These men had a significant impact on the Louisiana outdoors
Since beginning this profession, this writing-for-a-living job, it has been very seldom when something so personal has brought me to use “I” in columns and reports.
So, please, allow this time.
During the last months, our outdoors community has lost several men, folks who were dedicated beyond themselves and their families to the success of our ability to hunt and fish and enjoy all we have in our claim of Sportsman’s Paradise.
James H. “Jimmy” Jenkins, Jr., Herman “Dutch” Prager, William “Bill” Humphreys, Jr., and William “Kinny” Haddox.
Mr. Jenkins
It has been near 40 years since shaking hands with “Jimmy” Jenkins for the first time.
He was among a handful of founding fathers in Save Our Specks — SOS — a group of men who realized the importance of that singular fish to Louisiana’s recreational fishermen. Yes, there were others leading this charge, but Jenkins took it many steps farther.
Mr. Jenkins passed away in early March.
SOS eventually grew into Gulf Coast Conservation Association, then into CCA, with branches across the five Gulf states and into several states with coastlines and recreational fishermen interested enough to understand that the simple pleasure of catching a fish long ago tread into federal and state policy making as much as it is about boats, tackle, life jackets and the environment, the latter which makes fishing an even more healthy endeavor.
Jenkins was a leader in convincing Louisiana’s State Legislature, then Gov. Edwin Edwards into a ban on the use of monofilament gillnets. Then, when opponents found a loophole, the ban on multifilament gillnets.
Edwards eventually appointed Jenkins to one of the positions reserved for the recreational sector on the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, where, during his six-year term, he set a standard for advocating for the “right” decisions on hunting along with recreational and commercial fishing and keeping a closer eye on the finances and budget of the LDWF.
Yes, he more than wrinkled a few brows with his positions on dozens of activities under the purview of this department.
His concern and active approach to his commission appointment broke the mold for most in that position and set a new involvement standard for future commission members.
A lasting impact
His six commission years is what led governor-elect Mike Foster to select Jenkins to fill the LDWF Secretary’s position.
His eight years there wrinkled even more brows.
He took a business-like approach to running this agency. He was a businessman, and brought his experience in dealing with government contracts to this new job to enhance the revenue from the few commercial activities on the agency’s wildlife management areas.
While there were other notable achievements to list on his secretarial resume, Jenkins’ first task was to modernize the Wildlife and Fisheries’ Enforcement Division.
It took an investment to update vehicles, boats capable of patrolling our waterways and coastal waters, a uniform set of uniforms and enhanced training and education for agents.
So, what we see today in this Enforcement Division is a direct result of the importance Jenkins placed on the professional approach to this division’s job when it comes to dealing with outdoors folks.
Louisiana legends
For “Dutch,” the first meeting was about 40 years ago, too, and it took several years to discover his Christian name was Herman.
He lived most of his 99 years fishing, and was a pioneer in Louisiana’s offshore fishing adventures after World War II. He was a grand adventurer and this led to the New Orleans Big Game Fishing Club and continuing membership in the Tally Ho Club, then among the oldest fishing and hunting clubs in our country.
For the Humphries family, Billy Jr.’s passing meant a double blow after his mom, Tommy, passed last year. Bill Sr. and Tommy Humphries took H&H Lures from a mom-and-pop distributor to a world-wide fishing and hunting company based in Baton Rouge.
Billy Jr. expanded the operation to handling more than 25,000 products and to a position where fishermen had many more than one H&H spinnerbait for freshwater action and a variety of sizes of H&H Cocahoe Minnows and Split Tail Beetle Spins in their saltwater tackle boxes.
Losing Kinny Haddox was like losing a brother. I didn’t know anyone who enjoyed catching sac-a-lait — OK, white perch, Kinny — more than he did. He was born to hunt and fish and to write about hunting and fishing — to the end when he was editor of this magazine.
I continue to grieve for these men and offer condolences to their families and their many friends. All are missed and will be mightily missed for a long time.
