I grew up watching the fishing' hole with Jerry McKinnis and he always looked like he was having fun out there no matter the conditions or the species he was going after.  After that it would be Bob Clouser.  My dad took me on a guided trip with him back when i was probably 8 and it got me hooked on smallies and his knowledge of the river and how to catch the fish was amazing to me even as a kid.  I was then lucky enough to meet him later on in life when i was working/guiding at a local fly shop and he was still just as nice as i remembered before.  

These two are after my dad who isn't he best fisherman but I would fish with him any time anywhere,

So I’m a young guy, I remember Denny being on the Wheaties box, and KVD was very dominant in BASS at the time. These guys gave me dreams of catching huge fish at my local lake and fed my desire to be a fisherman at a young age.

 

as I got older and my life changed I fell out of fishing, was hunting a lot more as fishing conflicts with work pretty hard. Then I let this gal who would become my wife. I’d say now she is my biggest inspiration to fish again. She’s competitive and loves the water. 

Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Mike Iaconelli

One guy I learned a lot about rods from was a trout guy who caught 20-30 pound browns on Flaming Gorge. He was hard to be around but I watched him catch so many big fish using Browning Boron Rods. I hadn’t heard about sponsorships until then (1970s).

 

As far as bass fishing, I’d say Bobby Garland and Dee Thomas.

 

Ted Williams...

Remembering Jason Lucas reminds me of his impact on modern bass fishing. Jay was from NewYork, not the heart land of bass fishing. During his time of influence on me was the 50's when trolling was the norm and casting wasn't. Jay was the editor of Sports Afield and a expert caster doing exhibition casting at sportsmen shows around the country and promoting light line and keeping only what you needed to eat and carefully releasing bass. Plugging was a art form and the lures of choice to catch bass in the 50's. Surface lures, shallow divers, deeper divers cast with accuracy and worked to entice bass to strikes.

When Jay came out with his book Lucas on Bass it was my first fishing book that started a life long passion for bass fishing. I would write to Jay with questions as a young teen and he always answered with a hand written detailed letter.

So how did this influence modern bass fishing? Target casting in lieu of trolling, releasing bass, using sporting light tackle to enjoy catching bass on artifical lures and understanding bass behavior. Without Jays advice and guidance my generation of bass anglers, including me, would never have developed the casting skills to catch bass and owe a lifetime of bass fishing memories to him.

Thank you,

Tom

 

He's not a bass guy but Jose Wejebe was a big influence, he brought so much joy and excitement you can't help but get fired up. Now that I mostly bass fish and dabble in tournaments I gotta say Bryan Thrift, he doesn't do alot of TV stuff but I can listen to his podcasts at work and it definitely has helped with the mental game.