There is no greater challenge in tournament fishing than stepping into the arena of the Bassmaster Opens with the goal of becoming a Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series angler. First, you must run the gauntlet of four Opens to get to the Elite Qualifiers. Then you must survive three EQs and finish among the Top 10 in the point standings.
The investment of time and expense, coupled with the ferocity of the competition, can elevate any angler’s stress to the breaking point. That appears to be a non-issue with 20-year-old Texan Zane Parker, who sits atop the Angler of the Year standings after the first three tournaments in Division 2 of the Bassmaster Opens.
He finished 12th at his inaugural Open at Sam Rayburn, 19th at the next Open at Grand Lake and 10th at Kentucky Lake. Many anglers in his position would be overdosed on adrenaline. For Parker, the next Open is just another opportunity to do what he loves doing.
“Going into the Opens, I was hoping to have fun,” he said. “I love fishing tournaments so much that I’ll fish anything. If I don’t make the Elites, I’ll be happy to fish the Opens again next year or just tournaments around the house.”
Falling in love
Parker can’t remember a time in life when he wasn’t fishing and states he caught his first bass at age 3 or 4. His father, Billy, enjoyed bass fishing but didn’t participate in tournaments.
They often fished Lake Houston near their home in Kingwood, a 14,000-acre master-planned community in northeast Houston. Their primary lures included Texas rigged soft baits, a spinnerbait and a squarebill. At around age 7, Parker began competing in Texas youth fishing leagues.
“When I started fishing tournaments, I fell in love with it,” he said.
He and his father also began fishing local team derbies together when he was 12, which they still do regularly.
“My dad let me take over the trolling when we started fishing team tournaments,” Parker said. “The only reason he fished them is because I wanted to.”
Different leagues
Parker also competed in five different high school leagues, including those under the B.A.S.S. banner. He won several tournaments, including championship events and two Angler of the Year titles.
While a junior in high school, he began fishing BFL tournaments close to home. He won two of these events on Sam Rayburn Reservoir, one at age 18 and the second the following year.
He began fishing Toyota Series tournaments in his senior year and has netted a handful of top 10 finishes. This series took him across the country and included two trips to the St. Lawrence River. These experiences have helped him find success while competing in the Bassmaster Opens.
Fishing finesse
He is comfortable fishing with and without forward-facing sonar. Either way, he relies mainly on light line finesse fishing.
“I love fishing different variations of a drop shot for anything, anywhere, year around,” he said. “I’ve done especially with the 6th Sense Glitch.”
His other favorite lures include 6th Sense Provoke jerkbaits, poppers and walking topwater baits. When fishing shallow cover, he often goes to work with a spinnerbait and a frog.
When not fishing in a tournament, Parker hauls trailers for his father’s business, Bill Parker Construction.
