For his day job, Edward Loughran III wears a dark gray pinstripe suit paired with a confident red or blue tie.
He gets his suits from JoS A. Bank.
Back in July, if you had asked Loughran about fishing the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Lake St. Clair out of Detroit, Mich., he would have laughed.
“The way my season was going, I figured it was out of reach,” he said. “I know it gets said a lot by anglers who are struggling, but I was not fishing to my potential. At all.”
At the conclusion of the Guntersville Elite in June, Loughran was in 59th place in AOY standings. At mid season, that’s a deep hole to crawl out of, and it didn’t get any better. At the end of St. Lawrence River he struggled and fell deeper into the standings at 65th place.
During the second leg of the back-to-back in New York at Lake Cayuga, Loughran finished stronger to earn a 28th-place finish, which pushed him to 61st place in AOY. Still, earning a spot in the AOY Championship seemed slim with one remaining regular-season event on the calendar.
The wildcard was Oklahoma’s Lake Tenkiller, which was a backup fishery to Ft. Gibson due to floodwaters. In late September, the lake was very hard to predict.
After Day 1 at Tenkiller, Loughran was in 35th place for the event, and that had him unofficially in 55th place for AOY. Day 2 he climbed the event standings into 22nd place and 53rd in AOY, again unofficially. On Day 3, he got even stronger and finished in 12th place, which was just shy of the Top-10 cut.
Thanks to his strong showing at Tenkiller, Loughran managed to squeak into the AOY Championship at 49th place, one spot above the Top-50 cutline.
A Top 10 would have been a nice improvement on his season, but that would have seriously cramped his work obligations at home.
He was headed to St. Clair. And this is where it gets interesting.
Loughran is an attorney from Richmond, Virginia, — a career that he continually works very hard at. (It’s a suitable career path to support an addiction to tournament bass fishing. We can all relate to that.)
That career had demands, which required him at home during the few days between Tenkiller and St. Clair.
“I scheduled court appearances early in the week thinking I didn’t have a chance to make the AOY tournament,” he said. “And as you can guess, judges don’t take to kindly to missed appearances. I’ve been so immersed in the stack of cases I needed to be present for, there was no way someone else could adequately represent. I had to be there, no question about it.
“Missing the Top-10 cut was actually a good thing, believe it or not,” he said. “I loaded my gear and hit the road to Detroit. The goal was to drop the truck and boat off at the house where we were staying, catch a flight home and get done what needed done before flying back north a couple of days later.”
The 49-year-old pro was back in Virginia by 11 p.m. Sunday night with plans to make a 2-hour drive to court the next morning.
“Our firm represents a lot of creditors,” he continued. “We file suits on behalf of banks, hospitals, car finance companies, landlords and those types of organizations. Typically, I’ll have a docket in certain jurisdictions where I might have anywhere from 10 to 100 cases. But since most defendants don’t appear for those hearings, I can zip through them pretty quickly.
“Thankfully, I had that type of work on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and I managed to get through them without any major road blocks. That meant I could catch a flight back to Detroit in time to begin practice for the Championship.”
The 2019 Season
If you’ve been able to attend a Bassmaster weigh-in, or viewed it live on your computer, you’ve probably heard Bassmaster Emcee Dave Mercer refer to Loughran as “The Barrister.” A nickname that really isn’t a nickname at all, except perhaps it’s origin.
Bar-ris-ter
Noun: British
A lawyer entitled to practice as an advocate in higher courts.
The more you know …
“I’ve got great leadership who understand what I’m trying to accomplish,” he said. “They are outdoorsmen, and they are accomplished hunters and fishermen in their own right. Having that type of relationship with my bosses is critical to making this dream work. For that I’m thankful.
“As long as my work is complete, I’m good,” he said. “Just like my fishing, I’m dedicated to excellence in my work. That level of expectation helps me when I’m on the water, too. By staying on top of things at home, I know there are no lingering issues to redirect my focus. I know my performance at whatever tournament I’m fishing is not dependent upon me making a check, and that helps me fish better.”
Loughran admits that while he’s not fished to his potential during his rookie year on the Bassmaster Elite Series, he’s not disappointed either.
“Overall, I’ve fished pretty clean this year,” he said. “I’d definitely go back and change a few things, especially some decisions. But really, I don’t have much to complain about — especially now being here at the AOY Championship.
“You have to fight through the tough times, one my traveling partners John Crews told me that. It’s a bell curve, and by keeping your mindset in the right place, things will come back your way — as long as you never lose focus.”
Despite a couple tough tournaments, Loughran managed to salvage his first season to bring it to what he considers a success.
“To be honest, a lot of things will have to go my way for me to make the Classic,” he said. “It’s mathematically possible, but pretty unlikely. And I’m ok with that. That takes even more pressure off of me for this week. I need more time on these different fisheries, so the time I have here on St. Clair will only help me for future visits. I’m going to have a lot of fun over the next few days.”
For him to have a shot at making the Classic, he has to finish near the Top 5 — if not win this event, and Tyler Rivet and Paul Mueller have to fall. A pretty difficult scenario to predict, let alone overcome.
“I have a lot to learn yet, and I firmly believe you can only grow through a time investment on the water. I feel that after my first season competing at this level, I’m more than capable of consistently being a Top-20 angler year in and year out. My goal is to prove that to the fishing world — and myself.”
While Loughran claims he’s likely out of this thing, he said that several weeks ago, too. And now look where he is. If you are to take one thing from the above insight from Ed Loughran III, never count him out.
It’s near impossible to adequately measure a man’s passion for this sport, but it’s safe to say The Barrister is as dedicated to this as anyone, anywhere.
He’s just getting started.