Buck Perry and Fishing Knowledge

[ballenspoonplugger]

Larry,
My son, Cory Allen, mentioned to me just recently that he had been communicating with you via this website. Needless to say he is an avid fisherman/spoonplugger and has big plans for his fishing future. I was introduced to real fishing knowledge when I was presented with Mr. Perry's book and then was able to meet him and Terry O'Malley and learn from the masters first hand. I still consider it an incredible blessing that they would even want to talk to me let alone communicate with me and share their information so freely. Anyway, I have watched your show and find it very interesting. Cory stated that you were a student of Mr. Perry too. I look forward to hearing from you concerning the things that he taught you about the process of finding fish.

I teach high school in illinois and am the sponsor of our fishing club. I have enjoyed taking students fishing for several years now and look forward to the many positive experiences we will have in the future.

I just wanted to say thank you for discussing your fishing success with my son. He is an excellent angler and is looking forward to making it part of his personal and professional life.

Thanks,

Bart Allen

[dahlberg]

Hi Bart,
Buck gave freely of his time and knowledge. I spent quite a bit of phone time with him in my early twenties and I regard him as the Isaac Newton of fresh water angling.
However, although he provided us a modern paradigm with which to approach with the then "newly invented" electronics, there are large gaps missing and even some errors in his theory.
As a Perry student, you may find it interesting to know that his favorite place and method was Lake Pepin on the minnesota/wisconsin border and fishing white bass with a flyrod and poppers!
If you've read his book, you know what he taught. What I gravitated me to him was he was not full of voodoo and B.S.
As a kid I guided a number of "experts", outdoor writers etc. and read outdoor magazines at the barber shop. Even as a 14 year old I knew a wooden nickel when I saw one.
IMO, there are many lures that are more effective than spoonplugs, and, as I've proven countless time to spoonplug "weenies" that quite often they'll eat live bait when they totally ignore spoonplugs.
Perry's greatest contributions, I believe, were first to define the options, then take a systematic approach to eliminate water, unfettered by convention or subjective judgment.
As I've said before, the world of angling is like a sphere with a billion key holes. Looking through only one provides a 2-D view. To even begin to get an accurate observation you need to peer through as many as your lifetime allows.
IMO, many, perhaps most anglers, especially beginners are looking for too rigid a formula. A couple of analogies:

An engineer, if asked to create a bust of your head would instantly go for his calipers and ruler, an artist would just look at you and begin shaping his clay.
One relies on an abstract but synthetic and rather sterile set of tools to duplicate what he sees.
The other a process of organic instinct.
If I asked a Minnesotan how cold it was last night, he might say 25 below zero F. If I asked an Inuit he might say 5 dogs; meaning that's how many he needed to bring into the igloo to stay warm.
Unlike most "synthetic" sports which require a rule book, defined area, quorum, score keeper and man with a striped shirt and a whistle, fishing is organic and all the really good anglers I know operate more on instinct than any set of fixed beliefs.
Life, love, relationships and fishing are like wet bars of soap, the harder you squeeze them the farther they fly.
thanks for your post, my best to Cory Allen!

L