Mayflower Farm Bureau agent turned fisherman joins top pro ranks

AFor bass professional Kevin Short of Mayflower, receiving a $100,000 pay check for winning a major tournament was certainly nice. The fringe benefits aren't bad either.

Short climbed from sixth to first on the final day of a recent BASS Elite Series competition on the Mississippi River at Fort Madison Iowa. His bank account was sweetened but so was his establishment in the bass pro world, not the easiest of arenas to compete in over the years.

Chris Brown  

Short said, "I left Farm Bureau in 2007 to fish fulltime. I've been in the (major) tournaments for five years now." While working at Arkansas Farm Bureau's Little Rock headquarters, Short was able to arrange his schedule to compete on the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) circuit.

He's collected some nice checks for finishing well up in tournaments, and the Fort Madison victory was an exclamation point for him.

"When you win a big tournament like this, your name gets around. All of a sudden you have telephone calls returned," he said.

Professional bassing has two major leagues - BASS and FLW Tour. Prizes have climbed over the years to the point where many dozens of fishermen are making their living in the game.

Tournament bass fishing in its present form began on Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas in 1967, promoter Ray Scott's debut. Entry fees were $100 and first place won $5,000 for Nashville, Tenn., policeman Stan Sloan. Forty-two years later, entry fees are in the multiple thousands and winning a major tournament means from $100,000 to $1 million.

In the past, bass professionals usually had day jobs. The early BASS Classics were won by a young sporting goods store operator, Bobby Murray in 1971; a fishing lure maker, Don Butler in 1972; a cotton and soybean farmer, Rayo Breckenridge in 1973; a fishing guide, Tommy Martin in 1974; and a cropduster pilot, Jack Hains in 1975.

Even the kingpins of bass fishing in the 1970s, Roland Martin and Bill Dance, depended on their television shows and other avenues for comfortable livings.

Today there are dozens or participants who compete in bass tournaments as an occupation.

Short has joined their ranks. He said, "We have a couple of other things going. We have a graphics company that my wife Kerry takes care of. It's mostly vinyl wrap-arounds. And we have an online store that sells baits."

Sponsorships are the backbone of the bass pro world, and Short, like all of the full-time professionals, has several. Most major sponsor agreements help with entry fees and travel expenses. Merchandise, fishing tackle and cash may also be involved. Some agreements call for persona appearances by the fisherman, and Short said, "I make 25 to 30 appearances a year for my sponsors."

The BASS Classic is the Mecca for competitors on that circuit. The Forrest Wood Cup is the FLW Tour equivalent.

Short said, "I'm in 10th place after the Fort Madison tournament, and we have the Oneida tournament (in upstate New York) to go then two post-season tournaments. If I can just catch some fish at Oneida, I'll be all right for the Classic." That will be in February on Lay Lake near Birmingham, Ala.

Winning or placing high in a regular season Elite Series tournament is satisfying for Short and the other pros. The two real plums, he said, are winning the Classic and winning the BASS Angler of the Year race. These payoffs are in the multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars each in addition to opening even more doors.

But the road ahead is not entirely sunshiny and strewn with rose metals for Short and other bass pros.

The national economy downturn has hit hard, especially with boat manufacturers and motor makes. "Boats are not selling at all, Short said. Boat companies have cut way back, and a lot of them are having layoffs. The payback in tournaments has gone up in the past, but it isn't now. It may even go down the way things are now."

Short, who is 47, is originally from Little Rock, went to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and has made his mark with pink. An eye-catching pink bass boat pulled by a pink-hued dually truck and pink sunglasses above a pink logo-covered shirt led to the nickname of K-Pink for Short.

The pink goes well with green - the green largemouth bass he catches and the green that goes to the bank.

(Log Cabin outdoor writer Joe Mosby can be contacted by e-mail at jhmosby@cyberback.com.)