Quote Originally Posted by skeetbum View Post
I didn't add something that has now come to mind, and would like you all to consider. We have spoken of putting an advantage in someones hand, be it a jig, body. or just a few words of encouragement or a way to improve their presentation. I wasn't double digit in age and met a man when fishing with my brother one day. I had never caught a Bass, and this man seemed to be getting all he wanted. He was using a plastic worm, of all things. Made by a company called Creme and it looked just like a nightcrawler. Well I have to tell you I was enthralled that he could take a piece of plastic and catch fish like no tomorrow. Before we parted, he gave me one of these magic worms, and I believe that I never put it on a line because I fooled with it so much that I wound up breaking it into pieces. My point is that 50 years down the road, I can see that happening fresh in my mind.

Fast forward these many years and I have learned to tie jigs, pour jigheads with sickle hooks, paint crankbaits, and catch fish on a regular basis. At a ramp or on the water, folks ask questions or look at my rods to see what I'm using. Folks look at a hand tied jig and are amazed that someone that they can talk to and ask questions has made this wonderful thing. I learned this early on after tying my first jig, and they have become a kind of currency among fishermen and women. I couldn't guess how many I have tied. I have carried a box of these for years. It's a great thing to open a box of them and push it across the front deck in a parking lot and tell them to pick a couple. No matter who they are, a bridge was just crossed and you're now a friend. These small things do so much for the receiver, kind of like giving fish to a neighbor who isn't able to go anymore for one reason or another. I'm no shining example, but hit the mark now and then. Starting up that conversation might just make you a pleasant memory 50 years from now.
"Starting up that conversation might just make you a pleasant memory 50 years from now"

I could not have said it better myself. I am glad that I am not the only one out there doing this type of stuff.

We wear Crappie.com hats, T-shirts, and adorn our boats with stickers. We have the opportunity to be ambassadors of our sport and represent fishermen and women in a whole different light. There are countless threads about the stupid things people do on the water. Maybe, just maybe, with the way some of us do business, we might effect the masses and change things back to the respect we all learned!