5 Pivotal Moments in my Career

Chris Burgan reminisces about past College Fishing events

Editor’s note: Chris Burgan is an FLW intern and one-half of the University of Minnesota’s 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship-winning team.

The FLW College Fishing Open on Kentucky Lake marked the beginning of my senior campaign. While it was great to get on some open water for the first time in months (though we didn’t finish very well), it also had me looking back at five events that, more than any others, led me to this point.

1. A Tornado Hits the Table Rock Lake Area

The spring of 2012 coincided with the second semester of my freshman year at the University of Minnesota. As the only freshman on the bass fishing team, I didn’t have a teammate and accepted my role as an alternate for any tournament. When a huge tornado ripped through the Table Rock Lake region right before a tournament, the event had to be rescheduled. The week’s delay forced one of the UMN anglers to miss the event. I gladly filled the void. Joe Ponessa and I ended up taking 20th in what was my first FLW College Fishing tournament. Although we narrowly missed the Invitational cut, the tournament provided me with valuable experience early on in my career.

2. Winning the Big Ten Championship

Fishing the 2012 Big Ten Championship was the highlight of my sophomore year. The tournament format allows each school to send as many as five teams and totals only the top three team weights per school. Minnesota only had three teams to send, but we ended up winning the tournament nonetheless. The victory caught the eye of local Minneapolis angler Austin Felix. Turns out, Austin was going to school at UMN to pursue a degree and ultimately a career in professional bass fishing.

3. Motor Troubles at Kentucky Lake

Austin and I fished together for the first time at the 2013 FLW College Fishing tournament on Kentucky Lake. After a productive day, we found ourselves in the back of a large bay with 30 minutes left in the tournament. Feeling confident in our bag’s weight, we decided to head back to the weigh-in. It was a run of only about six miles, but we wanted to avoid any photo finishes. After strapping everything down, Austin turned the key to the ignition. Nothing happened. We frantically fiddled with the motor for a while, but to no avail.

Then, from far back in the bay, another team’s boat came running out. There was still hope! We desperately flagged down the other anglers so I could hop in their boat and take our fish in. As they pulled up next to us, our motor decided to start. After thanking the other team for their consideration, we took off out of the bay. When we hit the main lake, the motor died again. A wave of regret washed over me. The other team was nowhere in sight. I imagined what it would be like to take a sack full of fish to a weigh-in that was over.

With another turn of the key, however, the outboard started again, and the boat got up on plane – for a while. The motor died shortly after. We limped toward the landing, alternately getting up on plane, dropping back down as the motor died and then repeating the process. Eventually we arrived at the landing, though we were two minutes late. Despite the penalty, we had enough weight to take fourth place and qualify for the Invitational. 

4. Graphing in the Wee Hours of the Morning

With Lake Keowee, site of the 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship, being 19 hours away from my apartment in Minneapolis, Austin and I never had the chance to pre-practice for the championship as did many of the Southern teams. The allotted practice time gave us one day to learn a brand new body of water, but we made the most of it.

After clearing it with tournament director Kevin Hunt, we hit the water at 3 a.m. to begin graphing the lake. Truth be told, I might have dozed off for a time in the passenger seat under my layers of blankets. In those early morning hours we checked deep structure throughout the lake. It was extremely helpful over the following three tournament days when we wanted to try new water. Those “dark-thirty” hours paid off in a big way when our deep hump pattern began to form and we put together the eventual winning game plan.

5. Picking Up Our Boat and Meeting Some Important People

While filming the 2014 Ranger Cup Challenge in Texas, Austin and I stored the UMN-wrapped boat at a Ranger dealership there. When returning to retrieve it before the Forrest Wood Cup, I was delighted to stumble upon a Meet the Pros event at the dealership. I hung out with tournament favorites Jacob Wheeler, Brent Ehrler and Scott Martin, as well as such legends of the sport as Jimmy Houston and Larry Nixon. While eating lunch I asked a few questions about co-anglers.

After an exchange of co-angler horror stories, they talked about some of the co-anglers they’ve fished with and what some of them have done to find success in the back of the boat. The pros broke down what they believed to be the strategies of consistently high-placing co-anglers.

Not having fished as a co-angler since high school, I was pretty nervous to do it for the first time in years at the Forrest Wood Cup – part of the prize package for winning the college championship. I didn’t want to become some pro’s co-angler horror story and step on his toes as he tried for a cool half-million bucks in prize money. I was also going up against 49 of the best co-anglers in the land, some of whom have been fishing the circuit for years. Being able to pick the brains of the pros was extremely helpful. I went on to finish 11th – one soul-crushing ounce from a top-10 finish.

Editor’s note: Here is a video of Chris Burgan fishing with Jacob Wheeler on Day 2 of the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray.

I expect my senior year campaign to bring even more memorable moments. I know having to follow the National Championship from home this weekend will fuel my fire for a last attempt to retake the title.