Lonnie Miller’s Day 3 pro partner was Brian Clark at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open presented by Allstate. Miller won the co-angler division while Clark, a former Bassmaster Elite Series pro, finished 8th place in the competition held on Fort Gibson Lake.
The small talk between the partners was slow, like the fishing, until Miller’s quick hook set on a bass literally rocked the boat.
“I set the hook so hard it got his attention,” said Miller of his partner. “I made a comment about needing quick reflexes in another life and we discovered something in common.”
It seemed Miller and Clark both shared the same quick reflexes. Both are former professional rodeo cowboys.
Miller won the Kansas high school bareback state championship and on a rodeo scholarship attended Fort Hayes State University. He then earned his membership card for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Miller competed nationwide on the PRCA for several years in the mid-1980s.
He hung up his saddle after getting married and moving to Oklahoma, where he joined a club affiliated with the B.A.S.S. Nation.
“It was a great way to channel my competitive drive,” he said of the club experience.
“Rodeo and bass fishing share a lot in common and especially the need for quick reflexes,” he quipped.
Miller worked his way from the club ranks, competing regionally throughout Oklahoma and neighboring states. He won the Central Open’s co-angler trophy in his third event.
Both anglers share similar rodeo roots, having picked up the sport in high school. Clark competed while enrolled in Tarrant County College in Fort Worth. He too, earned his PRCA card while riding on the Professional Bull Riders tour. In 2003 he suffered a career-ending elbow injury and switched to bass fishing.