The gambler

Steve Daniel rolls the dice and goes for the win in every tournament. With his recent win, he ties David Fritts with three FLW Tour victories.

Anyone traveling to Las Vegas with Steve Daniel had better pack two things: lots of cash and antacid. Experiencing any type of competition alongside Daniel is not for the faint of heart. And if you’re ever teamed with him in a bass fishing tournament, hold on tight and pay close attention, because he is always in a hurry to get to where the fish are and once there, he knows how to catch them.

Daniel recently tamed the waters of Lake Okeechobee, near his Clewiston, Fla., home to win his third FLW Tour event – something only fishing legend David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., had previously been able to boast. While the win came on familiar water, it’s really a tribute to Daniel’s aggressive approach to fishing.

Daniel began his professional fishing career in 1985. He qualified for the BASSMasters Classic the previous year and finished in fourth place. With his customary break-neck pace, he covered much of the water on the Arkansas River and was the only fisherman to catch a limit on every day of competition. The lights, music and crowd had Daniel hooked, not to mention such an impressive showing for a gutsy rookie.

“Right then, I knew what I wanted to do for a living,” he says of the moments following the weigh-in.

Daniel, who had worked as a boilermaker for the Tennessee Valley Authority, had a heart-to-heart conversation with his wife, Debbie. They agreed that Steve would take a year off work to give full-time fishing a go. That was three Classics ago.

Daniel’s early success caught the attention of fishing legend Roland Martin, who was in the twilight of his brilliant tournament career and working to start-up a marina and resort on Florida’s premier bass lake, Lake Okeechobee. Martin asked Daniel if he and Debbie would be interested in moving to Clewiston so Steve could work as a guide.

“He helped me a lot,” Daniel says of Martin. “He helped me in getting started and gave me the chance to guide and fish (tournaments). A lot of successful professionals started out as guides – Larry Nixon and Ricky Clunn, for example.

“Being able to guide allows you to work on your sport even when you’re not pre-fishing or competing. No matter what or where you’re fishing, there’s always a better way of catching them. Guiding allows you to explore that.”

All of that experimenting no doubt helped to shape Daniel’s willingness to abandon patterns and baits that are producing mediocre results and go for the top prize. Never were strategy and versatility so important as during the second-ever FLW tournament.

After finishing the first event in 18th place and laying claim to the tournament’s big bass – a 10-pound, 5-ounce beauty, Daniel was eager to take the next step. He was ready for a win. That win would ultimately come at Martin’s expense. It was the first of two in 1996 that propelled Daniel to the overall championship.

Daniel beat his mentor by a scant 8 ounces to claim his first FLW victory. While he says he would have appreciated seeing the legend claim yet another title as much as anyone at the weigh-in, to pick up his first win on bass fishing’s newest, most lucrative circuit in such a dramatic manner made it all that much more special.

“We’re really good friends, and Roland was happy for me to win. We both gave it all we had and only one of us could finish in first place,” Daniel said. “Besides, we’re not really competing against each other. We’re competing against the fish and the conditions. Unlike most other sports, you can’t really do anything to effect the other guy. You can’t play defense, so you just have to concentrate on what you’re doing.”

Playing defense would likely not be Daniel’s specialty even if his favorite sport had such a thing. His mentality is that of the freewheeling, strong-armed quarterback. The gunslinger who goes deep every chance he gets. He is Brett Farve with a rod and reel.

His ability and courage to adjust with confidence were evident in his most recent win. Having been without an FLW win since the inaugural season and competing on the water where he had honed his skills, Daniel was a pre-tournament favorite.

“I go into every tournament with the idea that I’m going to win it, but I wasn’t really surprised (about the drought in between FLW victories),” he said. “I had several top fives and lots more top 10s. Winning’s great, but getting a win is hard to do.

“I felt good on Okeechobee, because when fishing’s good anybody can win there. I have a little advantage when fishing’s tough.”

Having survived an 8-pound opening day of competition, Daniel was still without a fish at 10 a.m., on day two. Faced with the possibility that he wouldn’t make the cut, Daniel gave up on the area that he had originally determined could yield the winning fish and sought relief in a spot about which he had little knowledge, but a deep sense that something was there. Twelve keepers later he was on his way to the final day of competition.

A gambler such as Daniel sees the FLW Tour’s elimination rounds as very appealing. It enables a successful angler – one who is no longer dependent upon a check at each tournament – to go for broke during the final round, knowing a 10th place finish is already secured. Why fish conservatively for sixth or seventh place when you can take chances and go for the win?

Despite his appreciation for the excitement big-time, big-money tournaments can bring, Daniel closed out his hat trick of FLW wins in less than dramatic fashion. Within 45 minutes after take-off, using a No. 14 Rappala Husky Jerk, he boated five keepers, including one off his first cast. The tournament was his and he had joined Fritts in the record books.

As far as ranking the honor among his career highlights, Daniel places his first shoot-out victory over Martin and his first Classic at the top of his list. But with Debbie taking care of the business side of things, more highlights are sure to follow.

Now married more than 25 years, the couple travels to all of Steve’s tournaments together with cats Madonna and Simba in tow. Daniel also sticks close to fellow Floridian and bass pro Shaw Grigsby. The friends share information and experiences to help each other along. Even if the wins do not come as frequently as he would like, the 47-year-old Daniel is enjoying his ride through the world of professional fishing.

“When I worked, I was gone all the time,” he said. “Now Debbie and I get to travel all over the country together. She takes care of a lot of things that other fishermen have to take care of for themselves. She takes care of the travel arrangements, and she makes sure I have all the right equipment I need. For me, those are things I know will get done and I can concentrate on doing what I need to do.”

Experience and the financial freedom that success has brought him allow Daniel to indulge in his go-for-broke tendencies. He says he used to set reasonable goals prior to each year. Now his goal is simply first place.

“There was a time when I was fishing for a paycheck and it hurts you to do that … you can’t take chances,” he said. “If I don’t make the top 100 I don’t care as long as I feel that I’ve done what I needed to do. Sometimes you have to take big chances to win a tournament. I’m willing to do that.”

And the gambles just keep paying off.