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By Ken Schultz
Editors note: This is a re-publication of a blog post originally published on ESPNOutdoors.com in April 2005. The November 2004 issue of Bassmaster magazine reported that angler Bill Alexander won second place in last summer's BASS tournament on the Hudson River. The article mentioned that Alexander was applying a "finesse approach" for the river's finicky bass. It noted that Alexander sprayed his plastic worms with – pay attention, now – "garlic-flavored Pam Cooking Spray." My first reaction was that this was ingenious. And economical. So I went to my local supermarket, where a 5-ounce can of Original PAM was By Ken Schultz
Much has been made about the fact that the newest Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch, is an avid angler. Likewise, the Fonz, actor Henry Winkler, has been profiled for his angling enthusiasm, most recently on the CBS Sunday Morning show in January. Both Gorsuch and Winkler are trout and fly fishing devotees, and pretty serious about the sport. I thought about those two personalities when By Ken Schultz
Recently a friend asked me if the U.S. had a national fish, like we have a national symbol in the bald eagle. We don't. And probably shouldn't, in my opinion. In 2015, Rep. Tom MacArthur, then a freshman Congressman from New Jersey, introduced the Striped Bass American Heritage Act, which proposed to make the striped bass our country's national fish. It didn't gain any traction. If you'd like to read more about the life and behavior of the striper, you can find it at this link: http://fishing.about.com/…/fl/Species-Profile-Striped-Bass.… I love the striper, but I'm not sure that this or any other species warrants such designation. What, exactly, are the benefits? Will it change anything with respect to management or commercial fishing activities? How would the striper as a national fish have related to the people in Minnesota or Ohio, or other places with no native striped bass population? What about the cod, which, as Mark Kurlansky noted in his book of the same name, was responsible for explorers discovering North America? What about the salmon species of the Northwest, which were of equal importance to natives and settlers of that region as the striper was to the Northeast? What about the largemouth bass, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has noted in its regular surveys of sportfishing, is the most popular sportfish in America? Maybe it is best left to each state to determine its own "state" fish. Many of them do. Btw, the state saltwater fish of Congressman MacArthur's New Jersey is the striped bass. |
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