Dave Richey OUTDOORS

I'd been invited to one of the earliest B.A.S.S. tournaments on Lake Sam Rayburn in Texas. The weigh-in was a disaster; the tournament anglers were bringing in the bass in wheel barrows.

All were dead. After the weigh-in, who knows what happened to all the dead fish. I hope they were given to needy families.

Kay Richey (below) with a nice Little Bay de Noc smallie.

I wrote one or two stories about that incident, and how much it bothered me to see all those dead and wasted fish, and it earned me a bad rep from some state and national bass fishermen.

"Richey is against bass fishing. Richey hates tournament fishermen Richey doesn't like this or that."

 It went on for years but I ignored it.The barbs stung, but what I wrote was true. Granted, giant strides have been taken by BASS to keep fish alive. I've written about that, but still the rumors persist.

I got to the point where I didn't care about the lies.

So, I'll state it once again. I fish for largemouth and smallmouth bass and enjoy catching both species. I also enjoy fishing for salmon, muskies, pike, perch, bluegills, sunfish, trout, walleyes, whitefish, etc.

And bass season is coming up soon, and I suspect I'll chase them around a bit but I'm not a one-species fisherman. I enjoy them all, and although I may fish for other species more than for bass, I cut my angling teeth of largemouth and smallmouth bass many years ago.

Put me up against a wall, and demand to know my preference, and I'd quickly admit to enjoying smallmouth bass much more than largemouth bass. It's my belief that smallies hit harder, jump higher and fight longer than a largemouth bass. It's just one man's opinion, and it's mine.

I think back to all the smallies I've caught on Grand Traverse Bay and nearby Green Lake, and it's difficult to forget the largemouth bass I used to catch as a teenager on Tuscola County's North Lake while fishing after dark during the summer months.

There have been some fabled smallmouth bass trips to Beaver, High and Hog islands in northern Lake Michigan. I've spanked the smallies pretty hard along the east shoreline of Little Bay de Noc along the Stonington Peninsula, and difficult to ignore were the old days on the Cass River when I'd fish the Cass River for smallies.

Years ago, when I lived downstate, I'd fish Lake Fenton for largemouth bass. This was in the days of the Spoonplug that would, by using different sizes, allow anglers to troll at different depths. I used to troll a Bomber, and a greenish-brown model seemed deadly on largemouth bass in 15 feet of water.

Michigan is loaded with largemouth and smallmouth bass lakes and streams.

I've waded the shallows off the tip of the Thumb near Caseville and Grindstone City, fished among the big boulders and rocks, and caught nice smallmouth. I also remember fishing off a tiny tributary north of Port Huron, and thinking I'd hooked the world-record smallie. It turned out to be a 15-pound carp that hit a jig bounced along bottom.

There have been fishing trips to Lake Okeechobee in Florida where we waded along the edges of cattails, stepped into spawning beds, broke off a cattail stalk, and then fished near those marked spots as we waded back to our starting point. All this time while having one or two alligators within 30 to 40 yards. We didn't bother them and they returned the favor.

Folks, I really do enjoy bass fishing. Tournament fishing isn't my thing, but it's fine with me if it appeals to you. One might argue the point that I fished for money because I was paid to write about things that me and other anglers did, but that is a debatable point. Tournament fishermen do fish for money, and I've covered many BASS tournaments where people won money … big money.

Folks, check for certain late bass openers before heading out.

I'm not against bass tournament or walleye tournaments either, but it's not my cup of tea. I grew up in an era where fishing was done for sport, rather than money, and where some fish were kept and eaten.

I realize that times change, public attitudes change, and I should come to accept it. My only gripe is that some bass anglers apparently don't believe I enjoy bass fishing, and that is their problem, and not mine.

Bass fishing will continue to be fun for me, and I'll continue to write about it a few times each year. As years pass, I've learned that my attitudes toward fishing and hunting  doesn't have to meet with your approval, and the reverse is true. And that is as it should be.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors