The Catch of a Lifetime

I had never intentionally tried to catch a bass before, so I’ll never forget the first time I paddled my little johnboat around the backside of the island. There was a huge, green patch of lily pads there with tons of yellow flowers sticking up everywhere through the fog, I had an old Ambassedeur 5000 casting reel spooled with 8 lb test line, tied to a top-water spoon my dad had given me the night before. It was sprinkling at the time and I must have only made about half a dozen casts or so, when all of the sudden the water exploded around my spoon. I pulled as hard as I could and soon found myself going head to head with the biggest bass in the lake. Needless to say, my old, worn-out, 8 lb test line snapped like a piece of fine thread, and in the early morning fog, I lost the catch of a lifetime. I was heart-broken, but ever since that rainy morning in August 1982, I’ve been hooked on bass fishing.When I was 12 years old, I began spending every day of summer vacation, and every weekend in my 12-foot, make believe Ranger boat learning how to catch bass. My mother thought I was a lunatic. My dad used to drop me off at Lake Leboeuf on his way to work in the morning, and pick me up on his way home. I remember not wanting to go home yet because the fish were just starting to bite, so I’d beg my dad to let me stay longer. I would have stayed from sunrise to sunset every day of the week if I could have, but I wasn’t allowed. When I wasn’t fishing, I was either reading some type of fishing magazine, or recording daily results in my logbooks, which I kept devotedly from 1983 to 1990.

When I turned 16 years old, I knew that I wanted to be a Professional bass angler someday, however, that notion never really turned into an all-out mission until I graduated from high school, joined the Crawford County Bassmasters with my dad (in Meadville, PA), and started fishing tournaments. In my first year, 1990, I won five out of the ten tournaments and the angler of the year trophy. Two years later, I was winning State Federation events. Finally, in 1999, I won The PA State Classic, which qualified me for the 2000 BASS Divisional tournament, where I finished second.

By this time, there wasn’t much I hadn’t done in my area, and I felt like I was ready to step up to the next level. There was only one problem, throughout the last five years I’d been fishing out of a 15 foot, homemade bass boat and driving a small Chevy S-10 pickup truck. I didn’t know how I was going to come up with the finances, or a boat for that matter. Even though I knew what it took to win tournaments, and had spent so many years learning how to catch fish under all kinds of circumstances, I desperately needed a break of some kind, or a miracle to actually be able to take that first step.

Thinking back to those days, I can hardly believe that this crazy vision of mine has actually become a reality, and that the career I’ve been preparing myself for all these years is finally well within reach. I am so thankful for a wife, family, and friends that have always believed in me, and that I live in a country that allows me the opportunity to follow my dreams. I’ll never forget when I was 12 years old, out there in my little aluminum “Ranger”, casting my old floating Rapalas, dreaming of becoming a pro bass fisherman. Now that my dream is finally coming true, and my Ranger is real, I’m not going to let the catch of a lifetime get away…again.