There are literally hundreds of topics to discuss. There are definitely trends. I started in business in January, 1980, in Texas. That same year, the state stopped giving away free fish for stocking. We drank water from the tap, not bottled water from a store. People started buying fish to stock cattle tanks or ponds. By 1984, trends began shifting from renovating a pond and restocking with "free" fish, to learning techniques to care for fish, bought with hard earned money. Then, bottled water became a necessity for us to drink. At the same time, pond management was being born, across the nation. Regionally, techniques were refined by a small number of entreprenurial types...all of us thinking we were inventing our own wheels.By the early 90's fish combinations began to change, goals came more sharply into focus. Now, people are buying property exclusively because of lake sites or availability of that precious commodity we imbibe via plastic bottles..that wet stuff which costs more than gasoline. The trends I see are as much societal as biological. With ESPN tracking bass fishing trends and their audiences and comparing them to NASCAR five years ago, I am fascinated to unearth the future of private waters. With Ray Scott trying to figure out how to divine light line tournaments on private waters, I suspect trends in management to continue to unfold, right in front of the eyes of everyone who frequents this site. Biology, mixed with theory, and one-upmanship will surely create a mixed bag well beyond the tried and true balance of bass/bluegill research by the legendary H.S. Swingle, of Auburn University Fisheries Biology fame. Trends? Yep. Talked with a man yesterday, one who lurks on this site daily. He bought a place in Oklahoma, about 60 miles north of stately Lusk Lodge, near the shores of Lake Texoma. He is renovating a small pond, expanding and deepening it. In the beginning, his basic goals were to rehabilitate an old pond, slap dab in the middle of his hundred acre forest, nestled in the midst of farm and rangeland...property heretofore managed by landowners seeking income from the dirt. Not this man. Recreation, and investment. As the project has come together, he had done his due diligence. Due diligence? I can't tell you how many people, over the years, didn't understand the concept, much less do anything about it. Trends? Yep. Not only is this man becoming the norm, the norm is expanding. He has thought about his pond, re-thought it, surveyed, analyzed and dreamed about it. Now, on the threshold of dozer work, he knows what he wants. He wants a bass/bluegill pond which can grow hybrid striped bass and channel catfish, where his young boys and daughter (and himself) can grow up gliding across and dropping into clear water via a zip-line, then tie on a tube worm and catch a healthy bass. Trends? I see them, and it's exciting. Water. Ponds. Lakes. Renewable, ownable, beckoning. People are seeing which fish can thrive together in a community. The see the logical progression of a lake or pond. Simply, here's what they see, and use this formula to create their own trends. Habitat, food chain, genetics, harvest...in that order.
I am excited about this little get together next Saturday. See if you can figure out how to get there. Dave Davidson is worth the trip, plus it sounds like he knows how to make room at the inn. I am looking forward to it. Will see you next Saturday....trends and all.
