Today’s Friday Finale historical photo takes us back to 1982, and features Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame member, Bud Andrews.
While you won’t find his name among the major tournament circuits, he did have a very prolific career fishing more local/regional events, as well as a strong guiding business. He was an early practitioner of bass conservation, back before a lot of other anglers gave it a lot of thought, as well as a strong supporter of getting youngsters involved in fishing early in life.
In an article in the Tampa tribune that same year, he wrote, “I honestly feel that any good sportsman should take an interest in the future and not keep all the fish that he catches from off the beds.
“The future of bass fishing depends on sportfishermen to start doing something now to protect our bass. Stricter laws to protect the bedding bass would be a good start. Until this happens, fishermen should put into practice their own conservation measures, before it’s too late.”
A few years later in 1989, he published a book with Horace Carter titled, “Lures for Lunker Bass.” He also ran Cypress Lodge Fishing Camp (see his hat), located on Lake Henderson, around Inverness, Florida.
He was also well recognized locally as a record holder of sorts, having caught over 350 10-pound-plus bass on artificials from public lakes. His personal best bass weighed 17 pounds, but he stated that he had twice hooked fish that he believed would have exceeded that mark.
