Part 1

A guy who does outdoor writing is certain to learn a good bit about the top anglers in his part of the world.
I can say that with assurance because of my own experience.  I did my first fishing column for a newspaper way back in 1946.  Writing for regional and national magazines came shortly thereafter.

I mention this because of what I heard last year from Brian Sutton, a writer who lives in Sacramento, California.   Brian’s been writing in the outdoor field for almost three decades.  When someone with Brian’s experience starts talking about angling skills, be assured he knows whereof he speaks.

I really wasn’t all that surprised when Brian sent me an e-mail message detailing some of the angling exploits of a guy named Dave Pitts.  I wasn’t surprised because I’ve written about Dave myself.  You’ll find a couple of columns I did about him in the archives for my Mack’s Lure columns.

Fish on!  Here's the kind of action you'll see often when California salmon specialist Dave Pitts is in the boat.  Here a good one is brought close to the boat.

As a matter of fact, I knew a bit about Dave before I wrote anything about him.  Dave, you see, is on the Mack’s Lure pro staff.  Catch as many fish as Dave has in the areas in which he does his angling and word about his skills was certain to surface.

But hearing about someone’s angling talents is one thing; actually seeing him display them is something else.  And that’s what immediately sparked my interest in Brian’s comments about Dave.

“I met Dave,” Brian says, “in 1980 when he started out as a tournament angler on the Sacramento River delta.  It was his first experience as a tournament angler for striped bass.  To be honest with you, I was there to cover the big boys of striper angling at that time.

“These experienced anglers had big boats and the best of everything to go with them.  Then here comes Dave with a little 14-foot aluminum boat he had borrowed from his older brother.  I remember one of the big names saying ‘See that kid right there?  I’d keep an eye on him.  Out of all the old boys fishing this tournament, that kid has me worried.’

“There were 600 anglers in that tournament.  I asked this guy why he was concerned about Dave.  He said he knew Dave had grown up on the Sacramento River and that he seen him catch some big fish.”

It turned out that this angler’s concern about Dave Pitts was completely justified.  Dave walked off with top honors in that contest.  A few years later, with more than 800 anglers competing, Dave won again.  This time he wound up boating a 44-pound striper and winning a new boat and trailer.

Dave Pitts is often up front when they hand out the awards in either striper or salmon fishing contests.  That's Dave on the left..

I had a pretty good idea of what Brian was eventually going to tell me about Dave.  It was that now Pitts has taken his angling skills into salmon fishing field.  He has also taken some of Mack’s Lure products along with him.  One in particular has played a major role in helping him establish the same kind of reputation in the salmon angling field that he previously enjoyed in striper fishing.

It was Dave’s finely honed skills as a salmon tournament angler that Brian wanted to share with me.  Brian, you see, actually had opportunity to watch Dave in action.  There’s little wonder that what he witnessed made such an impression.

“Honest to Pete,” Brian says, “this guy is a fishing machine.  But he’s such a down to earth person as well.  He’s a great family man and loves kids.  He used to give a rod to the kids who caught their first fish while they were in a boat with him.”

Correspond with Dave Pitts, and I have, and some of the things Brian has to say about him immediately start to surface.  He’s quick to provide the details on all aspects of his approach to putting salmon in the boat.

I’ll provide more of those details, and some are things you can do in your own salmon fishing, in my next column.  Watch for it beginning Aug. 15.

-To Be Continued-