I’m thinking of going back. I really am. I’m giving up on all this “look good” fishing and getting back to doing what works. When I look back at how we dealt with and solved fishing and boating problems, it only makes sense.
Today, there are specialty boats of every kind and type. Boat manufacturers number in the thousands, and each one tries to build the ideal fishing boat – the ideal flats boat; the ideal offshore boat; the ideal bay boat.
They cater to an ever-increasing number of “specialty” anglers – those who have to look good and be in the right boat when they fish.
I think it started with the professional bass anglers when Ray Scott founded B.A.S.S. They all had to dress the part, and as time went on, they had to look good in their bass boats. No self-respecting bass angler today would be caught dead in a boat with anything less than a 150 hp engine or in a shirt that did not make them look like a walking advertisement..
Well, I think I have had enough.
I think back to when there were no “fishing” boats, per se. I believe I read somewhere that the old 22-foot Aquasport was the first center console to come out and be touted as strictly a fishing boat. All the other boats were “run abouts” or “utility boats” and none of them catered to the fisherman. Rod holders, either vertical or horizontal were almost non-existent.
When we needed a rod holder, we built one. When we needed to do something about a bait board, we added, cut, and modified the boat to accommodate one.
Built-in bait wells were unheard of at the time. If you had live bait, it went into a garbage-pail-turned-bait-bucket.
I remember the Squall King my father had in 1959. It was a 17-foot fiberglass run-about with a Plexiglas windshield and molded-in seats. The chine was so hard it turned under. An obvious design attempt to deflect spray, it made for the roughest, hardest pounding boat I think I ever saw. We rode sitting up on the back of the molded seats and actually had a huge piece of foam rubber we put under us to soften the ride. It was that bad.
We fished with handlines – actually quarter inch nylon rope – back then for jewfish. Keeping four ropes straight proved to be a challenge, so we came up with a solution. A ten-inch diameter wire spool, a threaded rod, some big washers and nuts made their way into the boat. We fashion a line spool of sorts in each of the four built-in rod holders, two on each side of the boat. Each holder had a vertical threaded rod protruding from it, onto which was bolted a wire spool.
Today, there are specialty boats of every kind and type. Boat manufacturers number in the thousands, and each one tries to build the ideal fishing boat – the ideal flats boat; the ideal offshore boat; the ideal bay boat.
They cater to an ever-increasing number of “specialty” anglers – those who have to look good and be in the right boat when they fish.
I think it started with the professional bass anglers when Ray Scott founded B.A.S.S. They all had to dress the part, and as time went on, they had to look good in their bass boats. No self-respecting bass angler today would be caught dead in a boat with anything less than a 150 hp engine or in a shirt that did not make them look like a walking advertisement..
Well, I think I have had enough.
I think back to when there were no “fishing” boats, per se. I believe I read somewhere that the old 22-foot Aquasport was the first center console to come out and be touted as strictly a fishing boat. All the other boats were “run abouts” or “utility boats” and none of them catered to the fisherman. Rod holders, either vertical or horizontal were almost non-existent.
When we needed a rod holder, we built one. When we needed to do something about a bait board, we added, cut, and modified the boat to accommodate one.
Built-in bait wells were unheard of at the time. If you had live bait, it went into a garbage-pail-turned-bait-bucket.
I remember the Squall King my father had in 1959. It was a 17-foot fiberglass run-about with a Plexiglas windshield and molded-in seats. The chine was so hard it turned under. An obvious design attempt to deflect spray, it made for the roughest, hardest pounding boat I think I ever saw. We rode sitting up on the back of the molded seats and actually had a huge piece of foam rubber we put under us to soften the ride. It was that bad.
We fished with handlines – actually quarter inch nylon rope – back then for jewfish. Keeping four ropes straight proved to be a challenge, so we came up with a solution. A ten-inch diameter wire spool, a threaded rod, some big washers and nuts made their way into the boat. We fashion a line spool of sorts in each of the four built-in rod holders, two on each side of the boat. Each holder had a vertical threaded rod protruding from it, onto which was bolted a wire spool.
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