If you’ve been around bass fishing for a while, I’m sure you’ve heard of the book, “Them Ol’ Brown Fish.” Written by legendary angler Billy Westmorland (as told to Larry Mayer) and published in 1976, it was the only book written solely on the ways of the smallmouth bass. Prior to this, you might have been able to find small tidbits of information in articles or other bass books about the smallmouth, but they were few and far between.
I bought my copy of Westmorland’s book around the 1982 timeframe along with his other book Largemouths and Roland Martin’s 101 Bass Catching Secrets from Bass Pro Shops. Although southern California isn’t known as a hotbed for smallies, I wanted to read the fabled book and learn all I could in order to catch fish at the one lake in SoCal that did have them, Lake Cachuma. I read the book, bought a bunch of Hoss Fly jigs and fly rinds and 3-inch Mann’s Sting Ray grubs, and put Westmorland’s tactics to use.
I caught some smallies using his tactics, but the smallmouth population just wasn’t good enough to really determine if his tactics worked on my waters. I had more luck casting a crankbait for largemouths and incidentally catching a smallie.
A few weeks ago, I came across the book, which has been in a box for some 7-plus years. I picked it up and read it again – cover to cover.
It’s amazing what you forget over time. All I remembered about the book prior to reading it again were Westmorland’s use of hair jigs, light line and spinning tackle.
Because of this I was surprised to see the book was actually written as told to Larry Mayer – literally. Punctuation was there, grammar was there, but the words – they came directly from Billy’s mouth and were written as such. In his Tennessee way of sayin’ things.
The book is written based on a number of recorded conversations that Mayer had with Westmorland and is divided into a number of chapters. Those chapters are, in order of their occurrence:
- Forward – Billy Westmorland
- Introduction – Larry Mayer
- Those Early Years
- My Peers
- Catches Spawn Confidence
- Weather
- Lure, Live Bait Logic
- Tackle and Techniques
- Myths, Misconceptions, Mistakes
- Night After Night
- Big Fish
- Getting Completely Rigged
- Unusual Water Conditions
- Differences In Different Lakes
- River Fishing
- Difference Between The Three
- Fishing Unfamiliar Waters
- Water Pollution, Fishing Pressure
- Looking Back
If you’re looking for a concise book on how to catch smallmouths, this isn’t the book for you. But if you’re looking for a book that delves into Westmorland’s life, how he learned to fish, who taught him, what he used and why, this is a treasure. In each chapter he tells numerous stories that pertain to the chapter title – all the while telling the reader why he fishes a certain way.
Westmorland has some interesting tactics and theories on how to catch big smallies – many of which would still work today if someone would use them. He talks a lot about his “fly-n-rind” combo and the Pedigo Spinrite. He also talks a lot about using light tackle, which included line from 4- to 8-pound test and 5-foot custom spinning rods paired with Zebco Cardinal III and IV reels.
I’ve said this before many times about the subject of “who invented finesse tactics.” Here in Westmorland’s book, he talks of using light tackle in the early- to mid-60s and he was in the south. I know a lot of Midwesterners like to lay claim to the invention of finesse but here again, you see someone who was using it in the early days and using it because it worked.
Anyway, Westmorland also talks about how he preferred to fish deep, another tactic that a lot of people think originated in the west. No so. Westmorland not only felt but had proven time and time again that the biggest smallies in the lake mostly frequent the 18- to 35-foot range of depth and his catches proved that. He did say that there were sometimes where big fish could be caught shallow, like at night or during the spawn, but most of the time, he was targeting the depths.
Westmorland had an amazing life and also had some amazing catches, a lot of which he talks about in his book. He personally caught one fish over the magic 10-pound mark, had three fish over 9 pounds and 50 to 75 fish over 8 pounds. He also talks about a fish that he hooked that was well over 12 pounds. Most of these fish were hooked and caught on 6-pound test and a 1/8-ounce Hoss Fly jig-n-rind or a ½-ounce Spinrite.
Is the book outdated for today? In some instances, I’d say yes. It seems more and more anglers are catching big smallies on bigger baits than Westmorland would have used. But at the same time much of the content is still valuable and applicable to today’s smallmouths. How many anglers are out there fishing with the tackle he recommends? I’d say few if any. One of the comments that he made in his book, which I feel is really important, is the comment he made regarding new baits and old baits that the fish “don’t eat” anymore. It wasn’t Westmorland’s idea that fish quit eating a certain bait because they became wary of it. It was his contention that fish quit eating them because people quit throwing them. I couldn’t agree more.
I won’t go and give much more away about this book if you want to find it and read it. Just let me end with this, though. From a purely historical standpoint, the book is a must-have. Mr. Westmorland isn’t around anymore and if you’re interested in learning about his life, this is one of the only remaining ways to do it. He was an amazing angler and part of the sport when it was in its infancy.
Loved that book when I was young. You’re right, as I recall there weren’t any other books solely devoted to smallmouth fishing. It’s been so many years since I read it I should probably dig it out (from whatever box it’s stored in) and give it a fresh read.