MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – Dean Silvester was already something of a fishing legend in his native Australia long before he met American bass fishing royalty.
“The first smallmouth I ever caught was with Kevin,” Silvester said, casually dropping the name of Kevin VanDam, the most successful bass fishing pro in history. Both men are sponsored by Quantum, and they fished together at a media event in the not so distant past.
So who caught the most bass that day?
“We just talked trash most of the time,” Silvester said with a wry smile. “I was setting up a camera and Kevin had four (bass in the boat) before I was finished with the camera.”
Silvester, a 37-year-old electrical engineer from Brisbane, Australia, already has a leg up on many of the other 320-plus anglers competing this week in the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship here in northern Arkansas. And the edge wasn’t gained by getting tips from KVD.
Silvester has been the top-ranked angler for three of the past four years in his homeland, and he likely would have won that fourth title had he not missed a tournament because of work.
He has a dozen or more sponsors, including major players Lowrance and the aforementioned Quantum, and he’s an outgoing and friendly guy. It likely doesn’t hurt either that Silvester could pass for a Hollywood actor as much as a professional bass angler.
Silvester, as well as fellow Aussie and fishing partner Mark Ferguson, are competing as members of the Australia B.A.S.S. Nation here on Norfork Lake, and the Men from Down Under have impressed. They entered Day 2 of the two-day team competition tied for 28th place with a limit that weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces. That puts them less than 6 pounds behind the Day 1 leaders and 3 1/2 pounds out of third place. The top three teams (six anglers) in the team portion of this tournament will have their weights zeroed after Thursday’s weigh-in and then compete individually in another two-day event with a spot in the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on the line.
“I’m pretty happy with (Wednesday’s total), but I did think it would be heavier,” Silvester said after the Day 1 weigh-in. “We just want to catch our limit each session.”
That the Aussies find themselves among the leaders in a 162-team field likely is a testament to their endurance, if not their skills. It’s a 31-hour flight from Brisbane to rural northern Arkansas, with stops in the Australian metropolis of Sydney, and then Dallas, Texas, and eventually Springfield, Mo. along the way. A three-hour car ride later and Silvester and Ferguson were ready to fish on Norfork.
Of course, you can’t exactly travel overseas with a bass boat, so they’re riding in a borrowed craft this week. Quantum set them up with gear which Silvester said was a lovely gesture, though it’s taken time to get used to the new rigs.
“Everything is brand new to me,” he said. “You have to work on casting and retrieves it’s a lot different honestly, fishing here than back home. We have Australian bass, which Kevin (VanDam again) told me is a lot like your white bass. The way they react to lures and how you can catch them is different. Ours are a lot spookier. We do a lot more on the sounder (fish finder). We don’t do much casting to structure or any of that. Top-water at home is first in the morning and last in the day, and that’s it. You can do it here all day.”
Australian B.A.S.S. Nation president Drew McGrath agreed there are major differences between fishing in Australia and on a mountain impoundment in the Ozark Mountains. But he said Silvester has what it takes to make a successful transition to pro bass fishing in the U.S.
“Ninety-nine percent of the fishing down in Australia is braid and leader,” McGrath said. “They’re setting up with monofilament and fluorocarbon (here), and it’s a messy challenge for them to change from that type of casting. It’s a totally different feel. I think that’s the biggest barrier for the Australians coming over here.”
Silvester is determined to make the shift to the States, though. He’ll compete in the Bassmaster Central Opens in 2018 and make a few sponsor appearances at ICAST and the Bassmaster Classic (unless he can gain the final spot in the Classic with a fantastic finish here on Norfork Lake).
In 2019, the plan is to get Silvester entered in each of the eight likely Bassmaster Opens which betters his chance to earn entry to the Bassmaster Elite Series.
McGrath said the Aussie bass fishing legend can make the shift.
“He’s got the talent, he just needs to make a few adjustments,” McGrath said. “The skills, the decision making, the business side of it; he knows all of that. We’re confident he can do it.”
Silvester hopes so, and he’s hoping a strong finish in the Team Championship propels him.
“The first time I came over to the States, people said I should be the one capable of doing it because I’ve been number one in Australia for so long,” Silvester said. “That puts some pressure on me, and it flagged a few Americans too (to look out for me.) So I’m just wanting to prove I can fish here. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”