FRISCO, Texas — Gwen Reed was pretty excited when she heard the 2017 Bassmaster Classic was on Lake Conroe, right up the road from her home in Clute. Reed lives an hour south of Houston’s Minute Maid Park, where the Classics weigh-ins will be held, and she was asked her plans for the March 24-26 competition.
“I’m going to be fishing it,” Reed said matter of factly. “I’m not out yet.”
Reed is a tournament angler, the only female in her B.A.S.S. Nation region, and apparently not lacking self confidence.
“I’ve tournament fished for the last 20 years,” she said, “but I’ve been fishing since I was a little wee. I caught my first lunker bass when I was 8.”
Besides fishing whatever she can, Reed also attends bass events to keep learning. She just finished her eighth year as a judge for the Toyota Texas Bass Classic last week, and the week before she was Marshal all four days of the Bassmaster Elite on Toledo Bend.
“I’m here to learn from the best of the best of the best,” Reed said before boarding Greg Hackney’s boat. “I asked if I could specifically get Hackney, and I got him today.”
Reed has had quite an impressive run as Marshal. On the final day at Toledo Bend, after thinking she was simply driving her husband to serve as Marshal, she lucked into a day with Tommy Biffle when his Marshal went sick. She wrote an informative and humorous blog, “Sometimes it pays to roll out of bed.”
Reed, who’s worn eight Marshal badges in Elite events, said she plans to be back for No. 9 on the next stop at Texoma. We also should expect to see her at the Classic, at least in some capacity.
FROM FASCINATED TO ADDICTED
Shaun Boyle didn’t think much about bass fishing until about a couple years ago when he read an article. Since then, he’s gone from fascination to addiction.
He had a short 10-minute trip from his Aubrey home to the launches of the TTBC at Lake Ray Roberts State Park, and he went to Frisco for the weigh-ins. Fishing and traveling to pro fishing events have become part of his daily life.
“I read that article in Sports Illustrated, and it was fascinating,” Boyle said. “I started getting into bass fishing. I’d been catfishing. Then I went up to Tulsa and I saw the presentation you guys did up there for the Classic.
“Now I’m addicted, absolutely. I just bought a kayak a week ago.”
He said he’ll likely fish in the cove where the TTBC pros lined up each morning, among others. He fished from a pier during the TTBC and said he enjoyed seeing pros zipping by from spot to spot.
Being from Oklahoma, he attended last year’s Classic, where he rooted hard for Jason Christie — he was OK with Edwin Evers winning.
“I’m absolutely going to Conroe,” he said. “It’s 4 ½ hours. I was going to Bend last week, but I had some stuff going on. But it’s kind of become a little traveling show for me, if it’s geographically reasonable.”
TALKING UP BASSMASTER LIVE
That’s Chris Baires (above left) and Boyle watching the TTBC pros prepare to blastoff. Baires, who lives about 30 minutes from Ray Roberts, travels plenty to do his audio/video work for Top Golf.
“Whenever I’m home, I bass fish as much as I can,” Baires said. “This is my home lake.”
That despite living in Shady Shore on Lewisville Lake, where he cut his teeth fishing and caught his largest bass, an 8.5-pounder. Baires fishes several circuits, namely the Bass Champs and Texas Team Trail. Like Reed and Boyle, he digests anything bass.
His fanaticism with Bassmaster LIVE is even rubbing off on workmates. They’ve asked what he’s so excited about and have started to take an interest in professional bass fishing.
“When they actually see what these guys are doing, how they can make some crazy money, they think that’s pretty cool,” he said. “I just like the whole setup. You can get online and pretty much feel like being on the boat with them.
“You can pick up a lot of things. For instance, I don’t drop shot. But since (Chris) Zaldain did (on Bull Shoals), I’ve picked up a drop shot and tried it more. I’m not as confident as my other baits, but it’s cool to see these guys fish live.”
Boyle jumped in, saying he “enjoys the whole presentation, whether the anglers are talking about different baits, different techniques, just the stories. I love the fact you have five different cameras on them, so I can see who’s moving and shaking.”
He even takes something on Bassmaster.com that has drawn criticism and turned it into a positive.
“BASSTrakk, that’s phenomenal,” Boyles said. “It kind of keeps you going. I like the way you cut it off. I log back in at 3:15 for the weigh-in and I got a brand new tournament, potentially.”
HAGGARD’S BOAT BACK HOME
Country music legend Merle Haggard loved his fishing, and almost two months after he passed, one of his boats is back with his son, Ben. Pretty neat story. Check it out here.
A NIXON PHOTOBOMB
Standing on the dock at Lake Lay Roberts, attempting to take a shot of pros boats manuevering with a full moon as a backdrop, when in steps Larry Nixon to photo bomb the moon. Thanks Larry, you definitely made the photo better.