Marshaling insights

Skip Walden answers several common questions about being a Bassmaster Marshal.

Skip Walden has served as a Bassmaster Marshal five times. Here, he answers questions about the program. See his photos here.

This is the third part in a series of entries in my journal of being a Bassmaster Marshal. The first part focused on what drew me into being a Marshal. The second part focused on what Marshals do during the tournaments. This part will attempt to answer some of the more popular questions I’ve been asked over the last three years that I have participated in the program. Most people who ask me about it ask the same questions within certain variations, and I suspect lots of people have similar questions in their minds about the program.

The first question I get is generally, “Who have you ridden with?

I’ve been lucky. I’ve drawn some great pros, and most of them have been a pleasure to be on the water with. In my first three years, I drew Charlie Hartley, Russ Lane, Brandon Palaniuk, Morizo Shimizu, Boyd Duckett, Fred Roumbanis and Kevin VanDam.

At the 2014 Bassmaster Classic, I drew the same guy — Stephen Browning — for Days 1 and 3. In the middle, I rode with Chad Morgenthaler.

My fifth Marshal trip was BASSfest on Chickamauga this past June. I drew Boyd Duckett, Keith Combs, Ish Monroe and Randy Tharp.

The next obvious question asked is: “Who would you like to ride with?

I would venture a guess that if you asked each of the Marshals in a particular tournament, Kevin VanDam would be on the list. I have marked that one off my bucket list already, but I’d like to ride with him again on the Tennessee River. There are also others I’d like to ride with.

Paul Elias, for one. He was in the first tournament I ever fished in back in the 1970s. I’m old enough to remember him winning the Classic and that deep kneeling and reeling that he popularized during that time period.

J Todd Tucker would also be on the list. I’ve known his dad for several years from stuff he’s posted on the Internet. I got to follow J Todd as he worked his way up in the Elite Series.

Kenyon Hill also makes my list. At West Point, I enjoyed hanging out with him, Jared Miller, Cliff Pace and Gary Klein.

Also, Ott DeFoe, Terry Scroggins and others. Really, I’m not that particular. The only thing I ask is they don’t kill me racing boats.

Which pro was the best one you have ridden with?

That’s a tough question, and I hope this doesn’t offend anyone. It certainly isn’t meant to. The most fun I’ve had on a ride was with Boyd Duckett. When I drew Boyd, I told him I was glad I drew someone with about as much gray hair as I’ve got because I wasn’t looking forward to being killed in a boat heading up to Jordan Dam in the flood. Boyd looked at me kinda funny and said, “We are running 80 miles downriver first thing in the morning.” We did, every dime of it. Right past logs, propane tanks, root wads, Volkswagens and whatever else was floating downstream in the flooded river.

What do they pay you to be a Marshal?

Pay? Are you serious? The truth is we pay B.A.S.S. A regular tournament is $125, and the Classic is $500. Non-fishermen would never understand this. Yes, it cost me to be in the Classic this year. I paid for my own motel, food, gas and entry fee. That said, I got to ride on Guntersville for three days with the Elite Series pros. Had I hired a guide on Guntersville to show me around the lake, I’d have spent every bit of that $500 for a single day. So far, I feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth from the deal. I can see why B.A.S.S. charges us an entry fee. Obviously, they make some money off it, but they don’t make enough to pay more than one place in the tournament, so they don’t make that much money. The main thing is, by the Marshals having some skin in the game (money), there is a greater chance they will show up. How many of us have invited 20 people to a free cookout, cooked food to feed them and only eight showed up? When there’s no skin in the game, people these days tend to change their minds. B.A.S.S. can’t afford that. They need a sufficient number of marshals for the tournament. Needing 112 and having 50 show up would be a big problem.

Do you get to fish?

No. Marshals aren’t permitted to fish. We are there to observe, record and report.

What do you do during the time you aren’t on the water?

Sleep! A longtime friend of mine started touring with FLW last year. I told him he was in for an experience. Four-day tournaments are not in the same league as a one- or two-day club tournament. As a Marshal, you’ll be up early. If blast-off is at 6 a.m., the pros will generally start putting boats in at 5 so they will have time to get their tackle organized and get to the official blast-off location. Considering breakfast and drive time, I’m up at 3 a.m. at most tournaments. Weigh-in is generally around 3:30, but you could be in a flight that doesn’t check in for an hour after that. If you stay and watch the weigh-in, add 2 1/2 hours. By the time you get back to the motel, it will likely be between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. I’m not 20 anymore, so I’m generally not up for much after that. For the Classic this year, I was staying in Albertville, and the two days I drove to Birmingham for the weigh-in, it was 10:30 p.m. when I got back.

That said, there’s always tackle time. Once the pros get weighed in, they start doing their tackle for the next day. Many of the Marshals hang out with them and talk while they are changing line and tying on baits for the next day. At West Point, several pros stayed at the motel I got to listen as Don Barone interviewed Cliff Pace for this article. I was standing beside Don when he took the photo just after he came up with the title for it, “A Change of Pace.” That might not excite everyone, but because I’ve been a freelance writer for some time and I’ve followed Don’s career with B.A.S.S., it made my day.

How far do you travel for a Marshal gig?

A lot of guys fly in from parts unknown to be a Marshal. I’m fortunate in that I’m in pretty close driving distance to a lot of the tournaments. Douglas is an hour and a half from home. Guntersville is about 3 1/2 hours. West Point and the Alabama River were 6 hours away. One thing I have learned is you need to be flexible. B.A.S.S. will send you a packet about 4 to 6 months before the tournament with motel phone numbers and such. The recommended motel for the Alabama River tournament was on the waterfront in Montgomery, but floodwaters required B.A.S.S. to move the launch to Prattville. The guys staying in downtown Montgomery paid $40 more per night and had to drive 20 miles to launch instead of walking across the street as planned.

Does it get boring sitting and watching someone fish?

Not most of the time. A Marshal is pretty busy as long as the angler is busy. You’ll be sending photos and stories from the water to the Bassmaster.com Live Blog, updating BASSTrakk and watching your angler catch fish. The day I rode with Kevin VanDam, he caught at least 60 fish. Randy Tharp also whacked ’em, 25 fish that came in groups, fast and furious. I have had days in which the angler did poorly and it did get a little dull.

After five times, do you plan to Marshal again?

Yes, I will Marshal again somewhere sometime. I’ll likely pick one or two events to go to in 2015. It’s like eating Lay’s Potato Chips. You can’t just do it once.