In his third consecutive year of competing in the Bassmaster Opens, Oklahoma’s Kollin Crawford is right on track to fish the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers. After the first two Opens tournaments in Division 2 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir and Grand Lake, the 21-year-old sits atop the division’s Angler of the Year standings.
“I’ve dreamed about making the Elites and the Bassmaster Classic since I was old enough to know about them,” Crawford said.
In 2024, he missed the final event in his first season of fishing the Opens due to a leg injury that put him on crutches. He endured a “terrible year” last season, partly due to the learning curve of fishing waters he had never seen before.
He had fished Rayburn and Grand Lake multiple times before competing in this year’s Opens. His familiarity with these lakes helped him claim a fifth and a 14th-place finish.
Rodeo family
Crawford grew up taking care of horses and cattle on his family’s ranch near Broken Bow, Okla. His parents, Lance and Amy, and his 12-year-old sister, London, are into rodeoing. His father competes in team roping, while his mother barrel races. London also competes in barrel races and has twice qualified for the Junior National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
Crawford traveled to these events with his parents, which included annual treks to Arizona and Las Vegas. He “played around” with team roping for a few years, but his heart wasn’t in it.
“All I really cared about was catching bass,” Crawford said.
He claims to have been practically born with a bass addiction and that he began talking about bass fishing as soon as he could speak. His fishing influences were his father, who competed in local bass tournaments, and his grandfather Mike Crawford, who enjoyed fun fishing for bass and crappie.
“My grandpa was my biggest fan, without a doubt,” Crawford said. “He passed away in July of 2024.”
As a youngster, Crawford fished ponds incessantly for whatever would bite. His father had taken a break from bass fishing but bought a boat and got back into it after Crawford’s eighth birthday. This is when they teamed up to fish local bass derbies.
His father also competed in higher-level tournaments and qualified to fish the FLW tour in 2019. From seventh through ninth grade, Crawford fished junior high and high school tournaments with Bassmaster and other organizations under the banner of Battiest High School. He won many tournaments, including three state championships.
Tackling tournaments
He began homeschooling after his freshman year, which allowed him to fish full-time. At 16, he began fishing BFL Okie Division and Toyota tournaments as a boater. In his first year, he qualified for a BFL regional on the Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wis. He finished seventh. Only the top six qualified to fish the All-American.
“That stung, barely missing the All-American at such a young age,” Crawford said.
In 2022, he finished 14th in the Southwest Division of the Toyota Series’ Angler of the Year standings. He has also competed in the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and numerous jackpot tournaments.
Fishing style
He has learned much about bass fishing from his father but claims he “kind of went off on my own.”
“We fish different styles,” Crawford said. “If I had to pick only one way to fish, it would be power fishing the way I did at the Grand Lake Open, getting in the dirt and rolling a spinnerbait around.
“I can’t hate on Scoping too much, though. I’ve won a lot of money with it. But if I had to choose, I would definitely fish the bank.”
Besides fishing tournaments, he runs Crawford Guide Service on Oklahoma’s Broken Bow Lake. You can find him on Facebook.
His sponsors include Toyota Dynamic Sponsorships, Rapala, VMC, Yamaha, Phoenix and Horizon Trike Marine.
