He’s been catching bass for more than a decade as a professional angler – now he’s casting for hearts. FLW Outdoors pro angler Byron Velvick is one of this season’s contenders on the hit ABC reality show “The Bachelor.”
This summer, Velvick took a break from the professional fishing circuit to take part in the sixth installment of the TV series that seeks to find true love for its contestants as millions of viewers watch.
Taking time off the water is a rarity for Velvick in a sport that he says is “who I am and what I love.” Velvick currently ranks 162nd in the FLW Tour standings and 197th in BassFan.com’s world rankings. He has fished 22 FLW Outdoors events since 1995, twice ranking in the top 10 for tournament finishes. Velvick is also a two-time WON Bass U.S. Open winner.
The 40-year-old angler, who will be featured on the prime-time series starting Sept. 22, says he had never even watched an episode prior to being cast for the show. According to Velvick, he was fishing a BASS event at South Carolina’s Santee Cooper lakes last spring when some friends called him. After meeting someone who was casting for the next “Bachelor,” they suggested that Velvick would be the perfect choice.
“At first I said `no,’ because I didn’t want to get into ambush reality TV,” Velvick said, referring to other match-making reality shows that offer a choice between love or money. “But my friends encouraged me to do it.”
Out of thousands of other applicants, the Boulder City, Nev., native got a callback from ABC executives, who were lured by his pro angling resume and Web site.
“ABC called it a high-concept idea to go with a fisherman,” Velvick said. “They really liked the concept.”
Velvick was flown out to Los Angeles for a number of interviews, a casting process that took roughly three months. During that time, while he was intrigued by the show, he wasn’t yet totally sold on the idea. “I kind of laughed and said, `Can’t you find someone who actually wants to be on the show?’ because I didn’t really care about it.”
But after some thought, the once-married Velvick realized that the show could be a way to find someone special. And that possibility made the concept more and more appealing. So he made a jump of faith and accepted the chance to be one of two bachelors on this season’s show.
“I’m totally immersed in the possibility that I could find the love of my life,” Velvick explained. “The bottom line is – it’s about my life and the possibility to find a soul mate.”
The dynamics of the show hold a lot more potential than a typical singles mixer. Calling it “the cleanest dating pool in the country,” Velvick says show producers screen each woman carefully, running background checks and health tests that can run upward of $15,000 per person.
But this season’s show isn’t quite the “Bachelor” viewers are used to; Velvick will try to find love on the show that now includes a few new twists. This time around, there will be two bachelors in the very beginning. During what’s been dubbed the “Lady’s Choice Ceremony,” the 25 bachelorettes will vote for the one man for whom they’d like to compete. And they’ve definitely got a big choice ahead of them.
No doubt as a way to spice up the show, ABC executives have chosen Velvick – “the country boy” – as one of the two bachelors. The second bachelor choice is the quintessential “city boy.” He’s 40-year-old Jay Overbye of New York City; a never-married former model who sells residential real estate.
While Velvick remains mum on the details and outcome of the show, he says the experience was a good one. He will also say that many of the women found the idea of an outdoorsy, bachelor angler very intriguing.
“It’s really the typical thing,” Velvick said. “You meet these women, and everyone has a fish story. Women were trying to make that connection with me.”
With his stint in reality television over for now, a life of roses and bachelorettes has been replaced with rods and lures. He’s back on the water, currently practicing for the WON U.S. Open to be held later this month on Nevada’s Lake Mead. His appearances for ABC will start gearing up during the month of September, but Velvick told executives he had to put them on hold until after the open.
“I told them, `I appreciate the things you have to do, but I can’t do anything until after the 15th,'” Velvick said.
Once the show begins on Sept. 22, he’ll be contractually obligated to ABC appearances, which means he’s unsure of his tournament schedule for the fall months. But by January, he will be clear to jump back on the tournament trail again.
“I want to go back to FLW, absolutely,” Velvick said. “I like competing at that level. It’s where I belong. It’s what I do.”
In the end, one bachelor and bachelorette will walk away from the final rose ceremony with each other and the hope of true love. But there’s another hope: that Velvick’s angling connections will mean the sport of bass fishing comes away a winner as well. As a child, Velvick says he always dreamed of becoming a bass professional. It was a dream he never even knew could be realized until he met pro angler Rick Clunn. He now hopes that the exposure the sport will get through his high-profile TV appearance will encourage interest in bass fishing for younger generations. He hopes it’ll inspire dreams.
“You’re putting the excitement of bass fishing out there for everyone to see,” Velvick said. “You’re presenting it as something kids can emulate.”
And he hopes the exposure will tell America that becoming a pro angler is a valid – and sometimes viable – career choice.
“I’ve gotten so tired of trying to define that,” Velvick said of his career.
One thing is clear: True love or not, this bachelor wants America to know what it means to be an angler.