Uribe Siblings Looking to Make History

Can they close it out at the battle on the Delta?

Life in the outdoors has always been part of life for the brother-sister angling duo of Rachel and Joe Uribe Jr. But the focus of the point leaders in the Costa FLW Series Western Division – the co-angler side for Rachel, and the pro side for Joe – hasn’t always been the same.

“We grew up as an outdoors family, but I took to fishing and she took to hunting,” says Joe. “I guess I liked to catch things and Rachel liked to kill ’em.”

With a chuckle, Rachel confirms her elder brother’s statement, recalling how she once saved him from a rattlesnake with a quick ready-aim-fire motion on a desert adventure when they were youngsters.

“My brother was going to step on it, and I told him I would protect him,” Rachel shares. “After I killed it, we hung it up in my room.”

Eventually, Rachel came around on the fishing side and shares the same passion as her brother. Now, as they prepare for the final Western Division event with hopes of a family sweep of the final standings, the Uribes once again have each other’s backs. And they’ll rely on a lifetime of outdoor skills to try and make it happen.

Their angling inception

The Uribe children’s introduction to fishing was launched in the oceans and streams of California.

“Our grandpa – my dad’s dad – used to take us in his little boat to the Redondo pier to fish,” recalls Rachel. “Also, we would spend every summer camping and fishing for trout. We would take our fanny packs and rods and spend all day fishing.”

Calling the Three C’s – Lake Casitas, Lake Cachuma and Lake Castiac – his home water, Joe notes the competitiveness of tournament fishing hit him in his early teens.

“That is when I joined my first bass club,” he recalls. “It was in 1991.”

In 2015, Rachel joined her big bro – her senior by two years – in the tournament bass fishing scene as a consistent FLW co-angler, which is where she developed a passion for the fun, the competition as well as the camaraderie and family time that the sport provides for her, her brother and their parents, who travel as a fishing fam through the Western Division.

1,000 miles of waterways stand between the Uribes and AOY/COY

The last time the sibling anglers blasted off for a bass-catching competition, it was on the waters of big-bass fishery Clear Lake. That was this past May for the Western Division’s second stop of 2018.

At the end of the three-day bass hunt, Joe and Rachel had taken over the top spot in the standings of their respective divisions.

“I was kind of shocked when I saw the leaderboard,” reveals Rachel. “I’ve thought about us winning an event together, but never about being AOY together.”

As the final venue of the Western Division approaches (Sept. 27-29), only a single tournament on the tidal waters of the California Delta sits between each of them and simultaneous point titles.

Both are already strategizing on ways to seal the deal once they blast off into the 1,000 miles of California Delta waterways.

“There are several months between Clear Lake and the Delta, so I make time to wet my line as much as I can, even if it is at a local pond,” says Rachel, who calls her home water the tournament trail. “I just want to make sure that I don’t get rusty in between events.”

Joe notes he is keeping up on tournament weights and Delta conditions to have an idea of what it will take to win once he gets to the competition waters.

“Of course, we both want to win the event, but we figure that if we can each get a top 10 we will make it for AOY,” he says. “Anyway, a top 10 at the same event has been a longtime personal goal of ours.”

Gunning for first

Their path to the top this year has had its forks in the road with individual challenges for each Uribe along the way.

“At each event, I’ve taken the good and the bad and used it as a way to critique myself, to learn to react different or faster, in order to build my skills,” says Rachel. “And, being a female is always a challenge in the sport, but I think I have overcome most of that.

“My goal is to inspire more females to go out there and fish without being intimidated or defeated by the thought that it is a male-dominated sport.”

Joe’s personal goal is about consistency through the season. He is fishing with redemption in mind.

“Last year, I led AOY going into the final event and slipped up in that tournament,” he recalls. “I ended up losing.

“I put myself in position to win AOY again this year, and all I want to do is go into the last event being confident and humble and just focusing on my execution to take it home.”

Interestingly, their dad, Joe Sr., is also chasing a season-long goal of finishing in the top 10 in the standings. He currently sits in 11th on the co-angler side.

Sharing the thunder

Although the bro and sis practice partners are rooting for each other to land the title, their good-hearted sibling rivalry and friendly family competition shows out.

“I told my brother even if we both win it, I know he will steal the spotlight,” jokes Rachel. “He always does. Then, when we figured out my dad was just out of the top 10 too, he told me he was coming for my No. 1 spot.

“We’re a very competitive family,” she adds.

Piling up stats

Throughout the season, Rachel practices for events alongside her brother for the Western Division trail stops.

“It’s nice to be able to have her as a practice partner,” says Joe. “It gives us family time to spend together. We share what we learn, and bounce ideas off each other.”

In two of the past three seasons, Rachel has placed 11th and 14th in the Western Division co-angler standings. She has put up two top-10 finishes at Clear Lake.

This season, Rachel was “lucky 13” in both Western Division events – finishing in 13th place each time – and is looking to land her biggest accomplishment yet.

“We like to set goals for ourselves in everything we do,” explains Joe. “In fishing, we set a goal for Rachel to make the championship last year, and she did. We are always striving to do the best we can personally, for ourselves and for our sponsors.”

Truly a contender for one of the West’s best, Joe’s FLW career earnings top $410,000, and he has 13 top-10 finishes, including three wins. He also fished the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.

In seven seasons, he’s never finished worse than 16th place in the Western Division AOY race, and has five top-five AOY finishes. Joe won the Western Division AOY title in 2015.

It’s obvious the Uribes have grabbed hold of the Western Division and aren’t letting go anytime soon.

A double –OY party

Both Uribe anglers anticipate a tandem win will be a victory for their entire family, if they can close it out.

“It will be super-important for the Uribe name,” says Joe. “My father fishes through our eyes now. He is traveling with us this year as a non-boater, and it looks like he will make the championship with us. It has been super-exciting to have FLW out here. They allow us to truly make the sport a family affair.”

With a possible dual celebration on the horizon, Rachel’s thoughts veer toward the family competition.

“Even if we both win, I think nothing will change. My brother will still try to push me out of the spotlight,” adds Rachel as she again laughs about their competitive streaks. “But really, whether we win or not, sharing the whole FLW Tournament experience with my family has been a dream come true.”