Big Indiana Bass

Hello everyone, my name is Brandon Hughes. I will be contributing an article for BigIndianaBass.com in an effort to show the trials and tribulations that go along with being a "weekend warrior" so to speak in the tournament bass fishing world. My hopes for this article will be to highlight the do's and don'ts, the ups and downs, and “lessons learned” for those trying to "make it" to the next level, as I am. I feel that any information I can share that might help others along in their career will make this effort a success.  I am by no means a great and successful angler - yet - but I hope that I can contribute to others in the same boat as I am - and yes, pun intended!

I am 31 years old, married, and have 5 children at home.  I am originally from Anderson, Indiana but moved to West Baden Springs in 2011 after being Honorably Discharged from the United States Army.  I currently work 3rd shift at General Motors in Bedford, Indiana as the maintenance supervisor, and call Patoka Reservoir and Monroe Reservoir my “home” lakes.

I have loved bass fishing my entire life, spending many weekends down here in Orange County fishing small farm ponds.  You could say that’s where I cut my teeth in bass fishing.  Even at an early age I was determined to fish regardless of the circumstances.  I would don a large trash bag with holes cut out for my arms so I could fish in the rain.  There was literally nothing that could keep me from the pond banks when I was younger.

Of course, life happens, you grow up, get married, have kids, and ultimately gain more and more responsibility.  This took me away from fishing for several years in my young adulthood.  Specifically, the 5 years I spent in the Army from 2006-2011, I don’t believe I ever picked up a rod.  Upon discharge from the Army, I picked up a job at Mercury Marine in Fond Du Lac, WI as their 3rd shift maintenance supervisor.  Working for Mercury really lit that fire and desire to become an elite angler back up inside of me.  It’s very hard to dismiss fishing when working for an organization who manufactures outboard engines for bass boats among other products, and is very heavily involved in many facets of fishing.  For example, the day Kevin VanDam came to our plant for an employee meet and greet would have to be the day I decided, YES, that’s what I want to do with my life.

In 2013 I moved back to West Baden Springs to be closer to family.  This decision ultimately led to my career with General Motors, and gave me the ability to start my fishing career.  I met a local stick, Tim Stillions, who was fishing USA BASSIN events shortly after hiring on.  He needed a new partner, and I was overly excited at the opportunity to get on the water and fish.  The rest is history as they say.  We fished 4 fall tournaments in the USA BASSIN Fall Patoka division that year.  While we didn’t have much success that fall, I felt alive tournament fishing.  The launch, the grind, the weigh-in, everything about tournament fishing motivated me.  It stirred up an undeniable passion to not only compete, but to get better and contend.  The following spring in 2014 I bought my first bass boat, a 2004 Nitro CDX 929.

The 2014 season marked my first official full tournament season.  In USA BASSIN, we did have success in 2014, cashing in multiple tournaments and almost winning a couple of them.  We qualified for regionals where we fished well enough to compete at the National tournament this year on Kentucky Lake.  In National points we ended up finishing 29th out of over 2500 teams.  All in all, I would call 2014 a successful “rookie” season despite a few ups and downs along the way.  The biggest issue last year was blowing the motor on my Nitro at Kentucky Lake mid-season.  Due to that I purchased a brand new 2013 Skeeter FX 20 which is my current rig.

This year I plan to fish the Hoosier division of the FLW BFL series, the IBF Invitational Series, Tri County Bass Anglers IBF club tournaments, the Fishers of Men Indiana South series with my partner Tim, and, of course, a few USA BASSIN series events with Tim as well.  With tournaments almost every weekend March through October, and some new sponsorship opportunities, this year is shaping up to be a GREAT year already, and I’ll get more into that with my next article.  Thanks for reading and I look forward to writing this article in an effort to help and share with others along the way.