Where’s Bill? Shootin’ n snaggin’ with the Frugal Fisherman

Having organized my tackle box two weeks prior, I discovered I was out of several key items needed for this year’s fishing plans. I have no catfish bait, large lead weights or circle hooks. I’m also in need of a new, heavy duty rod and reel. My old model went the way of the dodo when I slammed it into my Scion’s hatchback three years ago.

I’m also out of 1/4 and 3/8 oz. bullet weights, 8 lb. test monofilament and a myriad of other hooks, sinkers and plastics. I need a lot of things, including a new fishing license and trout stamp.

As a kid my grandmother would take me shopping with her on Saturdays. We’d visit Thalhimers (a now defunct southern clothing store), J. C. Penneys and Sears, Roebuck and Co. I was always on my best behavior as she tried on dresses, shoes, hats and scarves. I knew if I didn’t make a fuss, she’d let me run free once we entered Sears. And freedom meant I could spend the thirty minutes or so she needed to shop in the sporting goods section.

It was there I met Bill. At least I think his name was Bill.

To a nine-year-old boy with an obsession for fishing, Bill was a god. He knew everything from brim to baits, bass and baitcasters. He’d regale me with his weekly fishing adventures and how he’d landed the big one. He’d show me how to tie various knots, adjust drag and cast top water lures. When it came to fishing no one knew more than Bill.

Here some thirty years later and in need of fishing supplies, I wondered if there was another Bill tucked away in some sporting goods section somewhere here in Lexington. To find him I’d need to visit every tackle shop, bait dispensary or sports store in the area. I started by writing down a list of addresses for all the fishing, tackle and bait shops I could find in the yellow pages and online. My plan was to visit each and find my new Bill.

It didn’t take me long to work through the list. I tried Wet Willie Baits off Preakness Drive, Dave’s Tackle Shop on Woodhill, Meadowthorpe Outdoors off Leestown Road and Duff’s Bait Shop on N. Limestone. All had closed or went out of business. I could not locate a single shop. Maybe I missed one tucked away in the deep recesses of some long forgotten strip mall, but I doubt it.

There are two fly fishing shops in town, Orvis and The Sporting Tradition. Both cater to fly fishing and fly fishing alone. Not much help for man looking to buy some grub worms or minnows. Of course there’s Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Both have an enormous array of lures, lines and tackle, with an entire section of each store dedicated to fishing. But neither store’s attendants seemed to know a thing about fishing.

Is it me or do the workers at large chains like Dick’s and Walmart seem to be in a trance? I think it’s due to prolonged exposure to fluorescent light and a vastly insufficient living wage—turns them into zombies incapable of answering direct questions.

And then there’s The Angler’s Outpost in Nicholasville. They sell and service boats and boat motors, offer a wide range of bass tackle and lures, and believe it or not, sell mill, grub and earthworms (spring-fall). Chris Conley’s the man to talk to if you need anything. In addition, there’s Backwater Outfitters off New Circle on the north side of town. Brad Myers is the owner. He carries a large selection of tackle and lures covering everything from bass, to walleye, to crappie.

Both Myers and Conley know a thing or two about fishing. You can tell just from talking with them. If I had to guess they both are on the water frequently throughout the summer¾jigging for this, casting for that. Neither of them are like old Bill, but I’m not nine anymore either. At least they’re fisherman, and call me crazy but I like buying my fishing supplies from someone who fishes.

A friend once told me you vote with your wallet. It’s true. How, and more importantly where, you spend your money determines the types of businesses you have in your community. Maybe if a few more of us would have dropped in to Wet Willie’s or Meadowthorpe Outdoors we’d have more local businesses and less Walmarts. And maybe, just maybe, there would be a Bill there waiting to teach you a thing or two about fishing.