With one Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open presented by Allstate left on the schedule, Georgia’s Micah Frazier finds himself in third place in overall points. If he holds steady, he will receive an invitation to join the world’s best bass anglers on the Bassmaster Elite Series.
The final Northern Open happens at Lake St. Clair, Michigan, September 4-6, 2014. Although it will be only Frazier’s fourth Bassmaster tournament, he has been competing seriously for nearly 10 of his 26 years.
Frazier won the first major event he fished at age 16. It was a BFL tournament at West Point Lake, his home water, in 2005. It earned him a spot in the record books as the youngest angler to win a BFL tournament.
“I did horrible after that,” Frazier said.
Many newcomers start out fishing as co-anglers when they step up to compete in pro-am style tournaments. Frazier jumped into the fray on the pro side of the equation. He realizes that this stifled his bass fishing education.
For the most part, Frazier is a self-taught bass angler. Although he grew up fishing with his father, Bruce, and grandfather, Sherwin, those early outings were mainly for catfish, bream and “whatever would bite.”
When Frazier discovered what bass tournaments were, he influenced the family fishing outings to concentrate more on bass. That happened around age 10.
Through trial and error, Frazier adopted fishing tactics he learned about from reading magazines and watching television shows. His universities were lakes, West Point, Eufaula and Lanier.
“I started fishing local tournaments when I was 15 or so,” Frazier said.
Winning his first BFL tournament was a heady confidence builder for Frazier. However, he quickly found that his Georgia lakes didn’t prepare him for the BFL and EverStart tournaments he later fished in other areas of the country.
In 2010 Frazier fished the FLW Tour as a co-angler. The following year he leaped to the pro side and has been at it ever since. He has yet to win an FLW Tour event, but he has pocketed over $200,000 and claimed several Top 10 finishes, including second place at Lake Hartwell in 2012.
When he isn’t bass fishing, Frazier manages three gas station/convenience stores owned by his father. Dad Frazier is a big supporter of his son’s bass career and is happy to allow time off for tournaments.
Another big Frazier supporter is his wife Anna, a registered nurse. They married in April 2013.
“We’re from the same town and went to K through 12 together,” Frazier said. “We never spoke a word to each other until we met six years after high school.”
Although he learned how to fish in the South, Frazier’s favorite bass waters, Lake Champlain and the Potomac River, are in the North.
“I don’t know what it is about those places,” Frazier said. “I just seem to understand them and always cash checks there.”
Frazier’s fifth place finish at the Bassmaster Northern Open less than a month ago is his best ever at Champlain. Given his liking for northern waters, he should feel right at home at Lake St. Clair in Michigan.
Earlier in his bass fishing career, Frazier regarded himself as a power fisherman. These days he claims he is a versatile angler that is capable with many techniques.
“Some of my best finishes have come when I’ve had a spinning rod in my hand for the whole tournament,” Frazier said.
Given that St. Clair is loaded with fat smallmouth bass that are suckers for a drop shot rig, it’s likely that Frazier will have more than one spinning rod on his deck at St. Clair.
Should Frazier qualify for the Elite Series, he will have some weighty decisions to make about which tournaments to fish next year.
“The big thing for me is to keep everything in perspective,” Frazier said. “I always keep my family and faith in mind. If it’s not meant for me to fish for living, I’m happy to fish around home.”