said . " I ' ve learned some things ."
He ' s also a good listener , which helped him compile a weekly Texas fishing report for the Dallas Morning News and then one that went statewide that was carried by the Associated Press . He worked with the Morning News ' outdoor writer back then , Ray Sasser .
" Ray and I changed the way fishing is reporting in the state of Texas ," he said .
One thing Clayton did that was different was to mention the names of guides with the reports .
" The readers were loving it but they wanted to contact these people ," said Clayton .
So he asked Sasser " how about we put their phone numbers in there ?"
So they included the phone numbers of the guides , something he still does for columns in publications such as the Herald-Banner .
Later Clayton also wrote an outdoor cooking column for the Morning News for a time .
His weekly columns that now appear in the Herald-Banner and other locations often feature cooking tips as well as fishing and hunting tips and stories about his hunting and fishing trips all over Texas , Colorado , Canada and even a trip to Japan . He ' s fished all over . So which is his favorite lake to fish ?
" Lake Tawakoni to me is one of the best all-around fishing lakes in the state ," he said . " It ' s the best for blue catfish , for hybrid stripers , for white bass ."
He also said he likes a small lake near Honey Grove : Lake Crockett and Pat Mayse Lake near Paris , Texas .
Luke , who is now 74 , doesn ' t intend to stop writing or fishing or hunting any time soon . He and wife , Lisa , who ' ve been married for 53 years , have three children , six grandchildren and one greatgrandchild .
" I ' m never going to retire ," he said . " I love it . It ' s part of my life . I like to cook the meat . I ' m a pretty well-rounded outdoor guy . I ' ve been doing it all my life ."
LUKE ’ S INSIDER FISHING TIPS :
• " A trick for catching stripers , hybrids or white bass that Luke learned from guide Bill Carey : Use a trolling mounted splasher on the boat to churn the water ' s surface . " Schooling white bass and stripers are attracted to splashing on the surface that emulates feeding fish and it often puts them in the feeding mode .”
• A trick for catching catfish Luke learned from guide David Hanson : " David suggests baiting areas around submerged creek bends with soured grain or cattle range cubes and fishing vertically with your choice of catfish baits ."
• " Not all white bass make a spawning run . The vast majority of white bass in lakes or reservoirs never travel up feeder creeks but rather spawn along main lake points and submerged humps and ridges where wind causes moving water and the current necessary to trigger the spawn ."
• " Treble hooks are necessary when fishing most prepared catfish baits and while some anglers prefer No . 6 trebles , I like to use No . 4s , which are a bit bigger and hold a little more bait . I also find them easier to remove from the fish ’ s mouth ."
• " The trophy blue catfish season usually begins with the onset of cooler weather . And gets progressively better as water temperatures fall throughout the winter ."
GREENVILLE LIFE 23 SUMMER 2024