Back Story: Nick Gainey’s New Buddy
Whether they want to be or not, tournament fishermen are role models. People make judgments about the sport as reflected by the actions and demeanors of its participants. That’s especially true of youngsters who often idolize and seek to emulate the fishermen they see on TV or read about in FLW Outdoors magazine and other publications.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Brent Ehrler or a guy who just started fishing Saturday tournaments, an impressionable kid is watching you and taking mental notes. Nick Gainey, for one, understands that and bears himself accordingly.
Gainey, who lives in Charleston, S.C., fished the Southeast and Northern divisions of the American Fishing Series this year and qualified for the AFS Invitational championship event through both. The Invitational wasn’t the breakout tournament he had hoped it might be, but he did take home some good memories of the event. Best of all, he made a new friend and fan.
Gainey earned a spot in the Invitational through both the Northern and Southeastern Divisions, and was fishing the latter division’s last qualifying event of the year on Pickwick Lake when he met Adam Neill. The 15-year-old and his father were driving around the parking lot at the motel where Gainey and other tournament contestants were staying, admiring the boats. Gainey, being the type of person of whom it is said “never met a stranger,” struck up a conversation with the pair.
“They were just cruising around and stopped at my new rig,” Gainey recalls. “I liked Adam right off. He reminded me of my three grandsons. He was pretty excited about my boat.”
Who wouldn’t be? Gainey’s rig is a tricked-out Ranger Z521 with a 250-hp Mercury Pro XS, the kind of outfit that makes 15-year-old bass fishermen dream dreams.
“I wound up inviting Adam to go pre-fishing with me at Wheeler, providing it was okay with his dad and Ron [Lappin, the tournament director]. The next afternoon, Adam came around again, this time with his mother. Then he called me every night to see how I was doing in the Pickwick tournament.”
With Lappin’s blessing, Adam and a friend old enough to drive them to the boat ramp got to go fishing with Gainey before the Wheeler event, and it was his turn to be impressed.
“Adam and his buddy fish local tournaments on Wilson Lake together and they’ve done well in them. It was plain to see that they both knew their way around a boat and could handle fishing tackle with the best of them. It was all `yes sir’ and `no sir’ from them. You could tell they had good raisin’.”
The fishermen parted friends, and Adam wound up checking in on Gainey at the Invitational too. As noted, the South Carolina angler didn’t fare well there, but figures 2011 will be his year. His goal is every FLW pro’s goal: to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup. If good will counts for anything, the best wishes of a newfound buddy in Alabama might help him reach it. If being a good ambassador of the sport counts for anything, Gainey deserves his shot.