There is nothing better to me then a nice drive through the country to just unwind, rock out to your favorite tunes and just enjoy what the road has to show you. This series is more just a quick PnG with a few twists, to enjoy the country and boost your find scores up just a bit.
Along the way I encourage you to check out the random caches and power trails that others have hidden. (also another reason why I made this series). This route will take you through several small towns with a lot of history, take time to enjoy some of the shops and parks that you may see, or just to take note of when you really want to go on a weekend adventure.
Most importantly have fun. This series isn't meant to be anything other than a nice country drive.
I have made a Country Wild List for you to access easily to complete the whole series.
Everyone loves a good fish story, but how do you pick out the true legends when the tall tales are piled higher than the catch of the day?
You could cast about for the truly incredible stories, like the man who landed a 1,600-pound shark in the Bahamas using only a boat anchor. Or you could pack your creel with accounts of amazing anglers, from Sri Lankan stilt fishermen to the Chinese who fished using cormorants and otters.
Ultimately, the true legends are the ones whose tales lured today's great fishermen to the sport and still inspire them: the anglers' anglers. As we'll see, many excelled both in and out of the boat, in areas ranging from sports to writing, science, broadcasting and business.
Now gather around the skillet while we fry up a mess of true fishing legends.
"Papa" was an avid angler, too.
AP Photo
#5 There's probably no greater fishing legend than Santiago, the famed character from Ernest Hemingway's novella "Old Man and the Sea" who struggles for several days with the biggest catch of his life, a stubborn, 18-foot blue marlin. But the man who penned the fictional story was a fishing legend in his own right. Hemingway learned to fish as a child, trout fishing with his father on the lakes of Michigan. And as an adult, he became a fearsome saltwater angler, boating out from Key West and Cuba to battle big game fish like marlin, barracuda, sailfish and tuna, not to mention the sharks that often took an interest in the prize at the end of his line.
Gifford (center) skippered the best.
Courtesy of the IGFA
#4 When it came to big-game bluewater angling, you could ask for no better charter skipper than Thomas M. Gifford. Over his 50-year career, Gifford developed encyclopedic knowledge of fishing and a reputation for outings that landed record catches, gaining him a clientele of saltwater legends like Ernest Hemingway, Michael Lerner, Charlie Lehman and Van Campen Heilner. A proficient innovator known for modifying his tackle to fit his needs, he led the development of Atlantic spreader outriggers and invented both the flying gaff and star-drag reel -- equipment that today is considered essential. His use of kites made such a splash in the Atlantic that he is often wrongly credited with introducing them to the East Coast.
Lerner (left) founded the International Game Fish Association.
Michael Lerner
#3 Owner and namesake of a national chain of clothing stores, Michael Lerner was an exceptional angler immortalized by his scientific contributions to the sport he loved. Lerner and his wife Helen fished for blue marlin at Bimini, striped marlin and swordfish off Chile, black marlin in Australia and New Zealand, swordfish off Peru and tuna off Nova Scotia. The founder of the International Game Fish Association, he also organized and financed expeditions with American Museum of Natural History scientists to Cape Breton, Bimini, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Chile and Ecuador, making invaluable contributions to marine science and conservation.
Curt Gowdy, a legend in sports announcing and sport fishing.
CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
#2 A legend of sports announcing, Curt Gowdy's career and fishing enthusiasm were closely intertwined. The Voice of the Red Sox learned saltwater fly-fishing while he was a Yankees announcer and he accompanied the team to their St. Petersburg, Fla., training camp. He picked up snook and tarpon fishing while in Sarasota with the Red Sox. Gowdy brought competitive trout fishing to ABC's "Wide World of Sports," leading to the creation of the first fishing show on television, "The American Sportsman." Hosting the program for more than 20 years, Gowdy fished with celebrities at the finest global destinations. He netted highest honors as a sports broadcaster and as a promoter of fishing and conservation.
Teddy Baseball was one of the finest anglers ever.
#1 The baseball legend also was one of the finest saltwater and freshwater anglers of all time. Teddy Baseball first fell for fishing while stationed in Florida as a World War II fighter pilot and would return there often in the off-season, sinking the same diligence into fishing that he did into hitting. In his lifetime, The Kid fished for just about everything, but landed thousands of what he considered to be the big three (tarpon, bonefish and Atlantic salmon), most of which he released. He was also an avid lure collector and had his own line of fishing tackle, sold by Sears.