Spoonplugging News Letter

[Steve Craig]

Please let Stephen Gillian know your thoughts here.

Add Your Voice to the NSOA Newsletter's Future

I am reaching out to the membership of NSOA for your input. I'm the NSOA Webmaster and an NSOA advisor.

Due to the passage of time and the loss of some of our greatest Spoonpluggers ever, for one reason or another, Spoonplugging is at a historical crossroads.
For decades now, thanks to the years of dedication of so many good people, the newsletter has been able to soldier on in-tact.
One day, when Mrs. Jeri Perry steps away from the newsletter, there will be an existential moment for the newsletter where we its supporters have to ask ourselves what we want and how we want to go forward with it.
My question to you is - what does moving forward look like to NSOA members?

Is it to maintain as close as we have had in the past?
Is it to evolve?
Is it to stop the newsletter?
It is almost 2024 - given the new environment we are in - how does the newsletter address your needs as a Spoonplugging resource? how does it fall short of your needs as a Spoonplugging resource?
What makes it worthwhile for the investment of your time and money versus spending it elsewhere?

We need to deal with this issue head-on because the membership is what backs the newsletter, and without this direct feedback you won't have as much of a voice in its future as you should.

Once I have an idea of where a majority of members are landing on the issue, I will send out another email with an update.

Please email me directly with your thoughts and suggestions on the matter, smgillian@gmail.com
Stephen Gillian

[CHAMP]

I believe lack of response says it all.

[John Bales]

People want information. They want guidance. Yes the book has already been written and if you don't put in your own effort, forget any success. But a little help along the way is understood and necessary. Buck is gone! No one can take his place. The best outings are done. Many have given their time over many years and still only a hand full has ever made anything of themselves. A small hand full. For many years it was the spoonpluggers who did all the work to promote this wonderful thing we have for those who ran things did very little to promote things for themselves. You do all the work. Someone else profits. You would think that at every outing there would be spoonplugs and rods to give away. Never! Everything I did was pay back for what Buck did for me. Like Zaborney said, he changed our lives and he still gets the credit for every fish I catch. I didn't respond either. For what? There will always be plenty of spoonpluggers out there. It will never completely die but we have not done anything to grow it for a long time. All the spark plugs are tired of it or dead. Give the guys who do the outing in Wisc credit for making an attempt to keep it alive but it's just not enough. This forum is about all we have to communicate and share knowledge. Thanks to Jim Shell for providing it. I'm going fishing. John

[Hal Standish]

I believe lack of response says it all.

Sorry Champ the lack of responses does not say anything. The two responders actually knew and fished with Buck. They are the guys most on this forum look towards for the Message. Knowledge is the key to success. and they have it. I can put videos up and you can post pics of your catches, and that is great! But is not teaching and or encouraging the reader to try doing what we did in finding success
JB once not long ago ask why He had not seen many vids from me, my answer was simple this, I did not think showing a fish flopping along side the boat was very educational. Personally I stand quiet while the Masters explain.
and think that is why this thread has been quiet. We can only wait and see what happens to the Newsletter
If there is a change in the Newsletter format it would be at the Login. Personally I have very high dislike of pass words.

Hal

[site admin]

Much can be said about the future of Spoonplugging and the newsletter. But I choose to hold back my thoughts.
I would like to point out a few facts:

Membership: I tracked it several years ago for many years. Membership has declined every year. Not sure about the past few years, but guessing it is still in the decline. If membership is around 100, what is your guess on how many of that (100) is active? My guess is the majority of the membership are signed up for respect to Buck only.

Each publication says: "Clubs" "Networking events" "Seminars" "Schools" "On the water training". I don't know of any active clubs anymore. Networking events have pretty much ended. Seminars..? If any exists, it's on a very small scale. Schools...? Nope. On the water training? John B is the only active instructor that I know of.

Scott at Buck's baits has abandoned us spoonpluggers. There was a thread on Facebook that many have reached out to him about orders and etc, never hear back from him. I reached out to him as well, no response.

In my opinion the only important thing is keeping the book and home study course available. Not sure who holds the keys to the printing. I've heard a couple different stories. The book and study course is the only future that I see for spoonplugging. Also I have no idea what the future of the manufacturing of spoonplugs is. I believe Scott owns 100% of this. My guess is he is making a comfortable living keeping it as-is. What the plans are for when he wants to retire or stop manufacturing, I don't know, I can only speculate.

[John Bales]

Hi Jim, Bales is retired from teaching also. It's all about the learning now. I could say a lot of things about what I think about what direction spoonplugging is headed. I also did not comment on the e mail that I got. Best to stay out of it which is what I have been asking to do for a while. Many of us have paid our dues and it's time to put to work every bit of knowledge that has been gained over the past 50 years. Terry always told me not to listen to the guy who says the golden years are the best. I highly disagree. I'll be 70 in May. Getting close to 160 days on the water since ice out. Caught the crap out of the bass this year and got into many many schools. The school is the ultimate goal. It was for Mr. Perry and Terry. And it is for me too. If you want to measure your success, ask yourself how many schools did you get into this year? That's how you know your doing this right. It ain't as easy as it used to be but if you work at it, you should get a few. I am very grateful that Mr. Perry came along and gave us his guidelines. Lucky for us old guys who learned about spoonplugging a long time ago when there were a lot of fish to tell us when we were doing it right. So very lucky. Study and spend lots of time on the water. That's the only way to get good at this. John

[Steve Craig]

Thanks for the comments. Some very valid points by all.
John knows my views , as far as learning new things. Just because technology keeps getting better and better, doent mean it takes away from Spoonplugging. In fact, it is my belief that all the new Technolgy does nothing but make all that Mr. Perry wrote and believed, is that he was Light Years ahead of his time!!! He left us with the BASIC knowledge. He wrote once that : "the more I learn, the more I see there is to learn". There certainly is more for all of us to learn IMHO. How we do that and approach that is actually up to each of us. We all learn at different levels and different ways. Myself, I learn the most by simply WATCHING someone do whatever it is I want to learn. This is just me. I well remember WATCHING Don Dickson many years ago make a trolling pass on a 6 inch breakline. I never believed it could be done, until I actually SAW how to do it. After that it was just a case of repeating what I saw.

Spoonpluggings problem is, there was never any compensation so there was always a conflict of time and money. If there was money enough to pay some people to be ambassadors of spoonplugging, then we could ignite some new blood (new technology or not).
Volunteers can only take an Organization just so far. After a while they get over worked and over used. At some point they also get burned out.

I totally believe we are a dying breed. Purists or not. There has not been anyone to take up the mantel. Who would want to? Mr. Perry is a hard act to follow! Even Terry didnt try to do that. As go the leaders, so goes the Organization.
I hate to be a downer, but this is how I see it.
FWIW
Steve

[MuskyAddict]

I did respond to the email but didn’t even know to whom I was responding. I also hesitated in responding because I didn’t think a response from a rookie was adding any value to the survey. I responded out of gratitude. I responded out of respect for a man I never met. I discovered Buck’s material a couple of years ago. I studied the book, I studied the home study courses, I watched every Buck Perry, Don Dickson and every other Spoonplugger video I could find. Hell, I even watched Jerry Borst catch fish with a rock! I connected with some great guys in MN and they taught me more than I could imagine about how to catch fish. I fought the teaching about the tools - specifically the boat. But, thanks to Mr. John Bales and Mr. Fran Myers I bought a Spoonplugger boat. As a result, I caught more fish and more varieties of fish this past year than my entire life. And I’ll be 65 in a couple of weeks. I could have posted pics. I could have posted reports. But honestly there were already posts from individuals with even better results so why add clutter? I responded to the email because I am very grateful for this community. I responded because a man wrote a book and others provided a teaching opportunity that created the most successful culture of fishing ever known. Selfishly, I don’t want it to end. Selfishly I want to learn and grow within this community until I’m in a position to teach. I long for a day when I can add value by giving back. Realistically, I’m too old. I don’t have the time to learn what so many on this forum already know. I pray to God that the foundation Mr. Perry taught is somehow preserved. I watch videos of todays “most successful bass fishermen” and I see that they have a many things right. But, I also see glaring gaps. I also watch others using technology to “shortcut their knowledge”. I think they are making a huge mistake. I agree with Mr Bale’s that better technology is only valuable to those who are solid with a foundation taught by Mr. Perry. Regardless of how the future plays out. I thank God for those who contribute to this post and who say the hard things to us neophytes who don’t want to give up their Ranger (I know that guy). Are there others who want to continue to inspire us with their success. Are there others able and willing to step up? Are there others ready and willing to carry the torch- write articles, be available? Are there others willing to step out a inspire?

Ken

[John Bales]

Ken, Congrats for the giant steps you took this season. Your boat was making it hard to do the things needed to gain knowledge and you realized that and took the step in changing that tool. This allowed you to move forward. You placed limitations on yourself. And now you don't want this season to end. With a phone call, you can get any answers from me you need to move forward. This goes for anyone else out there who has done their homework and need a little help. I will not help those that I don't see putting in the right kind of effort, period. Terry used to say to me how lazy some are and wanted to put that in print and he was right but how many would not be able to handle that and just walk away. I did that a few times and regret it.
So who that is left have the ability to lead, teach, and move this thing forward ? There is your answer. This forum and or a phone call can get questions answered. Mr. Perry gave us the basics but left out how much effort it was going to take to see success. If you do put in that effort, you will start catching fish as you never did before and that will give you the energy to want to learn more. Yes Terry was right. Most are lazy. Buck covered that too. And won't follow directions. That's human nature.
I think what we once had is about finished. It will never die and it shouldn't. It won't. But those days of spark plugs putting on outings and 300 people show up looking for knowledge is just not going to happen. 20 or 30 people showing up at an outing eating hot dogs kinda shows what little interest is there. It's at it's lowest point now. John

[MuskyAddict]

John I will definitely take you up on the “phone a friend” lifeline. That worked this fall when I got stuck. I called you and you shared advice on how to fish deeper. Next time out I was back to catching fish again.

We have hard water in most parts of the state now. The twin cities has weak ice in most places so we can’t even ice fish (not that I do much of it anyway). It’s back to the study guides, a stack of past Spoonplugger newsletters that were given to me and reflection on the past season for me. Already longing for next season.

Thank you Buck!
Ken

[joseph radunz]

Buck was a genius in many ways, including marketing. He actively searched out lakes that were “dead” and made astonishing catches. All the while taking photos and letting it be known that he was doing so. Lining up trips with the big time sports writers and famous people, people that the masses were paying attention too. State officials, resort owners, people that mattered. He was selling something- spoonplugging. He was motivated to do so. And even after years of doing that only a small percentage of people paid any mind. Once he stopped promoting the decline started.
If this whole deal is to ever start growing again some young handsome dude that’s full of piss and vinegar, someone who knows the modern day marketing stuff- YouTube, twitter, book face and all the socials- is going to have to go out there and get in peoples faces, get some attention, piss a few people off. Like buck did damn near a century ago.
Personally I don’t want a bunch of yahoos getting in my way on the lake, trying to troll a break line or cast a structure, there’s enough of them already, on top of all the jet skiers and wake boarders and every other damn boarders they keep inventing every year.
I’ll keep the good stuff to the people that matter the most to me, the ones that deserve it.

Joe

[Bink]

First let me admit Iv only been a member of the national for 1 year, many years ago. Being younger than most members I found the material pretty outdated and boring.
Recently Iv been listing to a lot fishing podcast on my commute. It’s amazing how many time Buck gets brought up by people you’d never expect. Most of the time they are a bit off base of what they are speaking about but they are using some of bucks knowledge.
I think the best way to spread Bucks teaching would be someone on a bass boat with forward facing sonar loading the boat. Obviously a small tiller boat is the best tool but the chances of getting a hardcore fisherman to start trolling with a tiller boat when there’s literally no one else trolling for bass is a very hard sell.
The Linder’s took Bucks teaching and applied it to they style of fishing most people like.
With modern electronics trolling a Spoonplug to map is just not needed anymore.

[John Bales]

Bink, I remember it wasn't that long ago you threatened to kick my ass as a response to something I said. I can still laugh at that and several things you just posted and my next comments may have you going back to wanting to drive here and make your attempt. So.... You find Bucks Material boring and outdated. I never found it boring. Coming from someone who hated to read, once I started reading it, I could not put it down. Nothing about his old findings are outdated for sure. So many of his findings are so on the money that it reinforced to me that he got it all correct without a depth finder. My plans over the winter is to start from the beginning and re-study every bit of his material. Every time I get back into it, I realized something was missed or now takes a new meaning of understanding. Any one who has not studied all of the green book is not going to understand everything that is needed for success. You cannot skip over any of it. The fish have not changed since the beginning of time and can still by caught by Bucks outdated methods.
Just one more . Trolling a spoonplug to map is not needed any more. The mechanics of running the lures is where all fishing knowledge is gained. This is the one thing we have that no other group has. This other group may talk about Buck Perry but without years of putting a lure in the water, they don't have a clue what they are talking about. I am that guy with forward facing sonar that is loading the boat!!!!!!!!! This is the direction I needed to go to learn the knowledge that is not in the book. That's how I can say that Buck got it all correct. And my final thought is everything that has been learned this past season would never been possible without already having good spoonplugging knowledge. After using livescope, it's difficult to talk about it with someone who is not using it themselves. It's like having a conversation with a non spoonplugger. Very similar. I just asked another spoonplugger a question last night. What is the ultimate goal of a spoonplugger every time on the water. The answer is to get into a school of Bass. This came right from the horses mouth and Terry said it all the time too. So my question to all is how many schools of adult bass did you catch this past season? If there is one way to measure your success, this is it. So Bink, I wouldn't drive over too quick. Deb and I both have Covid. Wait a few days. :)John

[Bink]

I’d feel bad kicking an old man’s ass with Covid. (That’s a joke)

I agree with everything John said 100%.
When I say the material is outdated I’m mean the actual way it is presented and taught. The information buck gives us is still 100% relevant.

Science class in 1960 vs science class in 2023 looks much different….. but most of the information is still the same. Someone just needs to teach bucks information with 2023 tools.. (kinda like the Linder’s).

Forward facing sonar is the future. If Spoonplugers don’t except that the quicker this will go away.

[Bink]

Another thing… the fastest growing segment of fishing now is high school and college bass fishing. Tiller boats are not allowed in most of the national HS and college tournaments