Bass Fishing Archives

Around the 1988 time frame I was still working at the tackle shop and going to college. Although I wasn’t fishing, I kept up on what was happening on the tournament scene from the anglers who came into the shop. What happened in ’88 seemed to be a changing of the guard. Long time western pros such as Don Iovino, Bobby Garland, Fred Ward and Larry Hopper had a new angler to contend with – a kid just out of college named Jay Yelas. I vividly remember some of the local anglers coming into the shop who fished the Red Man circuit in the day – guys that knew The River Lakes like the back of their hand. They were donating entry fees to Yelas’ graduate studies – his field of study being professional bass fisherman. I remember comments like; “There’s this new kid that just showed up and he’s kicking everyone’s butt.” “He fishes every day, sleeps in his van and only eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” “I don’t know where he came from but he belongs on the Bassmaster Tour, not here fishing an amateur circuit like Red Man.” That first year Yelas would make the Red Man Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and also qualify for the Red Man all-American. The Southwestern anglers would have their wishes answered in 1989 when Yelas embarked on the Bassmaster part of his dream. From there he’d never look back. Jay Yelas to me is a hometown hero. We grew up fishing the same lake in southern California and knew many of the same people. Unfortunately, our paths just never crossed until I began writing. At ICAST 2014 a couple weeks ago we ran into each other and talked about his early years of competition. The outcome from that discussion is the video below.

In 1987 Jay Yelas was a recent college graduate with little tournament experience under his belt. The fact is, though, by the end of 1988, he was not only an experienced tournament angler, he was an experienced winner. His first big-time event took place in the summer of 1987 – the U.S. Bass U.S. Open held on Lake Mead. In that tournament he finished in 6th place and that launched his career. In the next 12 months he’d chock up five wins on four different western impoundments – including the 1988 Operation Bass Championship – and win two different Angler of the Year awards. Not too bad for a rookie. I remember anglers coming into the shop at that time, the big sticks of the west, talking about this new kid who ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and slept in his van at the lakes for months on end. “He just showed up out of nowhere and now he’s taking our money,” they’d say. It wasn’t long after the name Jay Yelas became a standard in the southwestern tournament scene. At the 2014 FLW Cup I had a chance to talk with Jay about those days and how they impacted his career. I think you’ll enjoy the conversation.

Controversy seems to follow Mike Iaconelli no matter where he goes. His 2003 Classic celebration on the front deck of his boat was met with divided support – some understood the feeling he must have had knowing he’d accomplished his goal of a Classic win, while others thought it was showboating. In fact, the 2003 Classic was really the first time we got a view of IKE. Prior to that 2003 win, he almost quit the competitive world of bass fishing. But that Classic win not only reinvigorated his confidence that he could fish at the top level, it brought him into the spotlight. No longer would he be considered a Federation angler who fished the tour – he would be seen as a competitor – and a colorful character. Television crews loved him because you never knew what outlandish thing he would do next. Then came the 2006 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Toho. The first day of the event Ike had a livewell malfunction and lost it. During the course of realizing he was losing fish, he threw a fit, which included kicking his anchor light and pulling it from its socket to render more damage. There was a problem, though. To the light pole was affixed an American flag. The video recorded and played on ESPN of the incident did not play out well for Ike. Ike was also DQd from the event for un-sportsman-like conduct. To Ike it was just a light pole. To the rest of America, it was The Flag. The incident turned into Ike losing sponsors, such as Ranger Boats, and becoming one of the Top-10 most hated athletes in sports, a poll conducted by GQ every year. Things weren’t looking to bright for Ike. In most instances any person would have caved to the pressure and quit. Just put down the rods and walk away from it all. But not Ike. He used the bad choice he made as fuel for his career. The next season he went out a semi-new man and won the Bassmaster Angler of the Year award. The video below, taken at ICAST 2014 a couple weeks ago, is about Ike and his 2006 Classic meltdown, how he recovered from it and then went on to win the 2006 AOY. It’s not only an interesting story but a look into a man who has been as low as a professional angler can get and yet recover.

While at the 2014 FLW Cup this past month, I ran into longtime tour angler Dave Lefebre and had a chance to talk with him about how he got his start in fishing. He had a couple of good stories for us, including this somewhat morbid one about how he introduced his future wife, Anne, to tournament fishing. Most anglers who want their significant other to like competitive bass fishing would make sure to take them out during and summer event, or at least one when the weather isn’t supposed to be nasty. I guess they do things differently in Pennsylvania, though. In any event, Dave and his future wife had a great event – although we don’t condone this technique – and have an awesome story to tell.

I have always been fascinated by KVD’s career – starting from his Federation days through his first year on tour. The reason for that is I spent my summers in Michigan from 1986 through roughly 1990. Around the 1988 timeframe I went back for my annual summer visit and as soon as I got off the plane, my buddy Dave told me there was some kid cleaning everyone’s clock in the state. That kid was Kevin VanDam. After returning home to California, Dave would keep me posted about this VanDam kid. All he talked about was Kevin. Then in the 1990/91 season VanDam won the Bassmaster Invitational point’s race and followed that up with AOY in 1992. I finally realized why Dave kept harping on him. Since then I’ve interviewed VanDam a number of times for BassFan, the PAA and other magazines. But I’ve never had an opportunity to talk to him about how he got to where he is. That’s what this video is, a snapshot of how KVD started.

Don Iovino – Western Doodle King Not many people outside of the west know about Don Iovino – but you should. Iovino may not have been the angler who invented finesse fishing but in the west he was the guy who was the major proponent of light-line fishing and the use of electronics. Iovino was the guy who wasn’t just talking about fishing in deep water – and folks in the south, we considered deep water anything over 45 feet – but also fishing with lines as light as 6-pound test. I first met Iovino in 1976 at a seminar held at Angler’s West in Diamond Bar – I was a 12-year-old aspiring bass angler. The seminar consisted of Iovino talking about his new technique of Doodling, Don Seifert talking about the new Lowrance 1510A and Guy Skinner talking the fundamentals of vertical spooning. The seminar was the first I’d ever attended. There were maybe 40 people sitting in the parking lot in folding chairs and three of my idols were talking about how to catch more bass. I was in heaven. Over the late ‘70s and ‘80s I had a number of interactions with Iovino at the tackle shop. Over that time Iovino continued to wreak havoc on the western trails but rarely got mention in national magazine coverage other than US Bass. We’d talked on the phone a few times since but that was the extent of it. Then came Classic XLV. I was walking through the Expo and in the isle I saw a familiar face – minus the trademark beard. It was Don. After the normal reintroductions we set out to do an interview – one of how he started bass fishing. Below you’ll find the interview of Iovino and his early day of how he got into the sport. From trout fishing with nightcrawlers to winning the U.S. Bass National Championship. Of all the western anglers, Iovino is one of the most influential, yet the most underrated. We hope the video below gives you a little more of an understanding of what he did to promote structure fishing and finesse fishing back in a time when 15-pound test was considered light line and deep water was anything over 10 feet.

Over the course of time there have been a handful of anglers who have become famous due to the crankbait. Rick Clunn, of course, has made a solid career out of throwing crankbaits and is the reason for the squarebill’s resurrection at least twice since the mid-70s. Paul Elias is another angler who’s kneeling-and-reeling technique brought him fame – and fortune. But if one were to take a poll from anglers over 40 who the best professional crankbait fisherman is, I would bet the results would turn out to show David Fritts as number-1. David Fritts is one of the very few anglers who has won both the Bassmaster Classic and the Forrest Wood Cup – both events won on a crankbait. He’s known for being one of the first anglers to weight crankbaits to get them deeper and continues to make money off the bait to this day. At ICAST 2014 we found Fritts in the Raymarine booth, still sporting a Lew’s shirt, and had a chance to talk with him about how he got into bass fishing. We hope you enjoy the video.

The Bass Fishing Archives took advantage of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic Media Day to sit down with some of the qualifiers and discuss how they got their start in fishing and how that drove them to compete. In this video, Bassmaster legend Paul Elias talks about how he got into the professional bass scene. His journey starts around 1970 after hearing of Ray Scott’s Bass Angler’s Sportsman’s Society. In his first event, a Project Sports INC (PSI) tournament on Ross Barnett in 1973/4, he didn’t do too well. In his words, “I got it handed to me.” That experience gave him more drive to succeed. Elias talks about the old tournament organizations, American Angler, American Bass Fisherman, etc. He ventured to B.A.S.S. in 1979 where he won his first year on that circuit. He backed that up with his Classic win in 1982 and that’s what sealed his place as a professional angler.

The Bass Fishing Archives took advantage of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic Media Day to sit down with some of the qualifiers and discuss how they got their start in fishing and how that drove them to compete. In this video, Ott talks about going to Lake Okeechobee on a vacation and his family hiring a guide. That experience changed put the bug in his head that he wanted to be a professional angler. After that experience, they went home and fished their first tournament, Ott was 9 years old at the time. From their they joined a club and fished smaller local venues. When he turned 18 he started fishing the EverStarts and the rest is history. Classic XLV was DeFoe’s fourth Classic and he’d qualify for every classic after that, eventually winning the event in 2019, the last year he fished the Elite Tour. Also in this interview, Ott also discusses his venture into making handmade crankbaits. It’s an interesting story.

The Bass Fishing Archives took advantage of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic Media Day to sit down with some of the qualifiers and discuss how they got their start in fishing and how that drove them to compete. In this video, Mike McClelland talks about his journey into the competitive tournament scene fishing jackpots and moving up to the Red Man circuit and Central Pro-Ams. McClelland’s growth in competitive bass fishing led him to fish the Bassmaster Opens, where he won his first two events in Arkansas. But those two wins aren’t what cemented in his mind that he could complete with the big boys. What really gave him the confidence was the 1987 Chattanooga Dream Tournament on Lake Chickamauga, held by the now-defunct U.S. Bass. Before that event, McClelland was going to be an architect, after placing 6th in that event, McClelland changed his vocational plans to become a professional angler.

Media Day at the Bassmaster Classic provides a good venue to sit down with Classic anglers and find out how they got their start in fishing and eventually competitive bass fishing. In this installment, the Bass Fishing Archives sits down with 2015 Bassmaster Classic contender Kevin Short as he describes how he got into competitive fishing. From borrowing boats and fishing with his brother to getting his first new boat and qualifying for the Bassmaster Tour, Short talks about how he went from an insurance salesman to professional angler. On a side note, Short’s 2014 year was a bit rocky. A tornado destroyed his house and although he missed one event, he still qualified for the 2015 Classic. Kevin Short left the professional angling ranks later this year (2015) to take a job with Bass Cat Boats and spend more time with his aging father.

Here we are at Classic XLV (2015) talking with none other than Jacob Wheeler and hos he got his start in bass fishing. The video was recorded during the Bassmaster Classic Media Day – the day between practice and the first day of competition. In this video Wheeler talks about being three years old and already having been bit by the fishing bug. He goes on to describe how, by age 6 or 7, he already knew he wanted to be a professional bass fisherman. An interesting fact is this was Wheeler’s first Classic. He went from here and in four short years became the best angler in the world. Sit back and listen to how Jacob describes his journey to becoming one of the most feared anglers on tour.

The Bassmaster Classic Media Day offers media folks a great opportunity to find out from the anglers themselves how they think the Classic will pan out. It’s always great to hear what they think and who they feel will do well in the biggest event of the fishing year. But we at the Bass Fishing Archives like to look at this event in another way, to find out some of the anglers’ history – primarily how they got their start bass fishing or how they decided they could make a living catching green and brown fish. Yesterday, that’s exactly what we did. We sat down with eight anglers and asked them, “What’s your story?” For the next three days we’ll be posting these videos for you to see and get to know a little more about your bass fishing heroes. So, to start off, here’s Illinois angler, Chad Morgenthaler. We hope you enjoy the series.

At ICAST (2014) this year I was pleasantly surprised to be invited to dinner with the Yamamoto staff along with Roland Martin, his wife Judy and Walt Reynolds. I was even more surprised when I was seated next to Roland. It would be my time to talk to him about his early career – most importantly his first year on tour. We talked at dinner and at the end scheduled a time to video an interview the next day about his first year on the Bassmaster tour – 1970. That year Martin would place second in the first ever AOY points race. What muddled things up was Martin missed an entire event. I wanted to talk with Martin about his first year on tour. The interview below is exactly that. I hope you enjoy