than any type of media can produce. Be careful however, as it can backfire on you just as quickly and irrevocably turn folks off to your brand and influence in the marketplace. Be professional at all times, be polite and smile. This all may sound elementary but its amazing how often the most simple steps to being social are completely ignored.

If you are working to be an influencer in your chosen industry, someone that drives around in a fully wrapped vehicle promoting your sponsors or your brand, it doesn't matter if you're a professional angler, professional hunter or even the world's foremost expert on K-cup coffees (a position I am honing in on with every passing cup), you need to be approachable and personable. You can influence a large group of people by one friendly and passion-sharing conversation with one person. It works because then that one person goes out and tells their friends about it, and then they tell their friends, etc, etc. It's the pebble dropped in the water deal ... and none of it involved a computer. 

That's my Boyd's Eye View at least ... Carry On.

Collecting Stuff - For the Fun of It!

I'm sure "Collecting" is a hobby as old as mankind. No doubt somewhere way back in history, a Neanderthal Man had an impressive collection of something .... maybe bones, maybe rocks. What ever it was, the collecting of those items was important to him, more so than most of the other Neanderthals around him. His collection made him unique, and his collection gave him a sense of pleasure he did not get from anything else.

I would venture a guess that most of us collect something during our lives. We all know the popularity of collecting stamps, coins and rare comic books. Some collectors gravitate toward collecting items they closely associate with like items pertaining to a favorite sport or TV show. Some collections are vast, like the woman I saw a TV report about recently that had amassed over 10,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers. Some collectors are much more obsessed than others ... I'd say she's just nuts, but then who am I to judge. 

As for me, I have had several collections over the years - none of them extreme, but small treasures none the less. Like many young boys growing up in the 60's and 70's, I had a baseball card collection (and chewed ton's of cheap bubble gum). I had some pretty good cards too, including the complete set of available players for the 1967 St. Louis Cardinal roster including the team photo card. That was the year they won the World Series against the Sox . What I wouldn't do to have those cards today! They were all stored and sorted neatly in a boot box in my closet when I went off to college, only to be tossed out with most of the rest of the clutter filling my childhood bedroom closet to make space for my mom's new "sewing room". (It's as if she couldn't wait to get me out of the house or something ...).

These days I have a small collection of knives, a very selective but precious (to me) collection of framed fishing art prints, but my most prized collection is my assortment of antique fishing tackle. It's by no means a large collection, and none of my collectibles are all that rare or in pristine condition. But they are part of my collection because of one thing; I think they are cool. 

I used to have the entire collection in a display case in my family room, but when my wife and I downsized to a small abode a few years back, the collection was packed up and stored away for safe keeping. I pull the boxes out from time to time, and I like to take photos of the items for no other reason than I just like the way they look. I look at the rusty hooks and chipped paint on an old lure and I think about the excitement of anticipation it gave every time it was cast to "fishy looking" spots. I don't collect the valuable lures that are still new and in their original box. I like the tackle that has seen use. The stuff that has fought fish and brought joy to the angler using it. It's those stories behind the rods and reels and lures that make collecting this stuff fun for me.

I hope you have a collection you enjoy. I believe we should all collect something. Collections say something about who we are on the inside. And don't get caught up in the thought that collectibles are an "investment" of any kind! For crying out loud, if something I collect now is going to be worth enough to call an "investment", it won't be until I'm long dead and buried. Collect for the fun of it. That's the best reason to collect anything.