Terry Bolton, of Paducah, Kentucky, with the support of Mom, Dad, and Grandma, is pursuing his life-long dream, and doing it with no small measure of success.
Terry has spent only three years fishing professionally, although he competed for the last 10 years on the Red Man Tournament Trail. In a short time on the pro circuit, at 28 years old, Terry has a respectable list of accomplishments, including earning a check in every Wal-Mart FLW Tour event except one last year. Highlights include a fifth place finish in the 1997 FLW Tour Championship, a fifth place finish in the 1998 Forrest Wood Open, a 13th place showing in the Forrest Wood Open in 1996, and fourth place at this year’s Red Man Regional at Truman Lake to put him (for the second time) into the Red Man All-American Championship in June of 1999, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
Terry competes in most tournaments alone, but his family, who he still lives with, are never far from his thoughts, and the encouragement and advice they supply are an important resource. In 1996, agonizing over the entry fee to his first pro tournament, the Forrest Wood Open, he sought counsel from his mother. She told him, “What the heck, Terry, they’re paying 75 places, goodness, you surely should be able to at least get your money back.” In Terry’s own words, “She coaxed me into it.” He did as she expected, finishing 13th, and launched a bright pro career.
While Terry was coasting through classes toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Safety and Health Engineering at Murray State University, he was working hard studying the bass living 20 minutes away in Kentucky Lake. His Mom, who was funding his education, gave him a much needed wake-up call. She told him she “took her money seriously,” and offered a deal, “Get your degree and then you can fish all you want.” He took her up on it and got back on the education track. In 1996, Terry earned that Bachelor of Science in Occupational Safety and Health Engineering.
He chose Murray State, in part because they had a 98 percent job placement rate for graduates, but upon graduation, he thanked his Mom for motivating him to get the degree, gave her his diploma, and told her it was her receipt. Terry immediately started to use his education for his own occupational safety by avoiding sharp hooks and bumpy water.
His Mom is retired from Bell South and his Dad is a machinist for the railroad.
The first time Bolton made the Red Man All-American in 1994, his Grandma, Beauton Dowdy promised him if he ever made it again, she’d be there. A few months ago when he made it again by finishing fourth at the Red Man Regional on Truman Lake, he gave her a call. “Grandma, pack your bags we’re going to the All-American.” Along with Grandma, Terry will bring the same intensity and desire to win that he brings to every other tournament he enters.
Listening to Bolton, you can sense a progression he’s going through in his early pro years perhaps better than he can himself. “Fishing is a game of highs and lows . . . the highs are great but the lows are tough . . . you have to learn to work through it.” No longer does a bad day of practice carry over into a bad attitude during a tournament. In fact, even a bad tournament day, at this point in Terry’s career, has very little effect on his attitude and performance the next day.
He’s still learning about himself in addition to the fish he chases. “Sometimes I can go out at tournaments and it amazes me how good I can adjust; it also amazes me how stupid I can be.” He strives for consistency, not fully appreciating how consistent his achievements have been in such a short career. Talking to him, the words “honest” and “dedicated” come to mind.
Terry’s common sense advice to new competitive anglers: “Don’t get caught up in local trends and things locals do, learn to fish you strengths – the technique and type of water you’re the best at fishing. Be versatile, but always fish your strengths; fish what you know how to do.”
He gives lots of credit for his success in competitive fishing to the Red Man Tournament Trail, where he spent his first three years as a non-boater studying fish and partners, learning everything he could to hone his skills for a professional career. He’s certain, without that “jump start” and the opportunities the Red Man Trail gave, he wouldn’t be a professional bass fisherman today.
He loves the Wal-Mart FLW Tour. It allows him to get into the flow of the day, to do his thing and still have the opportunity to make adjustments. He quickly adds that the draw format is also a great deal, since it lets him learn new areas, techniques, and waters from his partners. In short, he genuinely has fun with what he’s doing and likes it all.
In the short term, he would like to win an FLW tournament. He’s put himself in a position to win, but so far hasn’t been able to fulfill that promise. “I’ve either run out of fish or could not make the adjustment I needed to, to catch them.” The tournament circuit has taken a toll on free time, and another important short term goal is spending more time fishing with his Dad, the man who first put a rod in his hand.
Long term, he would simply like to continue to make a good living at his sport and get out of the house. “I’m sure Mom and Dad get tired of looking at me every now and then,” he says.
While making a living at a sport he loves, he sometimes runs into desk bound buddies from Murray State. They invariably tell him they wish they were doing something half as satisfying. He just smiles.
Terry spends an estimated 200 days a year in his (Ranger) office on the water, his favorite food on the road is cheeseburgers, and his favorite bait, spinnerbaits. When he’s not competing, he spends his free time “fishing” (he loves to crappie fish) and, although he says he’s a terrible shot, duck hunting with friends.
He feels he’s been blessed with a good family for strong support and the unique opportunity to pursue a career in a field he loves. He’s not short on humility, but at the same time he’s developing an understanding of his strengths.
Maybe there’s some industrial plant that’s not quite up to speed on Occupational Safety and Health Engineering because Terry Bolton isn’t sitting behind a desk with a title on a shiny nameplate, but he doesn’t give it much thought as he happily pitches a spinnerbait along a submerged log trying to meet yet another 4 pound bass.