Artistic expression

California pro Art Berry brings West Coast heart, soul, enthusiasm to FLW Tour

Art Berry’s got an attitude.

After two phenomenal seasons in the EverStart Series Western Division, Berry notched his second FLW Tour top-10 finish this February in only his third try. That kind of success in the hard-luck world of bass fishing is enough to give anyone an attitude.

But don’t be fooled. Berry may have an attitude, but it may very well be the most positive attitude on tour.

Take a look at the statistics from another angle. Sure, Berry has put up some enviable numbers, including seven top-10 finishes in 14 FLW Outdoors events plus many other top-10s on various other tournament trails. But Berry’s career thus far is perhaps more defined by the near misses.

Out of those seven top-10s, four of them are runner-up finishes, including his most recent second-place finish last February at Lake Toho on the FLW Tour. He also finished second in the 2004 EverStart Western points race. Add that to a near-unbelievable list of other almosts – including getting lost on the way in at the 2004 EverStart Series Championship and forfeiting a catch that would have put him squarely in the top 10 – and you’ve got a career that would frustrate even the most Zen-like fisherman.

But Berry remains undeterred. In fact, he credits his sunny outlook on life with most of his considerable fishing success and remains unrelentingly upbeat when he could easily be discouraged.

“I came home (from Toho) and I got, `Oh my God, can you believe Berry got second again?'” he said. “And I was like, `Are you kidding me, man? I was on “FLW Outdoors” with that hat cam!’ It was the greatest thing ever, and I’ll take second again!

“How could you not be excited about taking second? To think that I got second in an FLW tournament just gives me goose bumps. That is the greatest thing ever! It’s just incredible.”

Remembering his roots

Growing up in the fish-rich area of San Diego, Berry always longed to become a professional bass fisherman. Following in the footsteps of his father, a Ranger dealer and pro angler, Berry fished his first U.S. Open – a premier championship tournament out West – when he was only 16 years old and experienced the first of many close calls when he came 1/100 of an ounce shy of winning a boat.

Berry had been immersed in the bass-fishing culture since he was very young, attending Ranger dealer meetings and mingling with Forrest and Nina Wood when he was only 5 years old.

But when he fished his first U.S. Open and found himself in the company of his idols that he had met as a kid at the Ranger meetings, he knew for sure he’d found his calling.

“It had to be when I went to my first U.S. Open and was in the room with Ricky Clunn, Jimmy Houston, Roland Martin and everybody,” Berry said. “As a kid going to dealer meetings, it was always my dream to be able to compete against those guys.”

As a youngster, Berry’s mom and dad would drop him off at the lake to fish when he was barely old enough to drive a boat. He finished school and entered San Diego State University, eventually earning a degree in education. His immediate pursuit upon graduating was hitting the bass-fishing tours head on, and he was able to rely upon knowledge gleaned from years of fishing in the San Diego area to find his success.

“In San Diego, the fishing is incredible,” Berry said. “People don’t know a lot about San Diego, but it’s a fishing paradise. I’ve been all over the country, and San Diego is probably some of the finest fishing in the United States. I wouldn’t be where I’m at if I were not from San Diego. The competition is incredible.”

Baby steps

Berry’s first taste of success was right after college, when he claimed victory at two events in the same year at the tender age of 22. He continued his dominance of the Western fisheries, patiently waiting for the time to be right for him to take his fishing East.

“I never had enough money to compete out East, so I continued to compete out West to be the best out here first and build a really strong base out here,” he said. “I would have been out East three or four years ago, but could I win? Probably not, because I just hadn’t gone through enough.”

Therein rests the secret to Art Berry’s success – taking his lumps and learning from them, cultivating skills and an attitude that would enable him to have what it takes to compete on both coasts.

“To have the tallest peak, you have to have the strongest foundation,” he said. “My main deal was taking baby steps. I fished a lot out West because I wanted to learn to win, and I think it takes a long time to learn how to fish to win.

“I took my time and started fishing really slowly, fishing team tournaments and pro/ams while trying to learn all the different lakes: the Delta, Lake Mead, Lake Powell. You could only compete to win after you’ve fished there six, seven, eight times. It took me a while; I was trying to learn to win. It’s a process.”

Heading East before it was time, Berry says, would have diminished his confidence and the mental aspect of the sport, because he knows he would not have been able to compete to win.

“I think it was good for me to stay out here and develop,” he said. “I forced myself to stay out here and develop a habit of fishing so that I know no other way than to catch them. I could have been there earlier, but it’s going to better me. It’s been my whole entire goal to have a strong base.”

Out West, Berry found his strongest success on Nevada’s Lake Mead, earning three WON Bass events there as well as a slew of others. In 2000, he was at Mead when he received a call from FLW Outdoors, extending an invitation to fish the Forrest Wood Open on Pickwick Lake in Alabama.

“I was on the waiting list for two tournaments that year, and I only got into one,” he said. “I had no practice; I had never been to the lake, never had a map. I drove from Lake Mead and got there at the draw. I went to Wal-Mart that night, got a map and a fishing license. I didn’t even know how to get to the launch ramp.”

All obstacles aside, Berry finished 10th in his first FLW Tour outing and seemed primed and ready to head out East. However, the financial obligations of fishing on the East Coast kept Berry out West a little while longer.

In 2003, Berry got another taste of FLW Outdoors when the EverStart Series expanded to include Western destinations. That year, he ended the season ranked fifth in the points standings and earned two top-five finishes: second on Lake Pleasant and fourth on Lake Mead. He was at it again in 2004, earning three top-10s out of four events, including two second-place finishes. He ended the season ranked No. 2.

“At the beginning of my career, I had lots of second-place finishes, breakdowns and near misses,” he said. “To be the best, you’ve got to have things like that happen to make you better. In the EverStart Series, I’ve had three seconds and a fourth. I could’ve won. All those chances to become good at a young age are helping to make me better. And that’s my ultimate goal – to improve every day.

“In the EverStart I had those two near misses, and at (the EverStart Series Championship) at Lake Cumberland, I had enough weight and probably would have won the tournament, but I made a wrong turn. Those, to me, are positive things. To have three seconds on the EverStart Series in two years is an incredible accomplishment. I have an incredible amount of faith that to be the best you have to overcome situations. Maybe if I’d won that one, I wouldn’t have taken the other two seconds. If you want to have success, you can’t think another way, or you ain’t going to catch them.”

Editor’s Note: Part two of ‘Artistic expression’ will appear on FLWOutdoors.com on Friday, April 1.