A Priceless Fishing Lure: During my years working in the Rio Grande Valley, I had the opportunity to get acquainted and make friends with a lot of folks that otherwise I would never...

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

During my years working in the Rio Grande Valley, I had the opportunity to get acquainted and make friends with a lot of folks that otherwise I would never have met.

One of these was a physician in San Benito who regularly fished in Mexico and sometimes in very remote places that were difficult to find, and accommodations were sparce. He related this story to me about one of his trips.

He was fishing alone in a jungle river and although he had almost every kind of lure and bait known to modern fishermen, he wasn’t having any luck. However, he observed two Indians in a dugout canoe. One was paddling and the other was trolling an unusual lure with a hand line. They were catching fish with this strange lure, which looked to be made of balsa wood and exotic bird feathers.

Finally, he hailed them and although the communication was difficult because they did not speak, or pretended they did not understand Spanish, they spoke a different language which might have been Mayan, or another Indian tongue. He was allowed to examine the unusual lure and offered them $10, which they refused. Eventually, the price was raised to $20 but it appeared that no amount of money would they except for this lure, because it had special ‘magic’ and they refused to sell it. Remember this was in the 1950s and he had offered a lot of money!
I suspect that with adequate time and materials, a expert could replicate the design and shape of their ‘magic’ lure, but the doctor had neither at hand while he was there. I have been to several jungles fishing, and always hoping to catch a snook. But, only once did I ever catch one and it was less than a foot long!
Finally, I was with my son of the east coast of Florida. He was using a Sibisi rig to catch us some bait before going further offshore. Suddenly, something hit his rig, breaking the line. He suggested I take a live bait we had already caught and toss it out on a regular rod and see if I could catch whatever had broken him off. I did and almost immediately hooked a snook that was possibly between 26 and 30 inches long! I landed this fish and threw out again and hooked another but this snook jumped and threw the hook. Here I caught my lifetime goal not even trying, and certainly not traveling to a more exotic location. You never know! Just Sayin…RJS

EZ Fishing Loc: College Ward, Utah

Robert J Samples wrote:

During my years working in the Rio Grande Valley, I had the opportunity to get acquainted and make friends with a lot of folks that otherwise I would never have met.

One of these was a physician in San Benito who regularly fished in Mexico and sometimes in very remote places that were difficult to find, and accommodations were sparce. He related this story to me about one of his trips.

He was fishing alone in a jungle river and although he had almost every kind of lure and bait known to modern fishermen, he wasn’t having any luck. However, he observed two Indians in a dugout canoe. One was paddling and the other was trolling an unusual lure with a hand line. They were catching fish with this strange lure, which looked to be made of balsa wood and exotic bird feathers.

Finally, he hailed them and although the communication was difficult because they did not speak, or pretended they did not understand Spanish, they spoke a different language which might have been Mayan, or another Indian tongue. He was allowed to examine the unusual lure and offered them $10, which they refused. Eventually, the price was raised to $20 but it appeared that no amount of money would they except for this lure, because it had special ‘magic’ and they refused to sell it. Remember this was in the 1950s and he had offered a lot of money!
I suspect that with adequate time and materials, a expert could replicate the design and shape of their ‘magic’ lure, but the doctor had neither at hand while he was there. I have been to several jungles fishing, and always hoping to catch a snook. But, only once did I ever catch one and it was less than a foot long!
Finally, I was with my son of the east coast of Florida. He was using a Sibisi rig to catch us some bait before going further offshore. Suddenly, something hit his rig, breaking the line. He suggested I take a live bait we had already caught and toss it out on a regular rod and see if I could catch whatever had broken him off. I did and almost immediately hooked a snook that was possibly between 26 and 30 inches long! I landed this fish and threw out again and hooked another but this snook jumped and threw the hook. Here I caught my lifetime goal not even trying, and certainly not traveling to a more exotic location. You never know! Just Sayin…RJS

During my years working in the Rio Grande Valley, ... (show quote)

Sometimes the best fishing is in your own backyard sort of speaking. Thanks Robert for the great story.

HenryG Loc: Falmouth Cape Cod Massachusetts

Robert J Samples wrote:

During my years working in the Rio Grande Valley, I had the opportunity to get acquainted and make friends with a lot of folks that otherwise I would never have met.

One of these was a physician in San Benito who regularly fished in Mexico and sometimes in very remote places that were difficult to find, and accommodations were sparce. He related this story to me about one of his trips.

He was fishing alone in a jungle river and although he had almost every kind of lure and bait known to modern fishermen, he wasn’t having any luck. However, he observed two Indians in a dugout canoe. One was paddling and the other was trolling an unusual lure with a hand line. They were catching fish with this strange lure, which looked to be made of balsa wood and exotic bird feathers.

Finally, he hailed them and although the communication was difficult because they did not speak, or pretended they did not understand Spanish, they spoke a different language which might have been Mayan, or another Indian tongue. He was allowed to examine the unusual lure and offered them $10, which they refused. Eventually, the price was raised to $20 but it appeared that no amount of money would they except for this lure, because it had special ‘magic’ and they refused to sell it. Remember this was in the 1950s and he had offered a lot of money!
I suspect that with adequate time and materials, a expert could replicate the design and shape of their ‘magic’ lure, but the doctor had neither at hand while he was there. I have been to several jungles fishing, and always hoping to catch a snook. But, only once did I ever catch one and it was less than a foot long!
Finally, I was with my son of the east coast of Florida. He was using a Sibisi rig to catch us some bait before going further offshore. Suddenly, something hit his rig, breaking the line. He suggested I take a live bait we had already caught and toss it out on a regular rod and see if I could catch whatever had broken him off. I did and almost immediately hooked a snook that was possibly between 26 and 30 inches long! I landed this fish and threw out again and hooked another but this snook jumped and threw the hook. Here I caught my lifetime goal not even trying, and certainly not traveling to a more exotic location. You never know! Just Sayin…RJS

During my years working in the Rio Grande Valley, ... (show quote)

Great story Mr. Samples 🇺🇸🎣😎👍