TYLER, Texas — In our latest edition of Hooked on East Texas, we find another way that fishing and music merge.
There are many questions surrounding the idea of if playing music on your boat affects fishing, and studies have shown that certain sounds are more likely to scare off fish and the reverse to draw fish closer. Our team went to Cedar Creek Lake in Henderson County to test the hypothesis.
The hum of the motor creates a rhythm when it moves within the water; the rise and fall of the water mimics that of a steady beat in a song. The original goal was to find fish but on the way, we discovered that fishing has its own rhythm.
This was our set-up in the boat: I am joined by our videographers Larry Magee and Jackson Blair, and director of our evening news casts Sheldon Talley.
If we are the band, then fishing guide Kyle Miers is our conductor. Miers is a full time Crappie Guide on Cedar Creek Lake and it doesn't take long for him to find a school of Crappies. And it doesn't take long for Talley, who also writes and produces R&B and rap music to find the groove of catching fish.
“I like kickin' with you, be vibin Shawty told me she’s so into me, there’s just something about her energy,” Talley raps.
He says his inspiration for new music comes through collaboration.
"I would say, depending on the mood, I go to a certain producer and or if they have something they present to me, I listen to what they got and find some," said Talley who is interrupted by the tug on his line.
A few seconds later, he reels in a keeper Crappie. "That’s what we’re producing today", said Talley assertively.
The air is fresh and cool from a recent storm and the fish are really biting, which is what our guide wants to see. Miers describes it like catching fish in a barrel snd he says it's his job to make sure his clients have a successful day.
"You got guys that’ll go out and go fishing," explained Miers. "You know my job is to put people on fish and I will very seldom put a rod in my hand when I’ve got customers in the boat just because what am I going to do if I catch the lake record?"
Miers describes our catches as "barn door Crappies" and "East Texas water hogs." He keeps things lively and throws out one-liners as fast we reel them in.
Talley calls the whole experience therapeutic. "Like I can become one with the fishing," Talley said. "Being out here on the lake, you know zone out, don’t have to worry about real life, just ride the waves, like I ride the beat.”
We fill the cooler with about two dozen fish in just a couple of hours of fishing. It's back to clean our catch and plan when we will fry them up. The sound of fish frying in a pan is another sound that is music to many ears.
Writer Harry Middleton once wrote that fishing is not an escape from life but rather a deeper immersion into it. Perhaps the same can be said about music.