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MASTER FISHERMAN
by Mike Price
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EDDIE DOUGLAS
Business, like fishing, can get complicated. But good business people use the KISS rule: Keep it simple, stupid. Eddie Douglas applied this approach to fishing and like a well run business his bottom line increased; he caught bigger and more fish.
In 1957 Eddie moved from East Texas to Matagorda County, Texas, close to East and West Matagorda Bays. He knew how to catch bass but realized that if he was going to be a successful saltwater fisherman he had to learn from others. Eddie said, "I learned from some of the best fishermen that walked. One would be real good on working lures, another on reading water, another good on timing - knowing what to do and when to do it. I started filing all that together and I was fishing a lot."
He was the county agent, but in 1960 he decided to go into the real estate business. Eddie told his wife, "I can't work for anybody, and they are going to fire me, because when the water is good I am going to fish."
Business, like fishing, can get complicated. But good business people use the KISS rule: Keep it simple, stupid. Eddie Douglas applied this approach to fishing and like a well run business his bottom line increased; he caught bigger and more fish.
In 1957 Eddie moved from East Texas to Matagorda County, Texas, close to East and West Matagorda Bays. He knew how to catch bass but realized that if he was going to be a successful saltwater fisherman he had to learn from others. Eddie said, "I learned from some of the best fishermen that walked. One would be real good on working lures, another on reading water, another good on timing - knowing what to do and when to do it. I started filing all that together and I was fishing a lot."
He was the county agent, but in 1960 he
decided to go into the real estate business. Eddie told his wife, "I
can't work for anybody, and they are going to fire me, because when the
water is good I am going to fish."
Over the years Eddie has won many fishing tournaments including the prestigious Poco Bueno at Port O'Connor. He is one of the most respected fishermen on the middle Texas coast.
I fished with Eddie in August 2008 and as he caught fish he told me that the key to successful fishing is to simplify it. He said, "At one time I had nearly as many lures as Cabela's. I would open my tackle box and here was this huge array. I would have eight of them stuck on my cap, five in my pocket, and I was the absolute master of none. I thought, I might catch it on purple, or maybe I need to go to green, wellI'll try a topwater, or better yet a worm. So I said I'm going to change this. I am going to find something that works, and do away with all this mess."
Eddie's go to lure was a broken back so he decided to test several of these jointed swimming minnows. It took him four years to settle on "The Lure". He would fish with one lure for four to six months, and then select another lure and fish it until he finally settled on the lure model he now uses. But no manufacturer made the lure to his specifications so he modified it. Now, many guides and fishermen use the ED Special. Eddie personally customizes each lure and sells them. Eddie said, "I will catch three fish in the time a fisherman using a topwater will catch one. I can fish my lure on the top of the water, underwater, and floating. I tested color combinations, and determined that a black and chartreuse lure with red eyes catches more fish." He has been fishing with the ED Special exclusively for 18 years. Now Eddie's "tackle box" consists of three extra lures and two extra hooks in a small box that fits in his shirt pocket.
Eddie wastes no time when he is fishing. He said, "If you drink or smoke or change lures, I'll beat you every single day because I'll have my hook in the water while you are doing that, and that makes a difference."
When he got out of his truck and walked to the boat he was dressed for wading and his rods were rigged and ready. And after we anchored the boat, Eddie was 100 yards away and casting before I finished changing from deck shoes to wading boots. While he was fishing, Eddie talked about how he picks his days, times, and places for fishing trips.
"Before I leave the house I look at Gulf Coast Fisherman to see what the tide is doing, adjust for the wind, and determine exactly where I am going to fish. Then I go straight to that spot. These people who say they fished all over the bay and did not catch anything have problems catching because they did not predetermine where they were going to fish and stick with it."
The water color is also important. Eddie said, "You always want
to fish in off colored water, and you want some wind blowing. When your
lure is moving through the dim
water, the trout,
redfish, and flounder grab it. If the water is crystal clear very few people
can catch fish because the fish look at the lure and say, 'That is not what
I want to eat."
Eddie positioned himself so that he could cast to a spot where a strong outgoing tide was draining a large area of shallow marsh. The wind was at his back, and he was looking at a peninsula on one side, and the bay on the other side. Bait fish were moving around near the end of the peninsula. The entire evening, Eddie did not move more than five feet from where he started fishing.
One reason Eddie catches more fish is that he is a continuous fishing machine. From his first cast until the setting sun forced us to leave, he only stopped casting to remove fish. When the lure came back with grass on it, he bashed the lure on the water to get the grass off, and cocked and fired another cast in one fluid motion. When he raised his rod the flexible tip bent, giving his lure just the right swimming motion, and then he lowered the rod tip rapidly while taking up the line slack, and repeated the process.
I asked him what kind of rod works best with his method of fishing. He said, "The rod is very important. You have to have a rod with feeling on the tapered end as well as strength in the butt end to handle the fish. The wrong rod will wear you out. You should feel everything that happens to the lure through your rod, like a bit of grass or the hook turning sideways. My hooks are small (#4) and sharp and it is not necessary to set the hook, it sets itself. You want to use a mellow rhythm. It is so important to work the lure to your advantage." Eddie uses either a Waterloo, or G. Loomis seven foot rod.
Eddie looked out across the bay and said, "Fishing takes patience; I can feel the various factors come together. Like right now I see that bait working off the point, and there is some bait moving in the gut. The sun is about to touch the horizon. It all feels right and I think a big fish will hit soon." And shortly thereafter a good sized trout leaped out of the water with the ED Special in its mouth. After putting the trout on his stringer Eddie gazed at the bay and marsh and said, "Look at this bountiful nature, we are so fortunate to have this; I am 75 years old and I am still able to enjoy it."
Eddie's approach to fishing - keep your lure in the water, become an expert at timing, reading the water, and working your lure - simplifies the process. And Eddie is among the select few fishermen who have reached that level of simplified expertise.
To order the ED Special, call Eddie Douglas at 979-245-5901