Fishing is not for me
Published 7:10 am Saturday, June 2, 2018
Editorial by Bobby Tingle
The Orange Leader recruited me, in 2013, to help out with an event at the City of Orange Boat Ramp. Apparently a number of ‘elite’ fishermen were coming to town to catch fish. They even had a name: Bassmasters.
I was living on the west side of the Neches River at the time, working for our sister newspaper, and many of us graciously agreed to help out with the event.
It never occurred to me that fishing was anything more than a place to go, where you sit on a bank, chew on a piece of grass and wet a hook, enjoy a beverage and soak up some sunshine. Of course, the hook had to have something nasty attached to it. Normally, that nasty something comes from a tackle box, jar, trap or some other container.
For me, it is an unlikely possibility a slimy creature will attach itself to the hook in the water. But when you feel the tug on your fishing pole, you are forced to deal with another nasty mess attached to your hook once you reel it in.
I suppose nasty things on hooks in the water attract bigger nasty things.
Go figure. It is amazing folks travel around on purpose to do this.
When I arrived for the Bassmasters event in 2013, I found Van Wade at The Orange Leader tent, fully equipped with printed material, artistically displayed, where I dutifully relieved him of his chore, assuming those duties for my allotted time slot.
After exchanging pleasantries, Van moved on and I settled in. I looked around to take in the big attraction. I could not find one person sitting on the bank, chewing on grass with a hook in the water.
But there were plenty of people and most were eating, drinking, laughing, riding rides and having a good time.
Apparently, they understood the good part of fishing.
This week the City of Orange will thread another Bassmasters event on its ‘stringer’. I believe that makes six fishing tournaments, so far.
The Greater Orange Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Bassmasters Elite Series on the Sabine River event at the city of Orange boat dock June 7-10.
The anglers will launch each day at 6:45 a.m. The daily weigh-in will take place at 3 p.m.
The Orange County River Festival officially opens Thursday at 1 p.m. following a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Gopher Industrial will provide their Kids Catch and Release Fish Tank. Food and drink will only be a short stroll away along with fun filled rides and games each day.
Live entertainment will abound on two nights for evening fun.
Friday night INVISTA is sponsoring Tony Faulk and Chaos followed by Dustin Sonnier.
Entergy will sponsor the Saturday night lineup of Britt Godwin and John Michael Montgomery.
Down the road, on Saturday, the Orange Convention and Visitors Bureau will host the 16th Annual Art in the Park while nearby the Stark Foundation will be giving 1920s Day tours of the W. H. Stark House.
Prognosticator, Thomas Allen, has posted his Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year predictions for this Sabine River Event. You can read all about it at www.bassmaster.com.
He places Justin Lucas in Bucket A. It seems Lucas did well at the Sabine event in 2015.
He has Gerald Swindle in Bucket B citing his status as ‘the best junk fisherman on the planet’. Allen, and a few others, predicts the Sabine event is suitable to his style.
Brandon Lester fills Bucket C with Mike McClelland occupying Bucket D. Lester finished fourth in 2015 while McClelland has a second and 11th place finish at prior Sabine events to his credit.
Finally Allen feels “Big Show”, Terry Scroggins, may have been a no show lately but feels a ‘big jig and frog’ will do well here, which may give Scroggins the advantage.
Fishing is not for me, but Bassmasters are making Orange, Texas one of their go to sites for their fishing events.
Lunker bass beware, the Bassmasters are coming to town, again!
Bobby Tingle is publisher of The Orange Leader. You can reach him at bobby.tingle@orangeleader.com.
