Don't overlook Binkelman's big contribution

When I first met him in 1966 I thought he was nothing more than a cantankerous chap with an ego the size of Texas. My impressions quickly changed when he explained his mission.

I was a brash tadpole idly swimming in a tank of sharks when I started my outdoor writing career. I knew how to fish but I didn't have a clue how to locate and catch the critters when the bite came to a screeching halt. Bill Binkelman stood on the threshold of the angling revolution and I seem to recall that some in the upper crust cadres of the fishing world turned their noses up at Bill because he was a live bait aficionado while many others eschewed anything that wiggled, while sticking to artificial imitations.

As many of you know, Ron Lindner, of In Fisherman fame, is also a noted angling educator, tackle inventor and was once one of the greatest promoters of live bait use. Bill Binkelman is the person responsible for introducing me to Ron and brother Al in the mid-60s. The brothers Lindner were key players in the evolution of Binkelman's live bait techniques. Even though I had two college degrees, I was being educated on a higher plane by the brothers and Binkelman. It was a learning experience of the highest order, and it all happened in a time when Bill and his followers presented some of the most revolutionary, proven theories the fishing community had ever seen and experienced.

In one of our many recent conversations, Ron Lindner noted that there hadn't seen anything invented of late or offered to the fishing public that had as much impact and startling results since the Binkelman era and the introduction of Buck Perry's Spoon Plugs and the Fish-Lo-Kator.

"Sure, there was Nick Creme and his instruction of the plastic worm for bass fishing," Linder said. "But for the most part there seems to be just variations on the same theme we saw over 40 years ago."

I asked him what he thought we could be expected in coming years for anglers. The return pause seemed like an eternity.

"One of the big factors is adding scents to lures, the kind of stuff that triggers a fish's feeding instincts," he said. "Berkley led the way with it Power Baits and subsequently the invention of Gulp, but aside from that I don't see much on the horizon."

And then I realized there is currently a movement toward very high-priced, artificial lures seen in various tackle shops. They come from Eastern Europe and China and have price tags on them that invite bank loans in order to purchase them.

One friend with a fantastic sense of humor suggested that these lures present themselves with a mysterious aura and a perceived notion that because they are priced at the nosebleed level they must scare the heck out of fish, forcing them to surrender to the hooks. If that perception is a reality, then this, my friends, is another revolution in the making.