Eric,
A little East Texas perspective on your interesting post....
I remember a great post that Norm started many months ago asking what folks consider a trash fish. My answer then and now is that there is no such thing as a trash fish...fish simply do what they are programed to do within the environment they are placed.
You like a challenge as evidenced by your comment "like all things in life the chase tends to be the best memory or part of the dance". I strongly agree with your comment, but don't agree that big trophy BG's are easy to catch. Sure, you can catch hundreds of BG at a fish feeder using a pellet fly and they will swallow the hook as you mentioned...but those are not trophy BG's.
IMO, few fish, including the great salt water flats fish, are as challenging to catch as the trophy BG. I love to try for them and in all my years of trying I have caught only one true trophy BG, a fish estimated at 13 inches.
You are welcome any time you are in the East Texas area to try your hand at catching a trophy BG from one of my ponds...I promise you, it won't be easy and to be successful will require every angling skill you can muster...plus a lot of luck.
