Going Pro
5 Tour sticks recall the moments when they knew they had what it takes to be a pro
(Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the 2015 August/September issue of FLW Bass Fishing magazine. To read more compelling articles from FLW Bass Fishing magazine each month, become an FLW subscriber member.)
It’s a question every aspiring pro has asked himself: Do I have what it takes to move to the professional level? The pros on the Walmart FLW Tour have answered that question already. They’ve made the jump – some as recently as a year ago, others as long as three decades ago.
We asked five Tour pros to tell us when they knew that the answer to the question was “yes.”
Shane LeHew
“I can’t remember where I heard this, but I heard that when you consistently finish in the top 10 percent in local competition, then you can take the next step. When you do the same thing regionally, then you can think about going pro. Both the [Walmart] BFL and FLW College Fishing circuits really helped me get to where I am. The competition in College Fishing continued getting better throughout my college years, and it really prepared me for finding fish on new bodies of water with limited practice.”
Stetson Blaylock
“Having fished as a co-angler on the Walmart FLW Tour, my goal was to step up to the front of the boat. I just didn’t know when. After doing well in my first three full seasons [his lowest finish in points was 26th], I finally won the Co-angler of the Year title in 2008. One of my sponsors at the time offered to help me out if I went pro, and that was when I knew I was ready to make the jump.”
David Dudley
“I was pretty dead-set on fishing for a living since the age of 5. When I graduated high school at 17 there wasn’t really anything in terms of a professional circuit. The following year B.A.S.S. started a series called the Invitational, and a buddy of mine took my money down to their office and signed us up on the first day you could. I was 18 years old. I qualified for the Bassmaster Classic when I was 19, and the rest is history.”
Tom Monsoor
“I started off fishing BFLs as a pro because it’s the BFL that gets everybody started and where you find out if you can compete and do good. And after I won the points title four years in a row, I realized maybe it was time [to go pro on Tour]. Bill Taylor [FLW senior director of tournament operations] then called me up and said he had an opening at a Tour event and I should come fish, so I did. I got skunked on the first day, but I realized that if I work hard enough I could succeed.”
Dave Lefebre
“One of the defining moments for me was when I was 15 or 16 years old. My dad took me to a local club meeting. I didn’t even know there were clubs to fish in competitively. I was a very competitive kid who played sports and loved to fish, so when I found out you could compete while fishing I was on board. My rookie year in the club I went on to win the club title without a boat, and I knew from that point I was going to fish professionally.”