I will never forget the first bass I caught. All my short life I had caught bream and small catfish on my cane pole with cork bobber. Usually the bobber would twitch or go down and when I lifted the pole tip the fish would pull down and make circles.

    When about 12 years old, while fishing in the spillway hole below Usury’s Pond dam, my cork popped under the water. When I raised my pole and set the hook an 11-inch bass exploded from the surface of the water.  It pulled hard, running all over the place and jumped two more times. It hooked me much better than I hooked it.

    When I was in high school I loved to water ski. Daddy bought a fantastic ski boat for the time, a 17-foot Larson with a 120 hp Mercury inboard/outboard – now usually called and outdrive.  It wasn’t fast but it would pull up six skiers on double skis or three on slalom.

    But it was not much of a fishing boat. We could run trotlines, bank hooks and jugs for cats and tie up or anchor to fish. And it was very good for trolling. Linda caught an 8-pound, 10 ounce largemouth on a Hellbender plug pulled behind it in 1972.

    Of course it had no trolling motor up front so working down the bank was a problem. The spring after Linda caught the 8 pounder, I made a wooden platform that fit over the front running light and hooked to the front cleats. 

    I put a small trolling motor on a bracket hanging down in front so I could sit on the platform and turn the motor with my foot. To turn it on and off I unclipped the battery clamp from the 12-volt battery sitting beside me. It was ok as long as the wind didn’t blow, that small trolling motor would barely move it.

    It was cumbersome but it was better than anything else I had. Clambering over the windshield to get to the front was not a problem when I was that age.

    Linda and I bought our first car together the first year we were married, a 1972 Cutlass Supreme Convertible. Our next big purchase was a bass boat, a 1974 17-foot Arrowglass that had tolling motor and depth finder, top of the line at that time.  Oddly enough, each cost $3500.00, more than half the annual pay each one of us made as teachers.

We fished many hours out of that boat, pulling it with the Cutlass.  For camping we loaded a big Sears 6-man tent and all our supplies in the trunk and back seat.  We caught untold numbers of bass, crappie and catfish from that boat.

Jim Berry invited me to join the Spalding County Sportsman Society in March of 1974, the week after I bought the boat. Fifty years later I still fish in that club but not that boat! 

I fished with Jim in my Arrowglass at Clarks Hill in the club tournament in April that year, my first tournament.  And I fell in love with tournament fishing.  I had never enjoyed playing games or sports and still don’t, but somehow the competition of tournament fishing hooked me. 

In January 1976 I caught an 8-pound, 4 ounce bass from that boat while fishing with Bobby Jean Pierce at Jackson in a club tournament, finally breaking that mark. It was big fish in the tournament.  In 1978 I caught another 8-pound, 4-ounce bass at Jackson in a January tournament while fishing with Cecil Aaron. It was third biggest bass that day. Fishing has changed since then!

I have had nine bass boats in my life. The current on, a 20-foot Skeeter with a 250 Yamaha four stoke motor, top of the line trolling motor and all the electronics and other bells and whistles now available. I bought it used but new it listed for 30 times the price of my first bass boat. Prices have changed, too!!

There is a saying “the difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys.”  Most outdoor hobbies from golf to shooting are expensive.  I am sure I could get by with cheaper equipment but don’t want to.

My current boat is almost 9 years old and things are starting to fail. But the cost of an new one, or even a used one, is scary!  But I don’t think I can go back to fishing with a cane pole from the bank.  Not all the time, at least.

    Now I fish with three bass clubs and seldom miss a tournament, due to a very understanding wife.  And I plan on fishing tournaments until I am not competitive. I am afraid that will be all too soon.