Destination Eufaula

There's just something about those classic fishing destinations. I leave tomorrow for one such place, Lake Eufuala, Alabama, where I will spend the rest of the week. I'm mostly going there for the conference, the annual meeting of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association, but I like just being around places that have rich fishing histories.

I will fish a little while I'm there. On the morning after I arrive I'm going out for half a day to fish for crappie and catfish. Then on Friday night I get to take part in a style of fishing I've never done before. I'm going out bowfishing with a small group. I don't know if I'll actually end up shooting the bow, or if I'll only be shooting photos, watching and learning, but I'm looking forward to getting out on the lake at night and to seeing what bowfishing is all about.

Watch here for reports!

"Jeff Samsel Fishing" Recognized in Web Site Competition

 

Last week at the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association conference in Lake Charles, Louisiana, I was delighted to learn that "Jeff Samsel Fishing" won first place in the Realtree Horizons Web Site Award contest. Thank you to Realtree for sponsoring this contest and to the SEOPA contest committee and judges for making possible all of the Excellence in Craft and special awards contests.

SEOPA, Specks, Redfish, Crawfish & Boudin

The Outdoor Journalist Education Foundation of America recently announced Nathaniel Samsel, my 15-year-old son, as recipient of the third annual Lindsay Sale-Tinney Award, which provides Nathaniel a scholarship to attend the 2013 Southeastern Outdoor Press Association fall conference. 

What that means in practical terms is that in early October, Nathaniel and I will climb in the truck and point it toward Lake Charles, Louisiana to enjoy some of the nation's best inshore saltwater fishing, tremendous Cajun cooking and four days of fun and learning with a whole bunch of industry friends. The SEOPA conference invariably provides great benefit to me as an outdoor writer, and I can't think of a finer place to gather than Southwest Louisiana.

Nathaniel has been to Louisiana once -- redfishing out of Venice last fall -- and that was more than plenty to make him eager to return. He also has attended the most recent two SEOPA conferences as a student member and knows how much he is able to learn and how much he simply enjoys hanging out with other folks from the industry.

Although Nathaniel only turned 15 a couple of months ago, he has demonstrated great initiative in the outdoors field while traveling with me and helping with photography and videos. He developed a YouTube channel featuring how-to fishing videos last year, and he produces all the videos for that channel. He also maintains an outdoors blog and music website and has published a couple of magazine articles. Through those efforts, he has increasingly been viewed by event hosts as a media attendee.

It's a long drive to Southwest Louisiana, so of course we'll have to do a little fishing while we're there. The plan, as of now, is to spend a couple of days either before or after the conference fishing on Lake Calcasieu, which is considered by many as the best destination on the Louisiana coast for big speckled trout.

Congratulations, Nathaniel, on the well-earned scholarship, and thank you for your work to ensure that we would be able to attend this year's conference.

A Legendary Friend

My great friend Keith "Catfish" Sutton is seldom without words, but last night, at the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association awards banquet, that was exactly the case. You see, the one thing Keith is not inclined to talk about is himself in the context of accomplishments, and last night he became the center of attention as a new inductee into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator and was the recipient of several other well-deserved awards.

Keith knew about the Hall of Fame induction, but he didn't know that his long-time friend Jim Spencer would offer the accolades and present the award with a great personal tribute, and he had no idea that he would be the inaugural recipient of the Bass Pro Shops Pass it On award. He also didn't know that he had won about half a dozen SEOPA Excellence in Craft awards for his writing and photography and that he would be called to the front of the banquet hall time and time again to collect awards.

It was an honor and a thrill for me to sit are the same table as Keith and his wife Theresa. I'm proud to list Keith among my closest friends in the outdoors industry. We first met at a SEOPA board of directors meeting more than 15 years ago, and since that time we've fished together for everything from bluegills to Amazon catfish, having spent time in boats together in four different countries.

I cannot think of another outdoor writer more deserving than Keith for either of the special awards he received last night. He's been stomping through Arkansas forests, creeks and backwater sloughs since he was a boy and he loves to talk with old-timers and hear their stories and to share them in writing. Keith has an amazing eye and ear for the details that bring life to a story and a gift for choosing just the right words to convey those details. I'm very odd among writers in the sense that I'm not much of a recreational reader. I read for information but rarely read for sheer enjoyment. However, I thoroughly enjoy reading Keith's writing.

To the hunting and fishing world, Keith Sutton is a legendary communicator. To me, he's a legendary friend.

SEOPA Pickin' & Grinnin'

The annual fall gathering of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association is one of my favorite events of every year for a number of reasons, and I'd have a hard time picking my favorite part of the conference. High on the list, though, would be any time the writers' instruments come out of their cases. Outdoor writing and music must go together well because SEOPA's membership contains a host of wonderful musicians, and I love to hear them pick out songs. Nathaniel has gotten to know the pickers well over the past few years so now he just plops down among them and picks away, making it even more fun for me. The official Pickin' & Grinnin' happens Saturday night, but Thursday's practice session typically is almost as fun to watch. In between is other SEOPA stuff, but more on that later!

Full Day of Learning

August 4 promises to be a day filled with learning for Nathaniel and me because I just registered us for a full-day hunter education class. I actually took hunter education once before, but it was 25 years ago and the course was somewhat broken and distracted as Hurricane Hugo was fast approaching the South Carolina coast, and the Class was in Charleston. I've not really hunted much since then, and things have changed substantially in a quarter of a century. Therefore, much of the learning will be as new to me as it will be to Nathaniel.

I've fished for as long as I can as I can remember, but I never hunted as a boy. In college I spent occasional fall Saturdays in doves fields with friends, and my first job out of school was for a waterfowl conservation organization, which led to a few duck hunting trips. While working as an editor for Game & Fish Publications I took a few writer trips that involved time in the deer or turkey woods or in a dove field.

That's about it. Hunting just hasn't had the same appeal to me as fishing, and between the great fishing that occurs during fall and winter and the fact that my established writing markets are virtually all fishing oriented, I've just never taken the time to do more hunting.

The renewed interest comes through Nathaniel, my 14-year-old son. Last year's Southeastern Outdoor Press Association conference sparked a significant shooting/hunting interest in him so we're ready to start learning together. The hunter education class, which is in Spartanburg, S.C., will be the first important step. At this year's SEOPA conference, which is in late September, I look forward to lots of good learning for both of us from friends on the shooting/hunting side of the outdoor writing industry.

The next step will be to plan a few forays for this fall and winter where we can get out in the woods for squirrels or sit together in a duck blind. Maybe I can figure out some cast-and-blast plans! 

All-Day Learning

"How did you get out of school?"

Nathaniel hears that question a lot when we travel, especially when we are together on a weekday afternoon and it doesn't happen to be summer or Christmastime. "I'm home-schooled," he normally answers, with me adding that what we're doing together is part of his education.

Some folks ponder that a moment and affirm that he's probably learning more than others his age who are sitting in classrooms. Others nod their heads politely, probably convinced that he's missing much of what he's "supposed to learn" or thinking that he should be around other people his age.

A big part of our most recent trip was participation in the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association's annual conference. During the conference we took workshops related to writing skills, the publishing business and social and conservation issues. Nathaniel also learned first-hand how a membership meeting runs, shared in business conversations in the halls and around meal tables, sat at the head table for a breakfast, helped with an auction, played a big part in the pickin' and grinnin' SEOPA tradition and much more. Throughout the weekend, he spent time with writers, editors and other industry folks, plus their family members.

For a young man who has an interest in outdoors communications as at least a part of his vocation, it's hard for me to imagine better opportunities for all-day learning. He filled in an application while we were there and will soon become SEOPA's youngest student member. I'm thankful for the way the membership welcomed Nathaniel and got him involved with various aspects of the conference. He's already looking forward to next year's conference.

On the Road Again

Photo by Alan Clemons

Tomorrow begins an excursion of work, school and play for Nathaniel and me. Stop No. 1 is the Buffalo River, a spectacularly scenic Ozarks river in Northern Arkansas. We'll float the Buffalo and stay in a cabin with friends (with Nathaniel adding evening front porch music) before continuing north to Branson to fish for trout on Taneycomo and then attend the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association's annual conference. At SEOPA, Nathaniel is most looking forward to an event called Breakout and to "Pickin' and Grinnin'" after the final evening's banquet. Our last stop will be Kentucky Lake, where we'll do photo work with Strike King's pro staff.