I had the opportunity to meet Greg Benson while he substitute taught at my school early in 07. I had known of him through my wife who had him many moons ago as a teacher at Lee Middle School in the mid-80s. I knew through her that he was a fishing enthusiast, but I was quite surprised that while researching lake records for Twin Buttes, I ran across his name as having caught a 14.25 pound Largemouth Bass. Well, I had to get the story behind this one.
I lucked out and ran into him at my school a few weeks later and he agreed to talk with me. I consider myself lucky to have been able to do so.
I hope you enjoy the interview and story as much as I did!WTJB: Hi Fish Jerks! This is Jay
Leeper. It is 5 – 5:30 on Tuesday March 31st just before April Fools Day. I have a real treat for you today. I’m here with Greg Benson. He has quite a few accolades that we’ll talk about here in a minute. Greg, would you like to say “Hi” to the audience?
GB: Hello! I’m happy to be able to participate in this. It should be a lot of fun.
WTJB: If you do not mind, Greg, could you tell us your full name and hometown?
GB: Greg Benson. San Angelo, Texas.
WTJB: Are you currently or have you ever been a member of any bass clubs?
GB: I fished
Concho Bass Club for a good many years. San Angelo Bass Club for a good many years and a member for a good while of Bass Masters.
WTJB: I have to ask because this is the reason I am so keen on this interview. Are there any records or past records that you hold?
GB: I’
ve got one that’s held since 1992 on Twin Buttes. It’s a fish that weighed 14.25 that was caught on August the 4
th, 1992.
WTJB: Good Lord! 14+ pounds????
I also see that you have another really big fish in the case there. Can you tell us a little about the accolades of that fish?
GB: Yes. To our knowledge, that was the first lake record set on Twin Buttes. The fish weighed almost 11-pounds. He was caught in 1987. That record
didn’t hold very long. There was a period when a lot of big fish were being caught. Twin Buttes had caught a lot of water and those big fish showed up out of nowhere. That record
didn’t last very long until those 11 and 12-
pounders were being caught. It took me a few years to get my record back.
WTJB: When you talk to a guy like me who just recently broke the 5-pound barrier this is a mind blower at best!
Can you tell me about your favorite local lake?
GB: That’s a hard call because I have caught a lot of good fish at
OC Fisher in the heat of the summer on deep diving crank baits. Probably Twin Buttes because I have spent more time on Buttes fishing. Brady Lake was very productive in the 80s. I fished a lot of tournaments on those lakes and caught good fish out of it.
WTJB: You kind of touched on this earlier, but what are your favorite baits and techniques for the area lakes and why?
GB: Well, as the situation is right now, I think a lizard is hard to beat on Buttes when the lake starts to warm up from Late February on. Of course, a plastic work is great. Fish a lizard very slow on a braided line that has some feel. Twin Buttes can sure be productive.
WTJB: Your 3 favorite
lurers?
GB: Well, two actually. Of course, a plastic worm. I have enjoyed fishing a lizard because of the way they pick up and travel with a lizard. I’
ve always enjoyed fishing a deep diving crank bait. I fish a zone than many people either fish above or under. I’
ve caught a lot of quality fish this way. Those crank baits go through a zone that many fish do not often see.
WTJB: When you are talking deep divers, are you talking about the DD22s?
GB: Yes. I’
ve still got a lot of old
Bagley Deep Magnums that I still throw until I loose them all.
WTJB: What kind of advice can you offer for local fishermen?
GB: First of all, there are a lot of good local fishermen. I could go on and on about many good, quality fishermen in the area
that know these lakes and catch fish constantly. On any given day, they would be hard to beat on a tournament.
As much as anything else on our local lakes fish the heavy cover and slow down as much as the wind will allow you to.
WTJB: That’s hard to do lately as the wind keeps turning my worm into a swim bait.
GB: Right.
WTJB: In your opinion, what do you think about the state of local fishing?
GB: On twin Buttes, it’s good because it just caught some water, they restocked it and there are a lot of 3.5 to 5 pound fish; a good number of them. The fish that we are catching are healthy fish. Twin Buttes, right now, is excellent as long as it will hold some water. I think we have gotten some good spawns out of it. It’s very encouraging. Twin Buttes is in great shape as long as it will hold water.
WTJB: Here is the question I have been dying to ask. Could you tell me some of your favorite true fishing stories? I want to note to the audience that Greg immediately looks to his big fish.
GB: If you’re referring to the big fish, it was a hot, summer day and I had been fishing a couple of ledges all summer long and I had caught some good fish off of it. On that particular day, I had been running my graph some and I found a spot a little more east and a little more out towards the main body of the lake than I had been fishing. In fact, it was a new spot. There was bait fish in the area. I thought that I would try this as I had been catching fish in the area and I was going to give this a whirl. What it was is a tree that was in about 14 foot of water. I
couldn’t see the tree, but it was down under the water right on the edge of a ledge dropping into about 28-foot of water. I was throwing a Motor Oil colored Ring Worm with a chartreuse tail and those fish were taking it just as the worm got to the tree and over the ledge. I caught one almost 9-pounds and wrapped a big fish that I
couldn’t get out so I cut my line as I
didn’t want to spook those fish. 2 or 3 casts later I caught that big fish. On the big fish, I got him about half-way to the boat when he came up and tried to throw it and I thought, “My God! This is a cut above the rest!” I actually loosened my drag and he headed out into the deep water. The fish then came back and tried to throw the worm one more time and went down under the boat. Of course, this is a lot of time where you lose a big fish when they go under the boat. He came out from under the boat and ran straight out again. My daughter was with me that day. She was almost 7 years old and I asked her, “Brooke, hand me the net,” because I had just about had this fish played out. When she handed me the net, it was my fault ‘cause I dropped the net. The net went out into the water! I
couldn’t reach the net and I had this fish going and I thought this was not going to happen. This was going to be one of those deals that everybody tells you, “Sure you did! Sure you did!” I just stayed with the fish and got the fish along the boat and put the rod in my left hand and reached down got my hand in his mouth and brought him over the top.
That was a neat deal and I’ll never forget it and the fact that my daughter was with me made it that much more special.
WTJB: Oh man! I’m glad he
didn’t get away!
GB: He had several chances, I assure you.
WTJB: How long do you think it took you to get him?
GB: Oh, I don’t know. It’s hard to say. It’s been so long ago, now.
Umm …. From start to finish on that fish …. I think people have a tendency to exaggerate on the time it took to land a fish, but a good 3 and a half minutes or so which can seem like an eternity.
WTJB: Yep! Do you have any other true fishing stories?
(Greg’s other story can be found on the podcast.)
WTJB: Do you see a difference in the fishing from the 80s and 90s as compared to now especially with the drought conditions?
GB: The biggest difference now is that there is more pressure. Without a doubt, the innovations of some of the baits, but a lot of young fishermen are very good. There are some older guys that to this day are very good, but the knowledge base and ability of a lot of these younger fishermen is very good. We’re talking late 20s to early 40s, they’re very good. San Angelo is blessed with a lot of very good fishermen.
WTJB: Catch and release?
GB: I have mixed emotions about it. I read an article not too long ago that said that it is probably better on your bigger fish to simply release them simply because in the older days we put everything on a stringer. That was the mentality of the times. But the Mercury level is much higher in bigger fish and we eat fish. We eat fish 2 0r 3 times a week; especially during Lent. You’re better off for health purposes keeping those 14-16 inch fish and letting the bigger fish go if for no other reason the smaller fish have a lower Mercury level.
When our lake level starts getting low and we start putting a lot of pressure on the lake, you’re probably better off keeping more fish for the simple fact that the fish get stunted and there
isn’t as much bait fish to go around. When you have a healthy lake, to me, that is the time to release your big fish. By that, I mean your 5, 6, 7 pound fish. Turn them loose. They are going to spawn and take advantage of a good healthy lake situation. But for smaller fish, you could do a disservice. I think this is part of what hurt Ivie for a while. That’s my opinion and that
doesn’t make it right, but it just seems that way.
WTJB: Personal hero? Do you have one?
GB: As far as bass fishing goes or are you talking about a pro?
WTJB: It’s an open question.
GB: Well, on the pro level, I always had a great deal of respect for Hank Parker. He seemed pretty down to earth and very competitive. Rick Klein, too, for that matter. I’
ve met Rick Klein on two occasions and talked to him at length one time. He was really a nice guy. My dad. My dad and his brother and a few others were some of the earliest bass fishermen to fish out of the old canvas kayaks. They brought duct tape with them so that if they made holes in the canvas, they could repair them on the spot. Those guys were the first dabblers. I can still remember when my dad switched from braid to mono when mono was a new invention. I fished with him in the last 1950s and early 60s out of a kayak. My dad gave me the basics on bass fishing.
WTJB: Who are some of the best local fishermen that you know?
GB: That’s a hard question to answer because there are so many of them. I could name a lot of people. One of my good friends come to mind because he has stayed competitive through the years and that is Galen
Wershousen. He’s really good and has upped his game as of late. He’s a great kayak fisherman that migrated to a bigger boat. Butch
Koons. He was a kayak fisherman from the 70s all the way to the late 80s. He was as good as they get. On any given day, those guys could hurt your feelings.
WTJB: Thanks, Greg! This is all the questions I have. Is there a plug, closing statement,
or anyone you want to say “Hey” to?
GB: Say “Hey” to? Well, let me pay tribute to someone. R. O.
Pomroy. R. O
Pomroy was out of Big Lake. He fished out of a tube. He fished all the way up to, I guess, his early 80s. He was always a gentleman, always a nice guy. He probably caught as many big fish in his time as anyone in the state of Texas. I became very good friends with him. I fished
Armistead a little with him and Spence. Such a nice guy!
In closing, the only thing I can think to say is going with what we finished with is that, especially in competitive bass fishing, is that even when we are fishing and enjoying some success and with friends is to never take yourself too seriously. Put yourself in a situation where you are recognizing the abilities and talents and congratulate other people. Never get to the point where you let your ego get in the way. I think that all of us at one time or another, I know I have been guilty, gets to thinking too highly of ourselves. Really, that could backfire on you. Fishing is a great sport. It’s a lot of fun, but I really honestly think that there are some negative things to tournament bass fishing. You don’t keep things in perspective. Looking back on all of it, there’s always things you could do differently. The real part of bass fishing is that you should be able to make friends and not be in a situation where you’re constantly competitive and worrying about the other fishermen and playing mind games. Fishing should strictly be for the enjoyment and a lot of times it takes a long time to realize that.
We wrapped up the meeting and I had a chance reflect on things, I really thought Greg hit home on that last point. Greg was clearly at a point in his life where he could reflect on things is a different perspective. As much as he loved catching that fish, the love he described for his daughter and the way he interacted with his wife are what will stand with me the most. The fish is amazing, but I value his perspective and believe that there would be more to learn here than just fishing stories.Thanks for reading the post and be sure to check out the podcast for more info than was printed in the post.Remember, cast straight, cast often, and keep your wake small for the guys in the plastic boats.
