Chad Pipkens has experienced his share of bumps, bruises and breaks. But despite the limitations, despite the discomfort, regardless of the pain, the show must go on.
Summarizing the searing truth confronting everyone who makes their living with a rod and reel, Pipkens said: “There’s no sick time in fishing.”
Case in point: Pipkens once fished part of a season with a broken wrist that required ambidextrous casting and limited him to spinning rods. Another year, a recreational hockey injury left him with a broken collar bone requiring a metal plate and eight screws.
That hockey injury occurred during a two-month break between the second Elite event of 2019 and the third. Painful and limiting as it was, the mishap actually yielded an unexpected benefit.
Essentially, Pipkens’ doctor told him to minimize strenuous movements for the rest of the season and go slow to avoid the jolts and jars of rough rides. The result — a Top 10 at his first post-surgery Elite, along with two more, plus a pair of Top 10s in the Opens.
“I went down to Lake Hartwell without any expectations; it was kinda like, ‘Let’s just see how this feels,’” Pipkens said. “I’m thinking, ‘If I catch one fish, I get (the minimum) points, versus if I stay home, I get zero.’
“I could only fish a wacky worm and a Ned rig. I couldn’t run around, because it hurt to bounce, so I was just driving the boat 30-40 mph. I just tried to make the most of it, and I ended up finishing ninth.”
Perspective adjusted
Looking back, Pipkens said it’s unlikely he would’ve made the Top 10 at Hartwell if he had been 100%, because that event offered more of the run-and-gun stuff he favors. The nonnegotiable slowdown nudged him toward less-exciting, but nonetheless effective tactics.
“I had a couple of people tell me, ‘Why don’t you take a medical exemption and just do some filming?’” Pipkens recalled. “That could have been a good idea, but I don’t like throwing in the towel.”
On the water or back at home, accidents offer no warnings and their impacts, no respite. But with the level of competition Elite anglers face, gutting it out and pushing through often defines the harsh and unavoidable reality.
“You’re not taking medical exemptions, but if you miss a day, that day can get you cut,” Pipkens said. “There’s no room for error anymore. If you’re really sick and you miss a day, you finish last.
“You’re better off to go out, do the best you can do and maybe catch a limit and try to make up the difference. Every fish is that important, whether it’s requalifying (for the Elites), making the Classic, making top 10 in Angler of the Year, you need every fish.”
Repair and rehab
Admirable as it may be, managing — sometimes ignoring — the pain of injuries confirmed or suspected is a strategy with diminishing returns and a ticking clock. The offseason allows precious time for various surgeries and treatments aimed at getting anglers back to fighting form.
Recent examples:
Hank Cherry: The two-time Bassmaster Classic Champion tore a tendon in his left elbow last April and gutted out the rest of the season in gripping pain. With many years of high school and college sports taking a cumulative toll on his body, Cherry said the tear ended up being worse than initial expectations.
“I can’t pinpoint exactly when it tore, I just know that the pain started in April, and by the time we went smallmouth fishing last fall, it was unbearable to even set a hook with my left arm,” Cherry said. “I didn’t throw a jerkbait as much as I usually do, but there were periods when I’d throw it and take a break, throw it and take a break. I just lost a lot of fish.
“Throughout the season, I taught myself to fish the other direction where I reel more with my left hand, rather than holding the rod.”
Cherry’s October surgery left his arm immobilized for 10 weeks, with physical therapy lasting through late January. Addressing the injury earlier would’ve spared him a lot of pain, but Cherry knew such action would likely impact fellow Elites.
“The big thing was that I wanted to finish the year, because if you drop out, sometimes that can affect the pay scale, as far as how far down we pay,” Cherry said. “I didn’t want to short change guys that way, and I’ve never not finished a season of anything.”
Rebuilding exercises have included smaller weight lifting with various angles, raising a 5-pound squishy ball above his head and dribbling it against the wall. Cherry also needed dry needling and a chiropractor to relieve a pinched nerve caused by overcompensation on his right side.
Pipkens: Late 2023 saw progressively worsening tennis elbow in his right arm suddenly reach excruciating levels. Offseason therapy helped, but Pipkens was able to fish through a painful 2024 after receiving Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a form of regenerative medicine that maximizes natural growth factors found in human blood cells to promote healing in damaged tissue.
Ultimately, an MRI showed the tendon damage was severe enough to require Tenex, a minimally invasive ultrasound surgery and another PRP injection. Pipkens also underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair meniscus damage.
Gerald Swindle: Years of aggressive fishing, climbing tree stands and farm work had worn on Swindle’s shoulders, but changing a 225-pound truck tire en route to the 2024 Northern Swing finished off a cumulative injury. After an MRI, Swindle’s doctor reported a 99.9% torn rotator cuff, a bone spur and a floating bone fragment.
“The doctor told me, you were two or three good strains away from having to have your shoulder replaced,’” Swindle said. “It was just years of hard living and fighting that big tire was just the last straw.”
Surgery added five anchors and a patch to promote regrowth. Home stretching, plus physical therapy, ice treatment and PRP shots have steadily moved Swindle toward readiness.
Gotta be ready
Targeting an 80% recovery by the first Elite event, Cherry expects he’ll be full speed by the summer. That means more spinning rod work than he’d prefer early in the season, but he knows that slow and steady beats jumping the gun and risking a setback.
“Hopefully, I’m back (in good form) when we go up to the Outer Banks (Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound Elite); that’s a pretty cool place and it has some big fish in it,” Cherry said. “I’d like to back to full speed by then.”
Pipkens loves his jerkbaits, so he’s hopeful his full range of motion returns for this demanding presentation. He’s also a little anxious about fighting hard-charging northern smallmouth around the boat, but Pipkens said his objectives start in Palatka, Fla.
“I just want the first Elite event at the St. Johns River to come around and feel at least like I did (prior to the elbow injury) or better,” he said. “I’m not nervous; I’m optimistic.”
Swindle had a similar outlook: “The doctor knows what I do for a living and when we went into this, I told him, ‘Throw everything you’ve got at this, because I gotta be back in the boat in February. That’s just foolish pride, but whether it was being sick or hurt, I have never missed a day of competition in my career.”
Why it matters
Self care and personal achievement certainly factor into angler health decisions, but those aren’t the only logs on the fire.
“You’re doing this not only for yourself, you’re doing it because that’s how you support your family,” Pipkens said. “You’re also doing it for your sponsors because that’s how you support them, but that’s what’s in your contract, as well.
“It’s (typically) based on the amount of tournaments you fish, so if something happens and you miss two or three events, or you can’t finish the season, you’re not getting paid.”
Harsh? Not really. Professional fishing is business centric and sponsoring companies rightfully expect ROI.
Anyone that signs a sponsorship contract should know this, but as Pipkens points out, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing premise.
“You don’t want to be out there doing nothing, but you can still be there and represent,” he said. “Maybe you’re not 100%, but 75 might be better than 0.”
Sometimes, playing with pain is just what you gotta do.
Then you get it fixed.
