There are probably as many different routes into the professional fishing ranks as there are anglers who've made it. There are also about as many definitions as to determine who is, or what qualifications are considered to make someone a professional angler. Those arguments aside for the moment, is it just me, or does it seem like Indiana is simply not one of those states that comes to mind when thinking of locations that create touring professionals?
Yes, a few people probably come to mind right off the top of your head, I'm sure, but looking back over the years, like the past 30 or so, very few Indiana guys have actually made a mark in the sport. We can argue semantics over who has or who hasn't "made it", but in my mind, I can really only think of a couple. At the top of that list is Koby Kreiger, now a Florida resident, and Chip Harrison, who still resides in northern Indiana. On the cusp of spilling over that lip is Shad Schenck, and beyond that, a short list of guys who have made it to some degree or another, but who have never really cemented themselves atop the list. Names like Wes Thomas & Bill McDonald from the current FLW Tour, Charlie Howser, Paul Converse and Ken McIntosh from older B.A.S.S. days, or what about Kenneth "Dusty" Pine, who first grew through the Federation ranks, and then followed it up with a solid B.A.S.S. campaign. That's pretty much about it. No Biffle's, no VanDam's, no Nixon's...no Ike's or Martin's or Clunn's. Lots of others that noone would question, but you get my point.
And back on point, why is this? Growing up around Indiana tournament fishing since I was in high school, the commonly heard phrase was "if you could catch them in Indiana, you could catch them (compete) anywhere." Still hear it to this day - I've just never believed it. I've always been of the opinion that Indiana ruins more potential professional bass anglers than it ever thought of creating. Jacob can tell you that my simple advice to him, or any other young person from around here wanting to fish professionally, is to get out of Indiana as fast as you can, only using the Federation or the BFL as a lilmited stepping stone out, as needed. There is a notable exception which I'll mention a bit later (Part II), but first, why I think that way.
The basis of my theory is that we're simply not around enough fish to give anglers the proper training ground needed to form and create that critical, initial foundation needed to become a pro angler. In my opinion, there's not a much better way to develop quickly into a pro than to fish a lot, and catch a lot. You really need both. By catch a lot, I mean 20, 30, 50 fish days, or more, all the time, on many different bodies of water, and in many different scenarios, both tournament and otherwise. Monroe, Patoka, and the Ohio River just don't cut it most of the time, yet that is where nearly all state level events are held, year after year. Here's a graphic example to drive the point home.
Take a look at the following table I've created above. This is from the 2010 BFL season encompassing all 24 divisions. Listed for each division are the first 4 tourneys (of 5 - Super tourney not included since it is a 2-day cut field event) where everybody fishes. The percentages in the columns are the percent of the total field that weighed in a limit for any given event. Those percentages are then averaged over the 4 tournies, and the divisions are sorted from highest to lowest based upon average percent of field to weigh a limit. If that is the judging criteria, as it is in this example, you can see that the Hoosier division is the worst in the country for producing limits of fish across a field of anglers, with the Buckeye division just a little bit better - but no surprise there. On average, in any given event, fully 9 out of every 10 guys fishing will never come to the scales with a limit.
Year after year of that same thing happening creates an angler who either is happy or content when he weighs 3 or 4 keepers, or worse yet, creates an angler that relies on "spots" or random luck. The guy who only weighs in 2 or 3 keepers hasn't found a pattern, and really hasn't learned anything about the fishery, he simply got a few good bites. And yes, there are guys who have become really good at fishing this way, at getting that tough bite, grind it out mentality engrained in their psyche, or have figured out a few consistent spots that seem to produce for them. This is why you see some of the same names repeatedly near the top of the leaderboard, just like anywhere else. But, in my opinion, that has also created an angler that can't then make the adjustments easily when leaving the state to compete on larger, more bass rich waters. Again, yes, guys have their moment, but years of results show that nobody makes it for long, or at least makes it big, with the above noted exceptions already mentioned. Nobody has become a household name to the average bass angler.
Now, back to the top 2 in my book, Kreiger and Harrison. Both are from northern Indiana, in an area where the local anglers would all fish either the Great Lakes or the Michigan division BFL's or their equivalents. You don't see these guys coming down to southern Indiana to fish. Now look back at the chart and tell me what you see. Those two divisions hold the #2 and the #5 slots for largest percentage of the field to weigh in limits, well above the national average, and 5X-6X greater than their Hoosier division counterparts. They're around a lot of fish, and they're catching a lot of fish, patterning a lot of fish, on a lot of different techniques. Other names from the area - think Mangus, Zona and KVD, Stricker and Clapper. There's a reason that area has produced such a large number of excellent fishermen.
Another difference you won't notice from looking at the table. These guys are around enough fish, that they actually share information pretty openly. Down south, it's closed mouths and sealed lips. It's lying to the guy who actually has the gall to ask you how you caught them, or at least not quite give him the whole deal. I've ridden in the back of the shuttle van with many of the best local sticks when fishing Wawasee and other northern waters, and these guys are openly discussing how they whacked them the week before, and on what. There's a lot of information sharing that goes on, and it's not behind closed doors or only among a tight inner circle. I believe, in large part, because these guys are around lots of fish, and so don't necessarily feel the need to protect that information as tightly.
One more table. Now take a look at the same exact calculations, only applied to the 2010 Elite Series field over days 1 and 2 of each event. Look at how the percentage of limits weighed by the field jumps, especially when compared to even the best BFL division in the country (Gator - 64%). A 30% increase over that, and a 150% increase over the BFL national average. The higher up the professional ranks you go, the more common are limits - the more common that lots of fish are being caught, that patterns are being applied, techniques are being learned and mastered. There's a reason why these guys are good, and I'd argue it's because they've grown up fishing around a lot of fish, and catching a lot of fish. You send them to Pittsburgh or Louisville, and they struggle a bit, too, but it's largely a lone, one-time event on a crappy fishery. We have to fish that "crappy" fishery week after week, year after year. Our behavior and approach to catching bass gets molded by that experience, and we get set in our ways. We never truly learn how to find fish and eliminate water, so when we get to a big event and have to fish on 100,000 acres, our abilities are hampered. We catch a limit and actually cull and think we're doing well, when in reality we aren't - wrong size fish. It's not neccessarily our fault, but instead, how we've had to adapt to our local waters.
Coming in Part II, my thoughts on how to avoid this trap, why I developed the approach I take, and where that thought process came from. In the mean time, feel free to add your thoughts or opinion on the subject.
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