By Steve Ferguson
Why I love being a Marshal
I love being a Bassmaster Marshal because you get the chance of a lifetime being beside an Elite professional fisherman. You get to experience firsthand, up-close and personal how good these guys really are in all aspects of the sport: how well they drive, navigate a boat through rough waters and how quickly they can get on fish. Experiencing how they strategize, plan and execute their gameplan is like watching Michael Jordan play basketball. Their pinpoint-accuracy casts are impressive. It’s like they have complete control of their lures. This experience takes me out of the stress and hustle and bustle of everyday life as a firefighter/paramedic.
My favorite moments as a Marshal
1. Marshaling for Timmy Horton in Arizona and watching him sit for 45 minutes on a bed fish and finally catch him. He set the hook so hard that he pulled a 2-pound sunfish clean out of the water and over the boat. After realizing it was not a bass, he looked back at me and said, “Are you kidding me? Am I losing my mind?”
2. Lake Havasu, Ariz., while Marshaling for James Elam, he was drop shotting when I asked him, did he want any jerky. He said “Yea, I like jerky…” So I gave him some elk jerky, and within a minute he lands a 2 1/2-pound smallmouth. I said to him, “Must be the elk jerky.” He replied, “It must be, give me some more.” James ended up with 14-plus pounds within a couple hours of that. James was very impressive to watch land fish, and it was a pleasure to be in the boat with.
3. Toledo Bend, La., Marshaling for Andy Montgomery and watching Andy skip a jig underneath boat docks 30 feet away was absolutely awesome. He told me this is what we are going to be doing all day. So I asked Andy “What is your favorite lake to fish if you had any lake in the world?” He points at the water and says, “Toledo Bend.” Andy ended up in sixth place in that tournament.
How has Marshaling improved your fishing
Watching the best in the world work a bait and being alongside them, observing what they look for in the water, has helped me with my fishing. I’ve learned improved ways to free up a bait that gets stuck. I’ve learned how to drive my Ranger boat better through rough waters. It has been an awesome experience.
Thank you for the opportunity to learn from the best.
Sign up to be a 2018 Bassmaster Marshal.