GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. — Just about anyone else on the planet would have given up and gone home by now. Obviously, Carl Jocumsen isn't just anyone. He has proven that over the past five years in his unflagging pursuit of success on the highest level of professional bass fishing.
Two weeks ago, Jocumsen became the first Australian to compete in a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament. But he caught only one bass and finished 105th of 113 anglers at the Sabine River in Orange, Texas.
Jocumsen showed he's for real on Friday. The 30-year-old native of Toowoomba, Queensland, caught the biggest five-bass limit on Day 2 of the Diet Mtn Dew Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville – 26 pounds, 10 ounces – to move into third place overall.
"The ups and downs of fishing are just crazy," Jocumsen said on the weigh-in stage. "Today was one I'll never forget."
Considering the days that he'd like to forget since coming to the United States, it was particularly inspiring to see Jocumsen near the top of the leaderboard after two days on what is arguably the best bass fishing lake in North America.
For instance, there was his second year in the U.S. when he tried to qualify for the Elite Series through the Bassmaster Opens, and he missed it by one point after the three-event season.
But the topper came last October, when en route to the Bassmaster Open at North Carolina's Lake Norman. While stopped in Atlanta, his truck was broken into and thieves took about $15,000 worth of electronics.
It got worse. Also gone were his visa and passports. There was a chance Jocumsen might have qualified for the Elite Series last fall, then been unable to legally return to the U.S. and compete this season. Even if he did get the various documents renewed, there was the rather large obstacle of being unable to afford it.
That's when various friends and fishing sponsors began a crowd-funding effort to keep Jocumsen in pursuit of his dream. They raised over $20,000. Jocumsen showed Friday that it was money well-spent. But anyone who knows Jocumsen already knew that.
"I'm like a proud dad, seeing what he's doing right now," said Fred Roumbanis, who met Jocumsen when they were paired on the final day of the 2010 U.S. Open on Lake Mead. "He ended up catching the big bass on the final day of that tournament. He had never caught a largemouth bass before that event."
Added Roumbanis, "He's got more heart for this sport than you can imagine. He's going to be a threat. He's going to catch 'em all year, I'm pretty sure."
Brandon Palaniuk is another Elite Series angler who has become acquainted with Jocumsen and wasn't surprised by his success at Lake Guntersville.
"He has as much drive to be successful as anybody on the Elite Series," Palaniuk said. "I think he understands what it takes, and he's not afraid to work hard. That's what separates him from a lot of people."
Jocumsen has been surprised by the help that many people have offered him, but none as much as what he's received from fellow competitors, like Roumbanis and Palaniuk.
"Fred has been a huge influence on my career from the start," Jocumsen said. "He took me into his home when I didn't have a place to stay here. Fred has really sped up my learning curve on American bass.
"Brandon has been so good to me. Back when he hardly knew me, he was trying to help.
"I don't think there's another sport like this, where your direct competitors try to help you."
There has been another enthusiastic supporter of his career. When he's not competing, Jocumsen's U.S. residence now is Gene Eisenmann's "man cave" located in Frisco, Texas, north of Dallas. Jocumsen described it as "a four-bay garage with a bed and a shower, where I keep my boat and truck."
Eisenmann, a successful businessman and tournament fisherman, developed the HydroWave electronic baitfish simulator, which Jocumsen said has played a key role in his success this week. (The HydroWave factor will be detailed here later in the tournament.)
Jocumsen's performance at Guntersville means another sleepless night for his friends in Australia who have become part of this dream. Jocumsen noted Friday that his cell phone was "blowing up." Followers have stayed up through the last two nights, refreshing the BASSTrakk feature at bassmaster.com, keeping up with Jocumsen's success halfway around the world. At the 3 p.m. start of Friday's weigh-in, it was 6 a.m. Saturday in Toowoomba, Queensland.
"Everybody in Australia is going to know how big bass fishing is over here," Jocumsen said. "That's what I'm excited about. It's going to put bass fishing on the map in another country."
Every angler on the Elite Series picks a "theme song" that is played over the sound system as he walks onstage for the weigh-in. Jocumsen has resisted suggestions for Men At Work's 1980's pop hit, "Down Under," which became popular before he was born.
Another tune, older still, might not suit Jocumsen's style either. But after the wild up-and-down swings in his fortunes recently, Frank Sinatra's hit "That's Life" explains Jocumsen's perseverance perfectly:
That's life, that's what people say,
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May.
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June.