Mark Daniels will compete on the Bassmaster Elite Series tour for the first time in 2017, having qualified via the Bassmaster Southern Opens in 2016. Add his name to the list of West Coast pros who have migrated to Alabama.
Daniels is a Jr. His 13-year-old son is Mark Daniels III. Daniels also has a 9-year-old daughter, Morgan. Both of his children love to go fishing with their father, just as Daniels loved to go fishing with his father while growing up in California.
“I was fishing with my dad, literally, as soon as I could walk,” Daniels said. “The only way he was going to go fishing was to figure out how to take me with him.”
The Daniels lived in Richmond, Calif., and their initial fishing forays were to nearby San Francisco Bay for ocean perch and “anything that would bite.”
When Daniels was about 11 years old, an important bass fishing mentor named Doug Rogers came into his life. Rogers was a family friend who owned a 16-foot bass boat. He often took Daniels and his father bass fishing on the California Delta.
Rogers was also a jig flippin’ fanatic. He taught Daniels how to master the long rod, which gave the youngster a solid base from which to expand his bass fishing skills.
Another major event happened at about this time. Daniels and his father joined a bass club, the Bass Anglers of Northern California. The younger Daniels was allowed to fish with club members as a “back-seater.” This exposed him to a wide variety of fishing techniques.
“I fished in that club all through high school and after college,” Daniels said. “The members are like family to me. I still fish with them to this day when I’m in California.”
When Daniels was 13 his family moved inland about 35 miles from the coast. It was here that Daniels discovered pond fishing. Several ponds were within walking distance of the Daniels’ home.
“My dad let me fish any of the ponds in the area,” Daniels said.
The following year Daniels’ father bought the family’s first bass boat, a Stratos 201 with a 200 hp Johnson on its transom. Over the next several years, the Daniels often fished the California Delta and a variety of local team tournament circuits.
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