Theirs is a unique partnership born from the unique rules and format of the inaugural season of the CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series designed to allow the anglers to promote themselves and their sponsors.
This is the union of Jeremy Starks and the West Virginia coal-mining industry.
Starks, 32, is a rookie in the Bassmaster Elite Series and his Triton boat is wrapped with the logo and theme of Friends of Coal — a co-op of coal operators dedicated to informing and educating West Virginia citizens about the coal industry and its role in the state's future.
“It’s a great fit,” said Starks, a native of Cabin Creek, W.Va., who finished 18th in last weekend’s Bassmaster Elite Series stop at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville.
“I’m from Charleston, W.Va., which is where their main office is. They wanted to get involved with an environmental sport, and this was the perfect fit for them. We do a lot of public appearances and try to do some youth education on clean coal-mining practices and that kind of thing.”
“They’re trying to promote coal as good, clean energy. And they also promote doing it right,” Starks said. “They’re not just about trying to improve their image; they’re really about trying to work with government officials and improve regulations and just make mining a safer and cleaner deal. And they’re looking to take some of the coal-mine properties and turning them into hatcheries for bass … and actually supplementing the state’s fisheries with coal-company funds. That’s a great thing.”
For Starks, who qualified for the Bassmaster Elite Series through the CITGO Bassmaster Northern Open circuit, it seems natural to represent the mining industry.
“I grew up in a coal-mining family,” Starks said. “Everybody in my family has been coal miners. My great-grandfather was actually killed in a coal mine. He was kicked in the head by a mule back in the days when they hauled the coal out by mule. My brother, cousins and uncles are still employed in coal mines.
“My goal is to get around the youth and show the general public how coal mining can actually benefit and not have a negative impact. We have a lot of areas where those reclaimed strip mines are being used for schools, for shopping malls and other things. When they do a mountaintop removal and they reclaim it, in all that new growth there’s grouse, there’s deer, there’s turkey. So they’re really not a negative impact. They actually can have a positive impact.”
Meanwhile, competing on the Bassmaster Elite Series is a dream come true for this angler.
“I got into the Opens four years ago and dreamed of fishing this level,” Starks said. “This is kind of a unique deal because, growing up, my father was such a huge fishing fan. And I grew up idolizing Rick Clunn and Denny Brauer. While everybody else was watching football, I could not wait to get Bassmaster magazine.
“I’ve been a member myself since ’95. My brother’s been a member since ’81, and he has every issue since. We grew up with BASS.”
ZELL’S BACK. Fresh from back surgery performed between Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments, veteran Texas pro Zell Rowland never missed a beat — making a strong return to Lake Guntersville to defend his tournament title.
“It feels good,” he said. “I get pretty stiff about 1 o’clock from standing up all day. I still have a lot of numbness in my left thigh, but the doctor expects that to be around for a little while. But the surgery went as well as it could have.”
Surgeons discovered a 1-inch-long bone chip from a disk floating around and contacting his sciatic nerve. They removed the chip and cleaned up the area of the disk that produced it.
“It’s from all of the years of boat driving, all the boats that I’ve been in,” said Rowland, who finished 36th at Lake Guntersville. “My doctor told me for the next two or three tournaments to take it easy driving the boat.”
SIGHT-FISHING STAR? In the early tournaments on the Bassmaster Elite Series schedule, Bink Desaro has proven to be a surprisingly good sight-fisherman. Which beckons the question: What does a guy from Idaho — where smallmouth are king — know about sight-fishing for largemouth?
“No kidding, I don’t know,” Desaro said, laughing. “I’ve just gotten some practice on tour the last couple of years. I went to Lake Fork (Texas) a couple of times trying to get as much sight-fishing in as I can, as well as in Florida. Also from talking to friends here and there — regular, old fishing talk — like when to catch the male and when not to. Just talking to your buddies, but not really ever going out in a boat with someone.”
“I think everybody has kind of got their own style,” said the 70th-ranked angler on the Bassmaster Elite Series Power Index. “Some guys get real aggressive with them. Some guys really try to finesse them. One guy has a spinning rod and another guy uses a baitcaster and big line.
“I think there’s a bunch of different ways, and you use the one that fits your style. I think it’s more about getting in tune with fish and really concentrating on watching its attitude and what it wants … and what you need to do and what baits you need to change to.”
BASS BENEFACTOR. BASS founder Ray Scott recently traveled to Springdale, Ark. — site of his first tournament, in 1967, on Beaver Lake — to visit with one of his earliest benefactors, who helped get his fledgling competition off of the ground.
“Dr. Stanley Applegate was very important to me when I was trying to get started,” Scott said. “He gave me $2,500 and said, ‘Take this if it will help. But if you can’t do what you’re claiming to do, just promise me that you will never tell my wife I gave you the $2,500.’
“He’s 87 years old, I believe. He’s one of those angels that have entered my life along the way.”
ANOTHER HOT RIG. This week, Bassmaster Elite Series competitor Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, was the second angler picked to advance in to the final round of BASS' Hottest Rig Running contest on www.bassmaster.com.
Faircloth's design, which features a prominent Skeeter logo and mosquito, snagged 25.9 percent of the votes. Fellow Bassmaster Elite Series angler Grant Goldbeck of Gaithersburg, Md., placed second with 21.6 percent of the votes and will advance to a second-chance round of voting in July.
The Hottest Rig Running contest invites fans to pick the most-unique boat design in the CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series. The angler with the most votes each week advances to a final round of voting, and the runner-up each week goes into a second-chance vote. Faircloth will join Week 1 winner Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., in the final round. The winner of the ultimate hottest rig receives a cash prize of $10,000.
WEIRDEST CATCH. “I actually have the New York state-record sauger,” said Bassmaster Elite Series competitor Darrin Schwenkbeck. “I caught it in a club bass tournament in my first or second year in the club. I thought it was a walleye and even weighed it in to see how big it was. I was planning on eating it, but it ended up being a 4½-pound sauger.” The record was caught on the lower Niagara River in 1989.
DID YOU KNOW? With his success last week at Lake Guntersville, Kevin VanDam now has finished in the top-10 of the last 10 BASS events he has competed in. (He was disqualified for a rules violation before the Bassmaster Elite Series event at South Carolina's Santee-Cooper Reservoir in March and did not fish.) It is a remarkable streak.
IF I HADN’T BECOME A BASS PRO … “I’d be playing golf,” said Bassmaster Elite Series pro and Western fishing legend Dave Gliebe. “Actually, I used to be an engineer and a plumber; I could do either one of those. But this is better.”
THEY SAID IT. “I think so. When we got here, I was really excited to see we had a full field. We had 103 boats, and that’s an exciting thing. I’m tickled to be here. Absolutely it feels different (from previous women’s circuits). The backing here is so much more. Sponsor involvement is so much more. When you have a big name (BASS) put a tour on, big things follow that.” - Mercury Marine Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Triton Boats pro Sheri Glasgow, when asked if the WBT season opener on Neely Henry Lake in Alabama lived up to the hype and expectations among the female pros.
News exclusives, audio and video clips of bass fishing's biggest stars, loads of discounts and more are all part of BASS Insider, an exclusive membership, now available at www.bassmaster.com.
BASS is the worldwide authority on bass fishing, sanctioning more than 20,000 events through the BASS Federation annually. Guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans, BASS sets the standard for credibility, professionalism, sportsmanship and conservation, as it has for nearly 40 years.
BASS stages bass fishing tournaments for every skill level and culminates with the CITGO Bassmaster Classic. Through its clubs, youth programs, aquatic resource advocacy, magazine publishing and multimedia platforms, BASS offers the industry's widest array of services and support to its nearly 550,000 members. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.
For more information, contact BASS Communications at (407) 566-2208. To join BASS, call 1-877-BASS-USA or visit www.bassmaster.com.
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