The Bass Fishing Pros With Degrees

October 16, 2002
B.A.S.S. News - Archived

If you are an aspiring bass pro, attaining a college education is a smart goal. Many of today's BASSMASTER competitors can proudly display college degrees.

    It may surprise many fishing fans to learn that several of the top tournament pros have some sort of scientific background from their college days.

    Oklahoma's Ken Cook is probably the most famous of the biology-minded types who went on to tournament stardom. After working as a state fisheries biologist, Cook later won the 1991 BASSMASTERS Classic.

    But there are several other pros that graduated with degrees in fisheries biology or majored in similar courses of study in college in preparation for a career of casting for cash. Here's just a sampling:

  • Reigning Classic champion Jay Yelas, Texas, has a degree in resource recreation management with a minor in fisheries biology.
  • Nine-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Roland Martin, Florida, has two degrees in fisheries biology-related studies.
  • B.A.S.S. tournament winner Chad Brauer, Missouri, has a degree in fisheries and wildlife.
  • Past Classic qualifier Stephen Browning, Arkansas, majored in fisheries and wildlife management.
  • B.A.S.S. tournament winner Scott Martin, South Carolina, majored in wildlife technology.
  • Two-time Classic champion George Cochran has a degree in forestry.
  • Four-time Classic qualifier Joe Thomas, Ohio, majored in fisheries biology.
  • Past Classic attendee Clark Wendlandt, Texas, has a degree in wildlife and fisheries science.
  • Former B.A.S.S. SuperStars champion O.T. Fears, Oklahoma, is a former fisheries biologist.
  • Touring pro Gerry Gostenik, Michigan, has a degree in environmental biology/chemistry and worked from 1995-97 as a biologist for the University of Michigan.

CLOSE CALL

Former Classic champion and two-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Larry Nixon had to rush home recently from a Strike King pro staff gathering in Tennessee to tend to his wife, Amy, who escaped serious injury in an automobile wreck near their Bee Branch, Ark., home. Amy's Jeep Liberty was totaled in a head-on collision that left the other driver in critical condition. Fortunately, Amy walked away with minor injuries.

SHOPPING WITH A PRO:

Oklahoma's Kenyon Hill, a past winner on the BASSMASTER circuit, recently visited the Tackle Box in Gainesville.

    Like many pros, Hill scours tackle stores and bait shops in every town he visits. His primary goal is to find lures that are no longer available nationally. The pros find these little gems and keep them hidden until the right situation.

   The Tackle Box has been around for 42 years and displays a huge variety of tackle - some of which has been on the shelves for years. And that's what Hill was looking for. He got as excited as kid at Christmas when he found several original Rebel Mini R (shallow-diving, fat-bodied) crankbaits, which haven't been made in more than a decade. At $4.29 a pop, he purchased the remaining six baits in the same color pattern - chartreuse, black stripe and orange belly.

   "This might win me a tournament some day," he said. "Dion (Hibdon) is going to be so jealous of these baits."

DID YOU KNOW?

Two anglers have won more than $300,000 in a single BASSMASTER season - Denny Brauer ($347,000 in 1998) and Dean Rojas ($333,000 in 2001).

PRO BIRTHDAYS

It doesn't seem possible, but Kevin VanDam turns 35 Oct. 14. Wasn't he the sport's whiz kid just yesterday? California's Mike Tyler will be 30 on Nov. 1.

IF I HADN'T BECOME A BASS PRO...

Six-time Classic qualifier Mike Wurm of Arkansas says he would have pursued a career as a golf pro.

THEY SAID IT

"It takes more intelligence to be good at fishing than it does in any other sport. We are also called on to keep that level of intensity longer than any other sport. Most pro athletes have to stay at that level for three hours. For us, it's eight to 10 hours at a time." Four-time Classic champion Rick Clunn compares pro angling to other sports.