Luck be a lady tonight

A few years ago I wrote a feature for Outdoor Canada Magazine and interviewed good friend Aaron Martens for the story.  Aaron is a “Valley Boy” from Los Angeles, California and one of the top ranked bass anglers in the world.  I’ve known him since he was a teenager, fished with him and watched him over the years win tournament after tournament and amass several millions of dollars in winnings.   You simply can’t believe how good an angler he is.  Awesome is the only word that comes to mind.

Interestingly, though, immediately after I interviewed Aaron for the Outdoor Canada story, he won second place in the BASSMASTER CLASSIC, the most prestigious fishing tournament in the world!

Now, I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but then a year or two later, I interviewed another bass pro friend, Kota Kiriyama, from Japan.  I first met Kota at an ICAST convention in Las Vegas and we talked at length about all of the hot new finesse techniques that were coming out of Japan.

At the end of our discussion, I thought the topic would make an interesting feature one day in Outdoor Canada Magazine.  So when I was given the go-ahead to write it, Kota was the first person I called.  I subsequently won a National Communications Award for the story, but get this, Kota immediately went on to win the Bassmaster Elite event on Lake Erie using the very techniques he had explained so carefully to me for the benefit of Outdoor Canada readers.

This is becoming more than a coincidence I started thinking.Then, last year, I called another Bassmaster Elite friend, well known pro, Kevin Van Dam.  I was working on another Outdoor Canada feature, this time focusing on Kevin’s amazing exploits.  Super human feats that had propelled him to the number one position at the top of the BassFan World Rankings.  In fact, I chatted with Kevin only two days before the 2008 Bassmaster Classic.  He had sequestered himself at the time, at his brother-in-law’s house in North Carolina, where he could escape the media and crowds and practise in relative peace.  He gave me an exclusive interview.

Well, guess what, four or five days after the interview, Kevin finished second in the BASSMASTER CLASSIC, just barely missing the win.  In case you don’t know it, the Classic winner takes home a cool $500,000 but the spin-off benefits, in the form of endorsements and product sponsorships are enormous – reputedly worth millions more.  Kevin, by the way, won the Bassmaster Classic in 2001 and 2005 and has four BASS Angler of the Year honours to his credit.

Hmmm, I wondered.  There really is a trend here? Well, hit the fast forward button to two weeks ago.

I am currently working on a feature for the upcoming Summer Edition of Outdoor Canada Magazine on fishing with soft plastic frogs in heavy cover for giant largemouth bass.  It is one of the most exciting forms of fishing – heart stopping really – and one of the best frog fishermen in the world is Brent Ehrler.  I first met Brent a few years ago when I was working on another assignment and we fished together on Lake Guntersville in Alabama.  (I know it is a dirty job but somebody has to do it!)

To make a long story short, Brent is one of the nicest, politest, most accomodating anglers you would ever want to meet and right off the bat we became friends.  We’ve kept in touch ever since and I was thrilled when not long after we fished together, Brent won the FLW Championship and the first place half a million dollar prize that goes along with it.

Not a bad payday, eh?

Then, last year, I called another Bassmaster Elite friend, well known pro, Kevin Van Dam.  I was working on another Outdoor Canada feature, this time focusing on Kevin’s amazing exploits.  Super human feats that had propelled him to the number one position at the top of the BassFan World Rankings.  In fact, I chatted with Kevin only two days before the 2008 Bassmaster Classic.  He had sequestered himself at the time, at his brother-in-law’s house in North Carolina, where he could escape the media and crowds and practise in relative peace.  He gave me an exclusive interview.

Well, guess what, four or five days after the interview, Kevin finished second in the BASSMASTER CLASSIC, just barely missing the win.  In case you don’t know it, the Classic winner takes home a cool $500,000 but the spin-off benefits, in the form of endorsements and product sponsorships are enormous – reputedly worth millions more.  Kevin, by the way, won the Bassmaster Classic in 2001 and 2005 and has four BASS Angler of the Year honours to his credit.

Hmmm, I wondered.  There really is a trend here? Well, hit the fast forward button to two weeks ago.

I am currently working on a feature for the upcoming Summer Edition of Outdoor Canada Magazine on fishing with soft plastic frogs in heavy cover for giant largemouth bass.  It is one of the most exciting forms of fishing – heart stopping really – and one of the best frog fishermen in the world is Brent Ehrler.  I first met Brent a few years ago when I was working on another assignment and we fished together on Lake Guntersville in Alabama.  (I know it is a dirty job but somebody has to do it!)

To make a long story short, Brent is one of the nicest, politest, most accommodating anglers you would ever want to meet and right off the bat we became friends.  We’ve kept in touch ever since and I was thrilled when not long after we fished together, Brent won the FLW Championship and the first place half a million dollar prize that goes along with it.

Not a bad payday, eh?