Chris Lane has experienced ups and downs in his career as a professional bass angler, but for the past couple of seasons, things have been great. It all culminated with his win at the 2012 Bassmaster Classic. Here's how he responded to our 20 Questions.
1. Where are you from?
I was born in Brandon, Fla., and raised in Lakeland.
2. How did you get started in bass fishing?
My father and both my grandfathers loved bass fishing. It's what we did. It was a complete family experience. We had a camp on Lake Kissimmee, and we fished there all the time.
3. Who were some of your earliest fishing heroes?
Denny Brauer and Rick Clunn were two of the biggest. I saw them on TV and wanted to fish like they fished and do what they did. After I started fishing professionally and got to know some of the guys, a lot of them inspired me, and I've become a real fan — as well as a friend — of a lot of them.
4. When did you realize you had made it in the bass fishing industry?
After I won the Bassmaster Classic!
5. What's the biggest bass you've ever caught?
Twelve pounds and an ounce. I caught it from Lake Kissimmee in about 1999 on a 7-inch Gambler ribbontail worm.
6. What do you love most about bass fishing?
I enjoy spending time on the water, seeing God's creation. I love the purity of it all, the chance to get away and find nature. On most bodies of water, you can get far enough away from everything that all you hear are birds and other natural things. I love that.
7. Where is your favorite place to fish for bass and why?
It would have to be Lake Guntersville. You can catch them just about any way you want there, and there are lots and lots of big fish.
8. What has been your greatest accomplishment in the fishing industry?
Getting Power-Pole as a sponsor and keeping them. They've done a lot for me, and I hope I've done as much for them. They stuck with me when things were tough, and I'm going to stick with them now that things are good. It's a wonderful company with lots of great people.
9. What have you yet to accomplish in your bass fishing career?
Winning the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year award is something I've set my sights on. I also want to see our sport get to the point where the anglers don't have to pay entry fees.
10. What keeps you motivated to reach these goals?
My family. I have four kids. That's a lot of college to pay for! I'm also motivated by my sponsors and by the people who have stuck with me throughout my career.
11. What are we doing right as a sport?
We're keeping the positive things moving forward and not focusing on the negative. We've got to get kids involved in the sport. I've seen big improvements in how the media has been making the sport more prominent in the past few years. That kind of behind-the-scenes activity is really important.
12. What are we doing wrong as a sport?
We have to figure out an effective way to bring the sport to a live audience. Other sports are viewed live, and we need that. Currently, it's happening on the internet, but we also need to keep the unknown element alive. People come to a weigh-in and want to see the drama played out on the stage.
13. What is the biggest challenge you've faced in your career?
Paying entry fees! I guess my biggest challenge has always been facing the unknown — the financial aspects of a career in fishing. It's also very difficult to be away from home as much as the career requires.
14. If you could do one thing over in your career, what would it be?
I'd like to have another shot at the Clarks Hill tournament in 2007. I finished second, but was leading after the second and third days. If I knew then what I know now, I could have closed that one out. I would have known how to finish that tournament. I wasn't ready to win then, but that $100,000 for first place would have been really nice.
15. What is the biggest lesson you've learned in your career?
You have to believe in yourself. When it comes down to it, you have to do what works for you — not someone else. Everyone is different, so everyone has to figure that out for himself, and some never do. I had to learn it the hard way, by coming up short sometimes.
16. What question do you get asked most by fans, and how do you answer it?
How does it feel to win the Bassmaster Classic? I always tell them that it's truly amazing, but I think the experience is still sinking in for me. It's a life changer more than I could ever imagine or expect.
17. What's the biggest mistake you see from casual or weekend anglers?
They sometimes don't realize how many fish are in an area, even after they catch a couple. They don't experiment with their baits or presentation to see if they could catch more or bigger fish in the same area.
18. What's the best career advice you ever received?
Rick Clunn told me that there are many variables that you can control in your fishing and some that you can't control. The key is to control as many of those variables as you can.
19. What profession (other than your own) would you like to have tried?
Nothing really. I was a salesman for 10 years, but now I'm doing exactly what I always wanted to do.
20. When it's all over, how do you want the bass fishing world to remember you?
I hope to be remembered as an angler who did good things for the sport, who inspired others to go fishing and who made a positive difference.
