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Sunday
March 14, 2010 Since 1922 |
Armchair anglers enjoy wading into ‘Plugger'
By JoAn Martin
Baytown Sun Published May 23, 2004 REVIEWER’S NOTE — I review children’s books only. When I received “Plugger” in the mail, I delayed reading it, thinking I was not interested in saltwater wade-fishing. But, a well written book hooks even a reader who is not interested in the subject.
Grigar, Rudy. “Plugger: Wade Fishing the Gulf Coast.” Lubbock, TX Texas Tech University Press. 1997. Paperback. $17.95. 224 pages. ISBN 0-89672-410-3.
Born in 1915, Rudy Grigar began fishing in a bullfrog pond southwest of Houston, where he caught river crawfish with twine and a piece of salt pork. In high school his family moved close to the San Bernard River and he developed the reputation for catching fish on homemade plugs. In shop class, his project was to build a boat, a 16-footer from scratch.
At 80, the author declares that wade fishing in saltwater has kept him in good physical condition, even hastening the healing of skin abrasion and sores. His sinus problems and colds have disappeared.
A fisherman’s fisherman, Grigar claimed to have caught more than a million pounds in his 60 years along the Gulf Coast. He brought real style to the tide line. Bob Brister, former outdoors editor and writer for the Houston Chronicle and Field and Stream, called him “utterly solar powered, seeming to draw enough energy from the sun to fish all day and all night . . . he just never quit.”
On his first trip to the Chandeleur Islands, 70 miles east of New Orleans, he flew over the calm, sunny crystal clear waters and saw schools of large redfish scattered the whole length of the island. He knew then he wanted to spend the rest of his life fishing there. He built a camp house there and hired out as a guide.
The photographs alone will hook a fisherman or fisherwoman into pulling on wading boots and striking out for the nearest body of saltwater. Grigar’s adventures with stingrays (the rattlesnake of the sea), sharks, sudden thunderstorms, and hurricanes make exciting reading for armchair anglers.
He helped found the Gulf Coast Conservation Association (GCCA) in an effort to lessen the impact of commercial netting boats. It took 10 years, but the group finally got the Texas Legislature to make it unlawful for boats to net speckled trout and redfish. The politicians finally realized that saltwater sport fishing had become a billion-dollar-a-year industry in Texas.
In his acknowledgments, Grigar gives full credit to “W.R. McAfee who, from notes I’d jotted down over the years, interviews, and research on specific subjects, drafted this book for me.”
Grigar, the Plugger, passed away at his home near Pettus, Texas, in 2001.
JoAn Martin reviews children’s books for The Baytown Sun. She is a retired teacher. She may be reached at josbook(at)mindspring.com.
Baytown Sun Published May 23, 2004 REVIEWER’S NOTE — I review children’s books only. When I received “Plugger” in the mail, I delayed reading it, thinking I was not interested in saltwater wade-fishing. But, a well written book hooks even a reader who is not interested in the subject.
Grigar, Rudy. “Plugger: Wade Fishing the Gulf Coast.” Lubbock, TX Texas Tech University Press. 1997. Paperback. $17.95. 224 pages. ISBN 0-89672-410-3.
Born in 1915, Rudy Grigar began fishing in a bullfrog pond southwest of Houston, where he caught river crawfish with twine and a piece of salt pork. In high school his family moved close to the San Bernard River and he developed the reputation for catching fish on homemade plugs. In shop class, his project was to build a boat, a 16-footer from scratch.
At 80, the author declares that wade fishing in saltwater has kept him in good physical condition, even hastening the healing of skin abrasion and sores. His sinus problems and colds have disappeared.
A fisherman’s fisherman, Grigar claimed to have caught more than a million pounds in his 60 years along the Gulf Coast. He brought real style to the tide line. Bob Brister, former outdoors editor and writer for the Houston Chronicle and Field and Stream, called him “utterly solar powered, seeming to draw enough energy from the sun to fish all day and all night . . . he just never quit.”
On his first trip to the Chandeleur Islands, 70 miles east of New Orleans, he flew over the calm, sunny crystal clear waters and saw schools of large redfish scattered the whole length of the island. He knew then he wanted to spend the rest of his life fishing there. He built a camp house there and hired out as a guide.
The photographs alone will hook a fisherman or fisherwoman into pulling on wading boots and striking out for the nearest body of saltwater. Grigar’s adventures with stingrays (the rattlesnake of the sea), sharks, sudden thunderstorms, and hurricanes make exciting reading for armchair anglers.
He helped found the Gulf Coast Conservation Association (GCCA) in an effort to lessen the impact of commercial netting boats. It took 10 years, but the group finally got the Texas Legislature to make it unlawful for boats to net speckled trout and redfish. The politicians finally realized that saltwater sport fishing had become a billion-dollar-a-year industry in Texas.
In his acknowledgments, Grigar gives full credit to “W.R. McAfee who, from notes I’d jotted down over the years, interviews, and research on specific subjects, drafted this book for me.”
Grigar, the Plugger, passed away at his home near Pettus, Texas, in 2001.
JoAn Martin reviews children’s books for The Baytown Sun. She is a retired teacher. She may be reached at josbook(at)mindspring.com.