Romney Dodd used to paint clogs for Nordstrom and other retailers, but her latest passion has been to take old skin mounts of fish and repaint them in distinctive and decorative manners.

Two decades ago, when the internet was becoming a more widely-used tool, Aberdeen Bait and Tackle used to distribute an emailed list of lures he’d hunted down, happened upon or coerced some old widow to sell. You could get Japan-only Heddon colors, discontinued crankbaits, and just about any special run Zoom pattern. In principle, that hasn’t changed. On the way to the 2015 Classic at Hartwell, my friend Terry Battisti took me there, but I hadn’t been back since. The trip to Santee gave me that opportunity.

It’s well-known in the bass world that KVD is a big Metallica fan. In fact, my friend Dan O’Sullivan once wrote an article about him called “Master of Puppets.” I have no doubt that some of you share VanDam’s dual interests, if not his skills and access. If nothing else matters to you, and you want to merge those two worlds, there are plenty of options.

Despite my reputation in some quarters as a curmudgeon, I really like giving gifts. Not a sweater or a gift card or some crap like that, but something that I expect to be meaningful to the recipient. I’m sure there have been a few misses along the way, but on the whole I think that Hanna and I do a pretty good job.

I’m not real big on buying hats because I get more than my share of freebies over the course of the year. Besides, I tend to narrow my “game day” selection down to a choice few in any given season. I’m not Steve Kennedy, who wears a single Auburn hat until it wears it, but I know that only certain lids fit my head properly, and I also know that some of them just have bad fishing mojo.

People in the south, east and west may not get it, but up north walleye fishing is a serious religion. Those dudes take their leeches and splash guards and gigantic nets every bit as seriously as bass guys take swimbaits and tungsten and deep diving crankplugs – maybe even more. A lot of them also like to drink, as evidenced by the fact that in most Wisconsin and Minnesota towns there seems to be a bar or two or three. So I decided to investigate the intersection of walleyes and beer and was not surprised by my findings.

Fifteen years later she gets it. The full picture. We fish together. We travel together. Now we write together, too. We may only be celebrating 6 months of blogging harmony, but today – on our 15th anniversary – it’s obvious why we have so much to celebrate and write about.

It took me until July, but I finally added a new species to the list of fish I’ve caught: sockeye salmon. The hardest part was getting to Bear Trail Lodge in Bristol Bay, but once we were there we were amidst a pretty good year of what is typically the largest run of sockeyes in the world. There were places where you could almost walk across their backs, and other places where you’d be wading and would feel them bump your legs as they swam upstream.

Tournament fishing is hard and occasionally depressing enough, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to drink your cares away after a tough day on the pond. B.A.S.S. has yet to announce the full 2021 schedule (they have made clear that Lake Ray Roberts in Texas will host the Classic, which is more than fine with me) but if I was on the scheduling committee it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit to build a tour around tasty brews.

Kelly Reark of Florida has created fiberglass fish replicas since 2009, but she does it with a stamp all her own at the “Home of the Tattooed Tarpon.” She decorates her mounts with tattoo-style paintings of iconic scenes or scenery related to the fish in question – so, for example, a tarpon might share scenes from Boca Grande, Florida, or the boat on which it was caught, or both.

I have yet to catch a sturgeon, at least partially because I’ve never targeted them. I’ve been in the boat musky fishing when one of my partners hooked one and quickly released it, but that’s the extent of my experience with them. One day I hope to visit my friend Ryan Rosenbaum in Idaho to catch one of those 8- to 10-foot long acrobats, and then tap out and whack on a bunch of smallmouths on the same water. Until then, I’ll have to get my sturgeon fix through alcohol.

This week’s favorite t-shirt comes from the East Rosebud Fly Shop in Montana, whose motto – for reasons that will soon become obvious – is “For those about to fish, we salute you.”

I met Donna Gaunt on August 18, 1986, during our freshman year of college, which makes us antiques. We were roommates from our sophomore year until we graduated, and then a few year later we moved back in together and it was just like old times. Her college degree was fashion merchandising. She didn’t need to take home economics because she could have taught the class.

When I fish, I am not a technique snob. I just want to use what is going to catch me the most or the biggest bass. While I love a topwater bite, I’ll fish deep when that’s appropriate. I love big tungsten and heavy braid, but I won’t hesitate to pull out a spinning rod and light fluoro. When it comes to beer, however, you can afford to be picky.

Subsequent to our most recent trip to Bear Trail Lodge, I’ve now fallen in love – or at least a very strong “like” -- with sockeye salmon. Due to the proposed Pebble Mine project, Bristol Bay’s annual sockeye run, the largest in the world, may be in peril. Even if you never go there (note: you should), there are ways that you can support the right side of the cause, there are ways you can support the cause or show your love of sockeyes while still looking good.

On my two trips to Bear Trail Lodge I’ve now caught all five species of Pacific salmon. For those of us who live in bass-world, it’s not always easy to remember what they are. Fortunately, last year my guides Alexia and Rylie taught me an easy way to remember. In fact, it’s so easy that they said most Alaskan schoolchildren learn it in kindergarten.

I first saw this hat in a fly shop across the street from my hotel in Missoula, Montana in 2015. I’m not much of a fly fisherman – in fact, I’d just caught my first fly rod trout a few days earlier on the Bitterroot – so I don’t know if Nautilus is a quality product. Based on their website, and their pricing, it appears that the Miami-based company does make good gear.

We are headed to Alaska shortly, where we hope to catch multiple species of salmon, trout and char. It’ll be my third trip and Hanna’s first, and while fishing at Bear Trail Lodge is the primary purpose of our adventure, I’m thrilled to see her reaction when we go to the famous Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park. Fishing around dozens of bears, and going from freaked-the-hell-out to remarkably ho-hum in a matter of hours is an experience that every angler and lover of the outdoors should enjoy.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Giant Trevally are one of my bucket list species, preferably on some pristine and idyllic flats like those found in the Seychelles or the Maldives. Their brute strength and willingness to eat topwaters makes them a no-brainer. I just hope that I have enough tackle to survive the inevitable break-offs.

With the exception of a few crusty contrarians, it is a truth universally accepted by anglers that bananas are bad luck in the boat. While I’m not generally superstitious, this is one I buy into. Despite the fact that I love banana pudding, banana bread and regular old yeller nanners, I won’t eat them within 24 hours of getting on the water – except in Brazil, where they grow naturally and I’ve unilaterally decided that they don’t mess up the peacock bass bite. Other than that, caveat emptor!