Posted tonight on
Lone Star Chronicles...
Ben Tedrick (known to many of you as
Hook, Line & Sinker), is many things — angler, writer, outdoorsman, wood worker, photographer, and quite possibly the most prolific outdoor blogger in Texas; he is also the systems manager at The Eagle.com. But as he’s quick to tell you, he’d rather be fishing, and if you don’t buy that, then you haven’t watched any of the many fishing videos routinely posted on his outdoors blog aptly name,
Fish Tales. Last year, Tedrick made over 300 posts on his blog, more than all the other Eagle.com blogs combined, but Tedrick would probably scoff at this statistic and point out that while numbers don’t lie, they don’t always tell the whole truth either. Of the never ending energy it takes to keep that pace, Tedrick says, “I keep the throttle wide open all the time…I’ll rest when they put me in the ground.”
And until then, Tedrick will most likely continue at that prolific pace, and that’s alright by me. With his soft spoken southern drawl and sharp eye for Texas’s wildlife, he has a knack for lulling his viewers into whatever creek or pond he happens to be fishing, even as we sit at our computer. I find his videos are as relaxing to watch as they are informative, but don’t let his easy manner fool you. Tedrick keeps his finger on the pulse of the Texas outdoors scene, and he is an encyclopedia of its wildlife. I thought you might like to know a little about him, so we asked him to inaugurate a new feature on Lone Star Chronicles called 10 Questions.
1. What do most people not know about you?I never graduated high school, and that I am what I appear to be, someone who has been blessed with very little "baggage" from life.
2. How often do you generally fish?2 or 3 times a week, sometimes more if the fish are biting.
3. What type of fish do you generally target?Fishing is fishing, and the tactics I use are primarily for bass, but other fish fall prey to the same. The last ten years or so I've focused a lot of effort on fly fishing & tying flies for bass. For me there is no greater thrill then when a fly I have tied gets hammered by a big old wall hangin, moss-back bucket-mouth HAWG!
4. Live bait or artificial?95% of the time I throw artificial lures and about half of those are flies I tie myself.
5. What exactly is a Systems Manager?I keep everything running at the Newspaper, specifically computer equipment, but I manage email, web, building security systems and a good portion of building maintenance.
6. What kind of cameras and software do you use to make your videos?I have a Canon PowerShot SX20is and use both iPhoto and iMovie from Apple.
7. What are you ‘famous’ for (besides Fish Tales)?Saying things that aren't politically correct but usually need to be said.
8. What are you most proud of?Two things, the positive direction Fish Tales has taken; and my children, both of whom are productive and happy people.
9. What is the biggest regret in your life?Nothing rises to the top of that list. But I should have been more involved in my community at an earlier age.
10. What is the biggest issue facing Texans today?The top issue is water rights and usage, especially ground water. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled in favor of private property rights to ground water under their land and this will force re-evaluation of the ground water conservation districts all over the state. Many municipalities have been drawing water from wells based on uncontested legal grounds and laws, and now the high court has ruled that the ground water belongs to private landowners whose land it runs under and it is theirs to sell or use as they see fit.
My take on the water issue is pretty simple and that is "DON'T bite the hand that feeds you!" It is far more important for dry land farmers to irrigate their crops than it is for me to have a green yard in the middle of the hot Texas summer. We city dwellers waste water like it is free and many haven't learned the hard lessons that come from losing access to something so vital to life. People need to understand that we all can live just fine without most of what we have but nobody lasts long without water.
END
Thanks Bert