A top notch spoonplugger

[John Bales]

I called my long time friend Denny Coulardot this morning and as always, we have great conversations about fishing. I was on his lake the other day with my wife and my son was in his boat. As I was going to the next spot, I followed the deepest water and saw on the map a big flat bar that led to a 34 ft deep saddle between two holes. I had never fished Dennys lake much just out of respect that this was his lake and I wasn't about to beat it up. This was his. When I asked him about this spot, he started laughing and told me how many big bass he had caught in the late fall trolling an 800 on wire in the deepest part of that saddle. He is now 76 years old and still spends as much time as I do on the water but he now fishes for bluegill and crappie. We learned spoonplugging together when I was 18 and he was 28. He is the guy who instilled in me how much effort we needed to put into this to have success. I owe most of my success by putting what he taught me to work. It didn't take me long to realize I needed to hang out with this guy and he set the standards for me as to what is a good effort and what is not no matter what we are trying to accomplish. I just wanted everyone to know that this guy is one of the best spoonpluggers that has ever lived. He is so quiet, you would never know it but he really is. John

[Garry B]

John, this is a great post. The word that jumped out at me was the word 'respect". Nothing about how many fish were caught, just you respecting and honoring a great friend.

I will be 75 on Dec.20 and like Denny, I too find myself fishing more for crappies and bluegills and less for bass and walleyes.

Well done John, well done.