Larry Myhre retired as editor of the Sioux City Journal eight years ago, but he continues to write a weekly column about his outdoor adventures – something he has been doing since 1973. Recently, he was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, which recognizes outstanding achievements in sport fishing. He reflected on his seasons of fish tales and offered some sage advice for anyone who’s thinking about picking up a rod and reel.
1. When did you start fishing?
I started fishing when I was 4 years old. We lived on a farm so we didn’t have a lot of time to do it, but we’d take a couple of trips every year to a lake.
2. Where do you go fishing now?
I fish pretty much throughout the upper Midwest and Canada. I go out West to fly fish for trout. I just got back from North Carolina. All over the place. I even once fished in the River Jordan in Israel. I was over there on a newspaper assignment.
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3. Do you have a favorite place to fish around Siouxland?
It kind of depends what a person’s fishing for. Catfish: the river that runs right through Sioux City. Walleye: I like Lake Francis Case, a Missouri River reservoir. For all species of fish: I like West Lake Okoboji or Big Spirit Lake.
4. What do you like about going fishing?
I like being outdoors. That’s No. 1. I like the challenge of it. To me, fishing has been more about education than it is actually catching fish. I like learning different techniques to catch fish.
5. What’s the biggest fish you’ve caught?
It might have been a catfish that was about 34 pounds from the Red River in Manitoba.
6. So it’s not hanging up on your wall, is it?
No, I have only one fish mounted and that’s a 15-pound 8-ounce walleye. I caught it, and when I went to release it, it had died. I couldn’t release it so I took it to the taxidermist.
7. What do you usually do with the fish you catch?
You know, probably 95 percent of the fish I catch, I release. If I fish by myself, I release it. If I’m fishing with someone else, I might keep the walleye and clean them. They’re really good eating.
8. Do you have a favorite way to cook fish?
Most of my fish are fried. I grind up some saltine crackers, throw in some flour, salt and pepper. The big danger in frying fish – and this is true of cooking any wild game – is overcooking it. You’ve got to get it when it’s done just perfectly. With the fish, when you touch it with a fork, it will just flake off. You really got to be careful when you’re frying fish that you’re not overcooking it.
9. Why do you catch and release most fish?
A famous writer once said, “A trout is too valuable to be only caught once.” That’s kind of true. You have to realize not all the fish you release are going to survive, but most of them will. It’s kind of a conservation thing.
10. Do you have a boat that you fish out of?
Yes, I do. I have two boats. I have an 18-foot fishing boat for the bigger lakes, and I got a 16-foot sport canoe. I got my first boat when I was a junior in high school, and I’ve had a boat ever since.
11. Do you still fish off a dock or fish from shore?
I do. I have good fishing from the shore.
12. You said you were just in North Carolina. What did you do out there?
I was screen fishing for trout, so I just had my hip boots and waded out. If I travel a long way, I’m usually pulling my own boat or I’m going to fish with someone who has a boat. When I fish from shore, it’s probably going to be locally – on the riverfront here, farm ponds, smaller bodies of water.
13. What do you do for fun when you’re not fishing?
I make a lot of my fishing tackle.
14. When does fishing season really start and stop for you?
I pretty much fish every month of the year.
15. Do you get into ice fishing as well?
Yes, I do. Ice fishing is not my favorite form, but I do. I have a portable fish house that I can pull out on the ice. I don’t do a lot of ice fishing anymore.
16. What do you take out with you to eat when you go fishing?
I’ll take along breakfast bars. I always have half a dozen of those in my camera bag. Of course, my camera goes with me all the time. Or we’ll stop and grab a sandwich at a quick stop.
17. What are a few of the things you can’t leave home without no matter what kind of fishing you’re going to go do that day?
My camera. I write a column for The Journal and take pictures for that, so I have my camera. I always have rain gear. It can be a bright, sunny day, and if you don’t have your rain gear, it’s probably going to rain. I usually have water, especially in the summertime. A fishing cap. I always wear a cap. And polarized sunglasses because it cuts down on the glare on the water.
18. You mentioned that, as a boy, you’d go fishing with your parents, but who really taught you how to fish?
I learned from people who were expert fishermen. I started doing more reading, studying. Then, I started teaching fishing seminars myself, teaching fishing classes around the area. In the ‘80s, there was very little fishing information out there. So the seminars were very popular. Now, I still do that, but attendance is really low.
19. In your opinion, what’s the best fishing magazine?
Probably the one that helped to educate fisherman and is still doing a good job, In-Fisherman magazine.
20. Do you have any advice for beginner fishermen or women?
Just go fishing. That’s a big part of it. A lot of people say to me, How do you find the time to go fishing so much? I don’t find the time. I take it. I just step back, take some time and do it. Fishing is who I am: an outdoorsman.
