1. May 2013
Continued on Page 2
Editor’s Note: This is the final part
of the series on Stan Fagerstrom’s
life as a writer and international
casting expert. In part five, Stan
talked about his experiences in
Brazil, New Zealand and a couple
of incidents he had doing shows in
the U.S. In this part he talks about
a couple of funny experiences he’s
had over the years, his opinion of
the sport today and he also talks
about what he feels are his most
important contributions.
A Cup of Beer and a Chimp
Stan will tell you however that
he’s had his good moments along
with the bad. He detailed one of
them for me.
“I was doing some informal
casting practice one day at an ISE
show in Sacramento,” he recalled.
“The show was open but there
thought I was in big trouble for sure.
For a heartbeat or two I considered
hightailing it the hell out of there. I
shouted that I was sorry and that I
hadn’t meant to get him wet. Instead
of being angry, the big guy wiped
the beer off his face and hollered
back. ‘It’s ok,” he said, ‘I guess I
asked for it. I just didn’t realize how
damn good you really were with
that thing.’ Neither, my friends, did
I!
“As I’ve already endeavored to
point out, you’d better be prepared
for ego adjustments if you get
involved in show business, whether
it’s fancy casting or the circus. I
was feeling pretty darn good about
myself when one of the country’s
larger tackle companies invited me
to participate in a Chicago show
where they would be observing the
company’s 50th
anniversary in the
tackle business. I was told I was to
be one of two performers they were
bringing in to perform during the
show. I’m thumping my own tub a
bit as I think ‘Hey old man, you’ve
done pretty well for yourself being
one of just two they consider good
enough to bring in at this special
time.’
“Well, I get to the function and
was just a scattering of people
wandering about. The casting area
I was on was unusually long. It
was used both for fly as well as bait
casting demonstrations and lots of
distance was required for the fly
casting back casts. I was casting at
a variety of targets I’d set up 30 to
40 feet away when some big guy
wearing a 10-gallon hat steps up
way down at the end of the casting
area. He was carrying one of those
king-sized paper containers full of
beer.
“The guy watches me cast for
a minute or two then thrusts that
big beer holder out over the end
of the casting area and shouts,
‘Hey, partner, let’s see you hit this.’
Remember now, this guy is at least
75 or maybe even 85 feet away. I
wouldn’t bet you a dime I could hit
that small a target at that distance
once out of 500 times but I figured
what the hell, give it a try. I let fly
with the 5/8-ounce casting weight I
always use for the trick & accuracy
parts of my casting shows. That
weight arched up and came down
with a k-a-s-p-l-o-o-s-h right smack
in the middle of the big guy’s cup.
As you might imagine, the beer
went everywhere, including on the
big dude who was holding the cup. I
Page one
The Writers: Stan Fagerstrom - Part 6 of 6
By Terry Battisti
Stan Fagerstrom poses with Kirby –
his co-star. Photo courtesy of Stan
Fagerstrom.

2. Page two
Continued from Page 1
Continued on Page 3
it turns out the second performer
is a 4-year-old chimpanzee named
Kirby. He couldn’t cast but when
they tied a marshmallow to the end
of his line and cast it out for him,
he sure as heck could reel it back
in and pull the marshmallow off his
line and eat it. I enjoyed watching
him and the two of us became
friends before the show was over.
That didn’t set too well with his
trainer because every time I came
by, Kirby wanted to come over and
give me a hug instead of tending
to business. To add insult to injury,
where my already-fractured ego was
concerned, that little bugger drew
twice as many show visitors as I
did at our respective performances.
We had our picture taken together a
number of times. My late mother-
in-law got her hands on one of these
photos and always made it a point
when she showed it to one of her
many friends – something she did at
every opportunity – that I was the
one standing on the right!”
Thoughts and Memories
Although Fagerstrom has been a
major supporter of bass fishing for
more than 60 years, there are some
things that continue to trouble him.
“There are certain aspects of the
sport that still bother me today,”
he said. “For example, I hate the
thought of fishing for bedding bass.
If I ran tournaments, the spawning
season would be out of play.
“The first few years of bass
tournaments there was a huge
amount of dead bass,” he said.
“You couldn’t ignore it. And here
I was promoting bass fishing
and tournaments and at the same
time expressing concern about
the pressure on the resource. I
was talking out both sides of my
mouth and not enjoying it one
damn bit. Then in ’71, I wrote an
article called ‘Tournament with a
Twist’ for Bassmaster Magazine.
It was published in the January/
February 1972 issue. The ‘Twist’’
was about a new concept of
tournament fishing being practiced
by the Silver Lake Bass Club out
of Southwest Washington. I lived
right on the shore of Silver Lake
at the time. In ’71, club members
decided to run their tournaments
as catch-and-release events. Every
fish caught would be weighed,
measured (they even tagged them),
and released. The concept was a
success and the following year Ray
Scott began his catch-and-release
tournaments with B.A.S.S. I don’t
know if the Silver Lake tournament
concept or my story had any effect
on Ray’s decision, but from then on
tournaments everywhere generally
were more concerned about the
release of the fish.
“Even today I think there is room
for more protection of the resource.
I’d like to see bass weighed
and released as soon as they’re
caught. Wouldn’t it be adequate if
contestants were permitted to bring
just their one largest fish to the
weigh-in to hold up for the cameras
instead of an entire bag full of fish
where some aren’t going to survive
the experience?
“I started bass fishing at time when
we all killed our fish most of the
time. There just wasn’t that much
fishing pressure. It took awhile,
and having a chance to observe a
few early-day tournaments, before
it dawned on me just how quickly
pressure was building on our bass
fishing resource. If you’ve ever seen
my book Catch More Bass, the first
bookonbassfishingeverwrittenbya
Pacific Northwest author, you know
it has far too many pictures of big,
dead bass. That book was written in
the early 70s. That wouldn’t happen
if I was to write a similar book
today. I’ve rarely killed a bass for
years. I’d actually started to wise up
before that book was published but
my change in thinking came too late
to make any of the desired changes
before the book was sent off to the
publisher.”
During my interview for this
article I had an opportunity to ask
Fagerstrom about the late casting
expert and close friend Lew Childre,
Shag Shahid.
“Shag was as good as they come
with a bait casting reel,” Stan said.
“We did a couple of shows together
Stan Fagerstrom’s article on Catch
and Release tournaments published in
the January/February 1972 issue of
Bassmaster Magazine.
Stan Fagerstrom’s book, Catch More
Bass, published in 1973. Courtesy of
Stan Fagerstrom.

3. “I’m the luckiest guy on earth,” he
says. “To have been able to make a
living doing something I love and
helping others in the process has
been an inspiring experience. I’ve
been very richly blessed. If you’ve
ever watched one of my casting
exhibitions you know I always say
the same thing at the end. I think
it’s appropriate to say it here again
now. It’s simply this: The next best
thing to fishing is to have a chance
to write or talk about it. I thank God
and I thank you for giving me that
opportunity again here today.”
Epilogue
After reading Stan’s articles for
over 30 years, I finally got to meet
him in person this October. Only
knowing him as a prolific writer
and caster, I was amazed at what
his life has brought him and all
he’s done for so many. As he talked
about in part one of this series, Stan
participated in World War II in the
Pacific Theater. He was a combat
infantryman who was there in the
thick of things. Stan spent a lot of
time with me going over his old
maps of the Pacific Theater and
various other papers from the time.
He also showed me the two Bronze
Star awards he received for heroic
actions he conducted while in battle.
By reading his poem “No Second
Chance” in part 1 of this story, you
get a glimpse of what it was like to
be Stan or many others who fought
for our freedom during those times.
I feel blessed to have been
welcomed with open arms into his
home and into his life. I will forever
be grateful to him for what he’s
done. Thank You SGT Fagerstrom
for your sacrifice to our country
and for teaching us all to be better
anglers. We will never forget.
-end-
Page three
Continued from Page 2
and I learned from him. He didn’t
do a lot of tricky stuff but in straight
casting at whatever the target I’ve
never seen anyone do a better job of
it.”
What’s Important
During the interview I also asked
Stan what articles he was most
proud of that he’s written over his
career.
“Asformyfishingarticles,I’dhave
to say definitely the many articles
I’ve written about casting. Although
I’ve written a number of them over
the years, it’s these stories that have
brought me a lot of satisfaction.
Of the other material I’ve written
though, I’d have to say my poetry
has been the most meaningful. If I
get deeply emotionally involved,
it’s the easiest way to attempt to
express myself. A couple of such
poems have been widely published
around the country.”
Stan Fagerstrom is a legend
among bass writers and casters.
With a career that spans more than
60 years, he’s seen it all and done
it all. His publication list spans well
into the thousands and he’s given
hundreds of casting clinics over the
years.
Stan’s poem, On A Lake At Daylight.
Courtesy of Stan Fagerstrom.
Wedding Ring®
Double Whammy®
Kokanee Pro®
Plenty of colors
to choose from
at:
www.mackslure.com
Kokanee Pro® Series
Kokanee have soft mouths, so we have
ensured a solid hook-up by tying 2
razor-sharp hooks with no in-between
space. With contrasting bead colors, a
gold-plated Wedding Ring®, and our
1.1 Smile Blade®, the presentation is
perfect for kokanee.

4. If those wonderful landlocked
salmon we call kokanee had the ca-
pability to do it, chances are they’d
declare an all out war on Mack’s
Lure.
And who could blame them? It’s
a cinch no other lure maker has
caused them more misery than those
foxy folks who hang their collective
fishin’ hats in Wenatchee, Washing-
ton. And it’s not a brand new devel-
opment.
It started way back when a fish-
catchin’ little wonder called the
Wedding Ring first hit the mar-
ket decades ago. The products the
Washington lure makers have been
making ever since have just done
more of the same.
If you keep up with things in
the field of kokanee fishing you’re
aware of what I’m talking about. For
a long time now Mack’s Lure has
been right at the forefront of pre-
senting anglers with new methods
of putting kokanee in the frying
pan. And that, my friends, ain’t al-
ways easy.
Have opportunity to get into the
thinking of guys like Bob Schmidt,
the general manager of Mack’s
Lure and Bobby Loomis, the com-
pany’s director of sales and market-
ing---and I do---and you’ll learn a
heap in a hurry. One of the things
that grabs me when the two talk
about kokanee brings up a pair of
words that rhyme. Those words are
“evolve” and “revolve”.
In that last column I also promised
to share what Schmidt had to say
about the lures most likely to get the
job done. If anybody has a right to
make a meaningful comment in that
regard, he’s the guy who can do it.
I’m reminded of evolve in dealing
with the near constant improvement
and design in the lures Mack’s Lure
makes available to anglers. The
word revolve comes into play in
talking about how those finicky ko-
kanee often choose one color over
another when they start feeding.
We’re right now entering that
period when you’re likely to en-
counter some of the best kokanee
fishing of the year. I can, thanks to
the Mack’s Lure executives I’ve al-
ready mentioned, provide you with
some kokanee-catching guidelines
that can be of tremendous help.
As I’ve already detailed, kokan-
ee are a landlocked sockeye salm-
on. While they’re not the migratory
travelers as are the salt water vari-
ety, they do share some of the same
ways of doing things. One is that
they are a schooling fish. Just like
their saltwater counterparts, they
are also scent and color oriented.
Here are the experts who are provid-
ing some of the best kokanee catch-
ing products you can get your hands
on. And yes---that’s a pair of beautiful
kokanee they are holding. Pictured on
the left is Bob Schmidt, general manag-
er of Mack’s Lure, and Bobby Loomis,
Mack’s director of sales and marketing.
What’s the best size Smile Blades to
use when you’re after kokanee? You’re
looking at ‘em! They are the two small-
est Smile Blades made. At the top is the
1.1-inch blade. The bottom blade pic-
tured is 0.8-inch in size.
“Kokanee will go on a bite and
then shut off just as quickly as they
started,” Bobby Loomis says. “Like
many species, the size of the baits
they’ll take do not really correlate
to the size of the fish. Trying to cre-
ate big baits to take big fish doesn’t
work well, but at times downsizing
your presentation does seem to help
catch more.”
Loomis points to a couple of other
facts that kokanee anglers need to
know. “Being finicky plankton feed-
ers,” he says, “you’d expect the best
colors for kokanee should revolve
around green and chartreuse. These
colors do work well, but it seems
that the best colors for them often
seem to revolve around silvers and
pinks.”
Loomis and Schmidt point out
that kokanee will follow the existing
food chain like other species. Wa-
ter temperatures also affect where
you’ll find them and the plankton
they feed on at any given time of
day. Experienced anglers tell you
kokanee can sometimes be caught
up near the surface and then, de-
pending on those details I’ve men-
tioned, as deep as 200 feet.
What this tells me and you is that
we darn well better be well pre-
pared for a variety of tactics when
we’re serious about our kokanee an-
Page fourContinued on Page 5
Stan’s Space
The Keys To Catching
Kokanee
By Hall-of-Fame Angler
Stan Fagerstrom
Part 1 of 2

5. Continued from Page 4
Page five
gling. Let’s just look at lure colors
first. The Mack’s Lure Smile Blades
provide a wondrous opportunity to
take advantage of the better fish-
ing that subtle color changes make
available.
I say that because of the ease with
which you can change these My-
lar plastic spinner blades and be-
cause they are now available in 35
different colors and six different
sizes. My goodness, that’s a vari-
ety designed to provide satisfaction
for someone as demanding as your
mother-in-law!
Now I’m not suggesting that you
have to purchase all 35 colors in
those Mack’s Lure Smile Blades
to have a chance to put kokanee in
the boat. And once again, thanks to
Loomis and Schmidt, we’re able to
trim that list of “must have” Smile
Blades way down.
Now read carefully. Following is
a list of the most productive Mack’s
Lure Smile Blade colors that caught
more kokanee than the others in the
2012 kokanee fishery. Here is the
list: Transparent silver tiger, silver
scale, pink sparkle, chartreuse scale,
chartreuse sparkle, gold sparkle, glo
white silver scale and pink silver ti-
ger.
Switching colors can sometimes be the
answer to putting more kokanee in the
boat. Pictured here are the top sell-
ing Smile Blade colors in the 0.8-inch
size for last year. Many other colors are
available in these fish-attracting plastic
blades. The other colors are pictured
right here at this website.
Get on the water tomorrow with
these eight Smile Blades and you
know darn well you’ve got some-
thing that’s been productive be-
fore. Keep changing until you find
the colors those hard to predict
landlocked sockeye tell you it’s
what they want.
Here’s something else that you
should know. The most effective
Smile Blade sizes for kokanee last
year were the 1.1-inch and 0.8-inch
blades. As you can verify yourself
right here at this website, or in the
Mack’s Lure catalog you should
have, these sizes are the smallest
Smile Blades made.
What you’ve just read doesn’t be-
gin to cover all aspects of kokanee
fishing but it does give you some
extremely important basics. You’ll
be wise not to ignore them.
Keep an eye on my next col-
umn. I’ll provide more details on
how to invite more kokanee to join
you for dinner. Incidentally, once
you get ‘em and need someone to
join you at the dinner table---please
keep me in mind!
-To Be Continued-
Pictured here were the top selling Smile
Blade colors for 2012 in the 1.1-inch
size. The blade colors shown are just
a few of the many different shades
available to all anglers. One of the rea-
sons for the increasing interest in the
Mack’s Lure Smiles Blades is undoubt-
edly due to ease with which these blades
can be used. All you need do is slide one
on your leader ahead of your bait or
lure and you’re ready to go!
Cookin’ Your Catch
Maple Salmon
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black
pepper
• 1 pound salmon
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the maple
syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic
salt, and pepper.
2. Place salmon in a shallow glass
baking dish, and coat with the
maple syrup mixture. Cover
the dish, and marinate salmon
in the refrigerator 30 minutes,
turning once.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
(200 degrees C).
4. Place the baking dish in the pre-
heated oven, and bake salmon
uncovered 20 minutes, or until
easily flaked with a fork.
Original recipe makes 4 servings.
Let’s Eat!!!

6. Q: I hear a lot of people talk about
fishing Smile Blades at our club,
and online, but sometimes I hear
them say Flash Lite blades; are
they the same thing?
A: They are both patented blades
manufactured by Mack’s Lure, and
although made from the same light
weight material they are different
products.
The Smile blade is shaped like a
smile and is nonsymmetrical. It is
extremely effective used right on
top of any bait, or lure, so to add
color, and a fish catching erratic
Questions of the Month
Have a question? We’d love to an-
swer it! Contact us at mackslure@
mackslure.com if you have a ques-
tion you would like to see featured!
The Mack Attack is a free service
provided to anyone who is inter-
ested by Mack’s Lure, Inc. We need
your input! If you know of anyone
who would like to be on the mail-
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please forward their e-mail address
to al@mackslure.com.
Photos, stories, and comments are
welcomed and encouraged. Please
forward all content materials to
bob@mackslure.com.
THANK YOU!
Page six
17” Trout On Ochoco Reservoir
I live in Central Oregon and the BIG Trout love your SUPER Series Wedding Ring.
I was on the Lake today and caught 9 fish and 7 were on the Supers ....I LOVE
them. Thank you for a great product, Ray
Photo of the Month
www.mackslure.com
Double D™
Dodger
The Double D™ catches more
fish…
The Double D™ not only has the
proven traditional dodger action
that is known to catch fish, but also
delivers its patent-pending stop &
go action to your lure.
The Double D™ for
double duty…
There are five attach-
ment points that allow
you to spread your lines,
as well as move them
out from underneath
the boat path like a side
planer does.
movement, without it adding weight
to your presentation.
The Flash Lite blade is balanced
and has a longer, narrower, design.
It is extremely effective as an
attractor and often several blades at
a time are used to mimic schooling
fish. The blades are used above the
swivel for attractor’s more so then
on top of the lure itself, except in the
case when fishing for larger species
of fish.
Take a Kid Fishing!
You will be glad you did!