The Fishings of Paddy McLure Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

GeoCrater: I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no word from the owner in the month or more since the last reviewer note was posted. If you want to re-activate the cache during the next couple of months, please contact GeoCrater to see if that's possible. If the cache meets current guidelines, consideration will be given based on the circumstances surrounding the original archival.

GeoCrater
Geocaching.com Volunteer Cache Reviewer

NOTE: My preferred method of communication is through notes on the cache page in question. However, should you wish to use email - please do not select "reply". In general, a replay to the geocaching.com mail bot will not reach me. Instead, please go to your cache page and e-mail GeoCrater from the log there or email me directly at geocrater@gmail.com, referencing the cache URL, or waypoint number.

Additional translation added as I support a number of countries:

Lamento archivar este caché, ya que no ha habido ninguna comunicación del propietario en el tiempo transcurrido (un mes o más) desde que se publicó la nota del revisor. Si deseas reactivar el caché durante los próximos dos meses, por favor, ponte en contacto con GeoCrater para ver si esto es posible. Si el caché cumple con las directrices en vigor, se estudiará dicha petición teniendo en cuenta las circunstancias que llevaron el archivo original.

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Hidden : 12/21/2011
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
4 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Most of us are familiar with professional sport fishermen such as Bill Dance, Skeet Reese, Babe Winkelmann and Hank Parker. However, many people have never heard of pro, Paddy McLure. This is his story.

Padraig "Paddy" McLure is a retired Irish-born professional bass angler. Born in 1948 in the small coastal fishing village of Bradán, on the Isle of Éisc, Paddy was the only child of his father, Iascaire Cladaigh McLure, and his mother, a Gaelic-speaking woman named Maighdean Mhara.

Descended from a long line of traditional Irish fishermen, Paddy grew up alongside his father in their small boat and spent most of his time off the green and rocky coasts of western Ireland, where his father supported the family with his daily catches.

Paddy loved his father very much, but he abhorred the commercial fishing industry. He despised the back-breaking work of casting nets, retrieving traps and boat maintenance. However, Paddy very much enjoyed the sport of fishing and oddly enough, when he was not in school or working on the family boat, he was seen fishing with several bamboo poles in the ocean or nearby lakes.

When Paddy was 20-years-old, he read about the newly formed Bass Anglers Sportsmans Society. For the next few years he was consumed with learning as much as possible about B.A.S.S. and the fishing tournaments in America. He often dreamed of one day becoming a professional angler. Well, after the first Bassmaster Classic tournament was held in 1971, Paddy decided it was now or never to achieve his dream. He saved enough money from his fishing boat wages and moved to America. He settled in Denton, TX, where he worked at bait shops and bought a small mobile home on the shores of Lewisville Lake where he tried to hone his craft. You see, as much as Paddy loved fishing, he was, ironically, a terrible fisherman. He never fully mastered the casting techniques and bass fishing reels and lures. He was constantly casting his green and yellow lures (with attached .5ml microcentrifuge tubes) into the tops of trees, as high as twenty feet, causing him great angst and frustration. He was accustomed to the open glens and treeless cliffs of Ireland.

Well, as unbelivavle as it sounds, Paddy persevered and managed to qualify for several Bassmaster Classics, thankfully for him and the continuity of my cache page.

He never won a single tournament but his affable personality, winning smile and Irish accent earned him modest popularity among a small group of hardcore fans. He did manage to place second in one tournament held on Lake North, earning $33,095.48, which was his largest prize througout his entire career.

Paddy eventually gave up professional fishing and began a more profitable endorsement career. He also designed a very popular catfish bait drawn from materials he used in traps back in Ireland. He sold the formula in 1987 to a sport fishing company, named Recreation West, for the very odd, but lucky for you, amount of $97,008.32.

I've never investigated, but folks tell me quite a bit that they often see Paddy's green and yellow lures hanging in trees, sometimes as high as 20 feet, along Lewisville Lake. Maybe you'll find one, someday...or maybe you won't.
Placed by a member of D.A.W.G.S.
Denton Area Wayward Geocache Seekers

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ybt rkgenpgvba gbby arrqrq.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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