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Bass Kickin'
Pro bass tour is growing almost as fast as Jay Yelas is hooking lunkers
By Ed Zieralski STAFF WRITER, San Diego Tribune
January 18, 2003
Frogs croak and birds chirp in a background blanketed by lush greenery and blue skies as a man studies his next approach shot.
Holding a stick gingerly in his hands, the intense competitor turns to his caddie for advice.
"You have about 35 yards to the edge," the caddie says.
"What do you think," the man asks.
"Take that Berkley Grey Ghost Frenzy Walker and pitch it as close to the bank as you can," the caddy says. "Crank it slow at first, but speed it up close to the boat in case you've got one following. You've got that shot. Now execute it, and let's kick some bass."
Caddies on the pro bass fishing tour? We likely won't see them on the boat for scenes like that, but who knows? The day has arrived for bass pros like Jay Yelas, the reigning Bassmaster Classic champion, to hire an assistant at tournaments.
"You'll see pro fishermen start to have caddies or guys to travel with and help with all the stuff on the tour," said Yelas, the former Santa Barbara resident turned Texan bass pro. "Bass fishing is getting too big now for a guy to handle all the driving and all the travel by himself. We have to be our own agent, do our own marketing and then fish the tournaments."
If Jay Yelas needed a wake-up call after spending an offseason in the dreamy afterglow of being the 2002 Bassmaster Classic champ, he got it at the two season-opening B.A.S.S. tournaments on the Florida swing. He stumbled to 60th in the CITGO Bassmaster Tour stop Jan. 9-12 at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Fla. And yesterday morning he awakened to 88th place after Day 1 at the B.A.S.S. Tour's second stop at Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee, Fla.
So much for Yelas resting on his lunker laurels.
Not that Yelas was taking it easy. He said before the first tournament that winning the Bassmaster Classic last year was a life-changing experience, right there with getting married and having kids, as far as the added time commitment. He even was asked to write a 50,000-word autobiography, which he completed.
It may sound like sports hubris, but the Bassmaster Classic is to pro bass fishing what the Masters is for pro golfers, what the Daytona 500 is to NASCAR drivers.
It's not the green jacket, but it's lots of green cash for fooling those mossback bass. And like NASCAR, there's the obligatory photo of the guy in a shirt loaded with sponsor patch decals, hoisting a trophy over his head. Pro bass fishing has copied a lot of the best of golf and racing, and in the case of the B.A.S.S. Tour, it has produced a winning product.
For Yelas, 37, winning the Classic put him over the $1 million mark in earnings on the B.A.S.S. Tour, where he has five victories, 47 Top 10 finishes and has qualified for 12 Classics. Those earnings don't figure in the money he has won on the FLW Tour, where he was named Angler of the Year last season.
Yelas said before the B.A.S.S. Tour opener in Florida on Jan. 9 that he had only fished 10 days, this from a man who is accustomed to casting for cash 25 days a month.
"The reason I got into the sport in the first place is I love to bass fish," Yelas said.
Fans of Southern California bass fishing may remember Yelas from his early days as a competitor. Born in Hawaii, Yelas' family moved to California, and Yelas spent his formative years in Santa Barbara before going to Oregon State. He always loved bass fishing, so when he graduated, he moved to Phoenix and tried pro fishing's minor leagues, WON BASS and other Southern California pro circuits.
"Bass fishing is the only thing I've done since graduating from college," said Yelas, now a 13-year veteran on the B.A.S.S. Tour, 17 years as a pro.
Jim Walker, a pro bass fisherman from El Cajon who is attempting to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic through the B.A.S.S. Federation, remembers fishing with Yelas during those early years when the youngster didn't even have enough money for a motel room.
It was 1988 and Yelas was at a crossroads. They were at a U.S. Bass Tournament at Lake Mojave, and Yelas told Walker if he didn't win soon, he might have to get a real job. Yelas won, and a fishing star was born.
Today he's one of the many bass pros who have moved to Texas to get closer to their fishing destinations. He drives 50,000 miles a year as part of the Chevy Pro Staff, competing against the best pro bass anglers in the country.
He also finished that autobiography.
"It's not a how-to book about how to catch fish," he said. "It's just an autobiography about a fisherman. We live in a country where you can chase your dreams. I'm blessed with a great family, a great Lord. Life couldn't be better. But my main motivation to write the book is to share the wisdom I learned over the years. If someone can take that book and read it and take something in it and apply it and give them a better quality of life, then my Classic victory just wouldn't benefit me, but help others, too."
Pro bass tour is growing almost as fast as Jay Yelas is hooking lunkers
By Ed Zieralski STAFF WRITER, San Diego Tribune
January 18, 2003
Frogs croak and birds chirp in a background blanketed by lush greenery and blue skies as a man studies his next approach shot.
Holding a stick gingerly in his hands, the intense competitor turns to his caddie for advice.
"You have about 35 yards to the edge," the caddie says.
"What do you think," the man asks.
"Take that Berkley Grey Ghost Frenzy Walker and pitch it as close to the bank as you can," the caddy says. "Crank it slow at first, but speed it up close to the boat in case you've got one following. You've got that shot. Now execute it, and let's kick some bass."
Caddies on the pro bass fishing tour? We likely won't see them on the boat for scenes like that, but who knows? The day has arrived for bass pros like Jay Yelas, the reigning Bassmaster Classic champion, to hire an assistant at tournaments.
"You'll see pro fishermen start to have caddies or guys to travel with and help with all the stuff on the tour," said Yelas, the former Santa Barbara resident turned Texan bass pro. "Bass fishing is getting too big now for a guy to handle all the driving and all the travel by himself. We have to be our own agent, do our own marketing and then fish the tournaments."
If Jay Yelas needed a wake-up call after spending an offseason in the dreamy afterglow of being the 2002 Bassmaster Classic champ, he got it at the two season-opening B.A.S.S. tournaments on the Florida swing. He stumbled to 60th in the CITGO Bassmaster Tour stop Jan. 9-12 at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Fla. And yesterday morning he awakened to 88th place after Day 1 at the B.A.S.S. Tour's second stop at Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee, Fla.
So much for Yelas resting on his lunker laurels.
Not that Yelas was taking it easy. He said before the first tournament that winning the Bassmaster Classic last year was a life-changing experience, right there with getting married and having kids, as far as the added time commitment. He even was asked to write a 50,000-word autobiography, which he completed.
It may sound like sports hubris, but the Bassmaster Classic is to pro bass fishing what the Masters is for pro golfers, what the Daytona 500 is to NASCAR drivers.
It's not the green jacket, but it's lots of green cash for fooling those mossback bass. And like NASCAR, there's the obligatory photo of the guy in a shirt loaded with sponsor patch decals, hoisting a trophy over his head. Pro bass fishing has copied a lot of the best of golf and racing, and in the case of the B.A.S.S. Tour, it has produced a winning product.
For Yelas, 37, winning the Classic put him over the $1 million mark in earnings on the B.A.S.S. Tour, where he has five victories, 47 Top 10 finishes and has qualified for 12 Classics. Those earnings don't figure in the money he has won on the FLW Tour, where he was named Angler of the Year last season.
Yelas said before the B.A.S.S. Tour opener in Florida on Jan. 9 that he had only fished 10 days, this from a man who is accustomed to casting for cash 25 days a month.
"The reason I got into the sport in the first place is I love to bass fish," Yelas said.
Fans of Southern California bass fishing may remember Yelas from his early days as a competitor. Born in Hawaii, Yelas' family moved to California, and Yelas spent his formative years in Santa Barbara before going to Oregon State. He always loved bass fishing, so when he graduated, he moved to Phoenix and tried pro fishing's minor leagues, WON BASS and other Southern California pro circuits.
"Bass fishing is the only thing I've done since graduating from college," said Yelas, now a 13-year veteran on the B.A.S.S. Tour, 17 years as a pro.
Jim Walker, a pro bass fisherman from El Cajon who is attempting to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic through the B.A.S.S. Federation, remembers fishing with Yelas during those early years when the youngster didn't even have enough money for a motel room.
It was 1988 and Yelas was at a crossroads. They were at a U.S. Bass Tournament at Lake Mojave, and Yelas told Walker if he didn't win soon, he might have to get a real job. Yelas won, and a fishing star was born.
Today he's one of the many bass pros who have moved to Texas to get closer to their fishing destinations. He drives 50,000 miles a year as part of the Chevy Pro Staff, competing against the best pro bass anglers in the country.
He also finished that autobiography.
"It's not a how-to book about how to catch fish," he said. "It's just an autobiography about a fisherman. We live in a country where you can chase your dreams. I'm blessed with a great family, a great Lord. Life couldn't be better. But my main motivation to write the book is to share the wisdom I learned over the years. If someone can take that book and read it and take something in it and apply it and give them a better quality of life, then my Classic victory just wouldn't benefit me, but help others, too."
