Diversity in bass fishing is lacking as change happening slowly

BY KELLY BOSTIAN World Outdoors Writer
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
2/20/13 at 8:11 AM

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Oklahoma's Vojai Reed, now 77, became the first woman to fish a top-level Bassmaster tournament when in 1991 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers refused to let BASS hold an Invitational on Missouri's Truman Reservoir because it did not allow women to compete.

Organizers quickly changed the rules and recruited Reed, a women's tour champion.

"I was honored they asked me to fish and I enjoyed it," said the Broken Bow angler. "There was a lot of controversy, and some people said I shouldn't have. But someone was going to do it; I thought it might as well be me."

Women have fished the BASS circuits ever since but - save two years when the top women from the now-defunct Women's Bassmaster Tour were invited to the Classic - none have risen to compete at the sport's top level.

Look at the faces of 53 anglers competing in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic presented by Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa this week and the term "diversity" is not the first that comes to mind. Just one African American and two Japanese anglers are in the lineup. There are no women.

Fittingly for the northeast Oklahoma tournament, Park Hill's Jason Christie is one-quarter Cherokee and proudly speaks of that heritage as a tie to his family's hunting and fishing background.

Change happening slowly

Still, those involved in the sport acknowledge bass fishing lags behind other professional sports in terms of female participation and a broad ethnic base. At the same time, BASS owner Jerry McKinnis said change slowly is happening.

To be sure, the issue is complex. Individual, and lengthy, pieces could be and have been written about women in angling, the influence of growing interest in the sport in Japan and Europe, and that good-old-boy, down-south, over-40-white-guy element that continues to dominate.

"That whole subject, I welcome that question because we're working hard on that," McKinnis said with a reminder that, while BASS is more than 40 years old and he has been involved peripherally for a long time, the current ownership has just three years' experience. "We certainly don't have all the answers, but we're trying, and we are starting to get somewhere."

To become one of the 100 Elite anglers is meant to be a hard thing to achieve, he said. "Certainly it's open to everyone; there are no roadblocks."

But, by its nature, change likely will not be immediate among the Elites, which is the highest level of competition in the sport. McKinnis spoke in terms of generational evolution.

"We certainly are not going to make it easier for any one group or the other," he said. "It's got to be even, and our guys, we've got 100 of them in the Elites, when they finally work their way up and make that level, then they have really earned it."

What is different on the tour now as opposed to six or eight years ago are younger faces, a little more flash, and the ability to rise to the Classic through win-and-you're-in tournaments at the Open Series level and through the new College Series. High school level outreach is growing as well, he said.

"On the Elite series now, we have 10 or 15 young guys - guys in their 20s - and not long ago you never would have seen that," McKinnis said.

Small influences come with music. Anglers get to choose their own theme music to play whenever they come on stage.

"It wasn't long ago if a guy didn't choose Merle Haggard or something along those lines, it didn't fly," McKinnis said. "Now they have hip-hop and rap, stuff I don't even recognize; but that's OK, they get their own music. I know that's a small thing, but it really does matter. It's a step in the right direction."

In recent years, Mike Iaconelli, the intense, fast-talking (often screaming) New Jersey wild man of BASS opened eyes and the phrase "going Ike" changed things.

"A lot of the old guard frowned on that, still does," McKinnis said. "But you go to the events and the kids are lined up for a half-mile to get his autograph."

Ishama "Ish" Monroe, a Classic competitor and the one black angler in the top ranks, said the change is too slow. He points to simple things like mostly stodgy music selections and appearance as well. Until this year, anglers were not allowed to wear blue jeans. Now they can, as long as they are jeans made by BASS sponsor Carhartt.

"Nothing against any of the sponsors, but you're not going to catch many young African-Americans wearing Carhartts to school," he said.

Monroe, of Hughson, Calif., comes to the tour with San Francisco roots and thanks his father, a firefighter, for getting him involved in the sport that likely saved his life.

On a college break he had a tournament to fish the next day and chose to go home to bed instead of going out to party with a friend.

"I got back from the tournament and found out he was found hanging from an overpass," Monroe said.

Fishing kept him busy and out of trouble as basketball, football and other sports interests save other urban kids, he said. He just happened to be into fishing. He gets involved with taking kids fishing and teaching young people as much as he can, but it's up to them to make it to the Elites.

"I don't think there are any particular roadblocks," he said. "It's been said, but I keep saying it: The great thing about Obama being elected president is every African-American can believe that anything is possible. When you set your mind to something, you can achieve it."

A wider appeal

The trick with bass fishing is just making it appeal to a broader spectrum of people and cultures, he said.

Monroe said he tries not to identify with an individual class or color when it comes to public image and promoting the sport.

"I'm just all about getting the kids involved," he said. "If there is a color anyone should be interested in, it's green; the green bass and the green money."

The fun, the celebrity and the excitement of the sport is underplayed, and as long as the face of the sport remains flat, it will not grow, Monroe said.

"If you look at snowboarders and the way they appeal to younger generations - the banners, the music, the lifestyle portrayed - it's exciting," he said. "They try to portray bass fishing as a good, wholesome lifestyle and nothing edgy. Look at football, baseball, basketball, even NASCAR is a little more edgy."

It's not all about the BASS organization, however. The marine, fishing and outdoors industries are lacking diversity across the board, said Art Bronson, president of the International Federation of Black Bass Anglers. His organization recently landed a three-year sponsorship contract with Bass Pro Shops.

Sponsorships are the key to success. The Elite Tour requires more than $40,000 in entry fees, with gas, food, lodging and gear expenses on top of that. It's a pretty tough road without sponsors if you have to win just to cover expenses.

Bronson listed a number of young anglers, a few former NFL players, who fish at the Opens and BASS Nation level who could rise with a little more help from the industry. His group tries to provide a sort of farm system for BASS and the Walmart FLW tours.

"We've got guys and gals all over the country that have the skills that can compete with anybody, but they will never be able to make it unless they're able to afford to be a part of that process," he said.

And what of the women, who have been able to compete on the tour since 1991?

Vojai Reed said it's just tough.

"It's a game of mind and skill and strength," she said. "In my life, I have abused my body, my knees, your eyes, your back, you stand on the boat fishing 13-14 hours a day, you're on the road and gone from home 30 days at a time, it does take its toll ... It's a grueling sport when you look at all of that."

Janet Parker, born and raised in Gore and a graduate of Muskogee High School, currently is the top woman on the BASS Opens circuit. She's come very close to qualifying for the Bassmaster Elites and confesses she dearly wants to be the first woman to do so.

She agrees the fishing competition life is hard, but it's not too hard for a woman.

"You look at any of the guys on the tour who have family, and I'll guarantee you they have a strong woman, strong family support behind them," she said.

Several women are fishing the lower levels and working to get to the Elites, but the odds are simply stacked against them because they are a few among hundreds fighting for the same goal, she said.

"I hope to see a lot more women getting into professional fishing. I've tried to be a pioneer and to show little girls it can be done," said the Little Elm, Texas, angler.

Women can physically do it, that's not the issue. The marketing professional said the outdoor industry as a whole is missing the boat, so to speak, as it fails to tap into a broader consumer base with women and minorities.

"Pick up any boat sales catalog and look at it," she said. "Who is driving the boat?"

2013 Bassmaster Classic Presented by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa

Friday-Sunday

All venues free and open to the public

THE TOURNAMENT

Launch event: Daily 6-7 a.m. at Wolf Creek Park and Boat Ramp, Grove

Weigh-in show: Daily 3 p.m. (doors open) BOK Center, Tulsa

Tournament format/purses

Field: 53 of the world's best anglers

Cut: Field cut to 25 top anglers on final day

First prize: $500,000 with World Champion trophy and Bassmaster Classic Champion ring

Total purse: $1.2 million

The Outdoor Expo presented by Dick's Sporting Goods

Venue: Tulsa Convention Center

Friday: Noon-8 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Bass Bash Street Fair

Venue: Third Street between BOK and Convention Center

Opens 11 a.m. daily

Original Print Headline: Diversity lacking in bass fishing

Kelly Bostian 918-581-8357
kelly.bostian@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

Vojai Reed, of Broken Bow (right), stands with her husband, Charlie, as he accepts the Bassmaster Classic trophy in 1986. BASS Communications / Courtesy

Ish Monroe of Hughson, Calif., hoists a big bass at the Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Slam tournament on Lake Okeechobee in 2012. GARY TRAMONTINA / BASS / Courtesy