H-Dub

Name (first only): 

H-Dub

Height: 

1.76 m

Weight: 

82 kg

Age: 

60

Years of Fishing Experience: 

56

Hometown: 

“My fishing hometown is Blythedale, Missouri”

Currently Residing In: 

“A state of fishing euphoria”

Earliest Fishing Memory: 

“Watching my grandmother clean and cook the tiny bluegill that I caught.  My grandfather refused to clean them because they were too small.  She loved me and cleaned and cooked them for me even though they were all of 3 or 4 inches long.”

Favorite Fishing Story: 

“After fishing with grasshoppers one summer evening my grandfather was regaling my grandmother about the huge bass that got away.  He was cleaning the fish at the time and then found his lost little bobber, line grasshopper and hook in the smallest fish that he had kept.  My grandmother was a wise woman and merely went back to her work without saying a word.  I did however notice a bit of a smile near the corners of her mouth as she turned away.”

Favorite Fishing Partner: 

“It would be my son T-train.  Both of these individuals share the mindset that when we are on the hunt for cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates there is no such thing as a problem, despite the fact that a challenge or two may arise. We feed off of challenges!”

One person you would like to fish with (dead or alive):  

“Jimmy Houston.  He was once answering questions about the largemouth bass and someone asked when that species had their greatest growth rate.  Without hesitation Jimmy responded “The greatest growth rate of bass is between Saturday when you caught the fish and Monday when you are telling everyone about it”!  How could you not want to fish him?”

Who/What got you started fishing? 

“My maternal father was an avid fisher of farm ponds with a particular interest in big largemouth bass.  He got me started when I was 4 years old. I spent all summer, every summer on his farm.  Being that I spent so much time with my grandfather did I choose fishing or did fishing choose me?   My fraternal grandfather was also a fishing fanatic but channel cats were his species of choice.”

What is your favorite fishing spot in Missouri?  

“The next place I am going fishing.”

What is your favorite lure/fly/technique?  

“Need you asked this question?  Heddon Bullfrog Lucky 13, is the lure and I have a rod and reel dedicated to this lure and this lure only.  I only take it off when the knot is old or the line is replaced.  Being that it is a floating plug that shallow dives on retrieve, it can be fished in a variety of ways.  I have taken bass on it in every month of the year in Missouri, even January when all the frogs are buried in mud.”

What is your favorite species to fish for?  

“Whatever is biting, but I put the most time in hunting largemouth in farm ponds.”

What percent of the time do you catch and release? 

“On purpose or accidental?”

What is the weirdest thing that you have seen on the water?  

“My nephew once caught a 16 inch largemouth bass and wanted me to look in its mouth before he unhooked it because he saw something besides his lure.  At first glance I thought it was the hind foot of a frog, but on further inspection it was the tail of a fish.  When we cleaned the fish, I measured the bluegill sticking out of its stomach at 8 ½ inches.  Now tell me why a 16 inch bass with an 8 ½ inch bluegill protruding from its gullet is thinking about eating when a spinner bait goes by?”

What is one place that you want to fish in Missouri, but haven’t before?  

“Lake Taneycomo for trout, and every other body of water that I have never thrown a line into.”