Love for the sport of bass fishing can find a person through a variety of avenues. But for many of us, it’s inherited. Such is my story, with my dad having me on the water before I could walk. Countless memories were made with him, as his love for fishing rubbed off on me.
And such is the story of Johnny Roth and his dad, John Roth — a couple of avid anglers I met while competing in the B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier on Lake Eufaula, in Alabama. Johnny was fishing the boater’s side with his dad competing in the nonboater division. This is their story.
Early years
Much the same as many a story, Papa John was the one that got little Johnny into bass fishing.
“I brought Johnny up on the water. He was probably 4 when my wife first let me get him near a body of water. And he just … he’s a natural. It just came to him.”
John noted the intensity in little Johnny, even in the early days when the two would be fishing for bluegill together on their weekly trips out to the lake or out to the pond on the family farm.
“Tuesday was the day — he couldn’t wait to get home from school ’cause I got home, grabbed him, drove to the lake and we’d stay there and fish ’til dark. Then I’d get him home at bedtime for school the next day, but that was every Tuesday. We did that for years.”
I couldn’t help but share similar stories with John from the years of my youth spent fishing with my dad. Like this one time when my dad was catching them so good he loaded the boat on the trailer and came and checked me out of school so I could go back out there with him to catch them.
“I’m glad you’re getting to experience that with your dad,” said John. “It’s a memory. And that’s all this life is about anyhow, these memories. That’s what people carry on when the others are gone. You try to hang on to that kind of stuff.”
Another memory of John’s marks the moment when he knew Johnny was head over heels in love with fishing. Little Johnny was 12 years old at this point and had suffered a broken leg in a sporting event. After the surgery, he was advised to lay low around the house for a few days to let the healing process set in.
“I come home one day, and we’re looking for him and can’t find him. I went down and looked in the boat and his fishing pole was gone. He had walked down the road, had to be a couple miles, to get to the creek.”
After the initial shock wore off and John realized his boy was fine, no doubt a great sense of satisfaction overwhelmed him as he beamed with pride, knowing that Johnny had overcome all odds to go fishing. And that his intentional effort to get his boy into fishing and keep him out of trouble — real trouble — had undoubtedly worked.
“He’s down there with his foot in a garbage bag, out in the middle of the creek, on crutches, casting. And that told me right then and there, he’s hooked. Twelve years old with a broken leg in the middle of the creek on crutches, fishing. You’re not gonna keep this boy off the water.”
“My goal was this. You get kids out on the water when they’re young and bring them up on the water and get them to develop that love for that, they’re not going to be in any trouble. And it paid off with him. He’d rather do that than anything.”
Johnny remembers those early years fondly as well, thankful that his dad took the time to instill in him an unquenchable love for the sport.
“I grew up fishing with him,” said little Johnny, now 42 years old. “He used to catfish when I was really young. He had trophy after trophy from catfishing. Then he got me into bluegill fishing. He started more towards the bass fishing when I was 5 or 6.”
Johnny remembers well those early days spent fishing on his grandfather’s farm pond.
“That’s where I really honed in a lot of bass stuff too, ’cause I could just go out there in a johnboat, and I’d be out there for hours.”
As much as he loved fishing with his dad, Johnny was born to run a boat. Some of his favorite memories were of the freedom and independence he felt early on when he’d get to take the boat out by himself.
“I was always one of those kids who, once I caught onto something, even if I wasn’t ready, I just wanted to do it. And honestly, it’s ’cause I wanted to make him proud. Even in my younger days, when we would go out in his johnboat, I would love it if we came in a little bit early and he’d be like, ‘You can go ahead and take it out if you want to stay out.’ He would let me have that freedom to do that.”
Getting into the B.A.S.S. Nation
As little Johnny became intermediate-size Johnny, the father-son combo found themselves getting more and more into competitive bass fishing.
“I started out like everybody else, in a bass club, years ago,” said John. “I brought Johnny into the club when he was like 16.”
“We were in a bass club called Rod Busters Bass Club,” recalled Johnny. “Not far from where I live in Ohio, my dad met some buddies, and he got into the B.A.S.S. scene because of them. He came across the B.A.S.S. Nation stuff and got us all affiliated with it.”
The Roth family hails from a dry section of the country without a lot of quality fisheries nearby. They were able to join up with the Kentucky B.A.S.S. Nation, though, and found that outlet to feed their growing hunger for competitive bass fishing.
“We fish Dale Hollow, Cumberland, Barren River, Green River and Kentucky Lake. But my dad has taken me everywhere throughout the years. We’ve been to Table Rock; we’ve been to Florida. I traveled more to fish than I fished at home, because there’s just nowhere to go around here. Most of my fishing has happened in Kentucky.”
As Johnny got a little older and became a dad himself, and John got busy with work and taking care of other family affairs, the two slowed down on fishing together as much. The club they were in disbanded, and the two stayed close, but their time on the water together waned.
“I quit tournament fishing for about 15 years,” said John. “But Johnny called me one day and asked me to bring his boat down to Lake Barkley for the last Kentucky B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier. He was on vacation down in Florida at the time and his wife wanted to stay a few more days.”
Johnny told his dad he’d pay for him to fish the co-angler side of the Kentucky B.A.S.S. Nation State Qualifier if he’d bring the boat down. It benefited Johnny not only for his dad to bring his boat to him, but if his dad would sign up as a co-angler for the event and link with Johnny in the registration process, Johnny would be guaranteed to fish out of his own boat and avoid the boater-boater draw that was possible at the time.
“He paid my dues and entry fees and got me into the Nation event. I ended up fishing that tournament (as a co-angler) which was rare for me because I’ve been a boater all my life. I was all of a sudden a nonboater for the day.”
In his first tournament back after 15 years, John qualified for the Kentucky B.A.S.S. Nation State Championship, which was right back at Barkley the next month. He returned to Kentucky for that event and finished well enough in the State Championship to make the State Team.
“So, from there, it went on. For the last nine years, I’ve been in the Nation so Johnny could be the guaranteed boater. I was pretty much doing it just for him. But I love it. I’ve had a great time and met a lot of great people over the years.”
Success on the B.A.S.S. Nation Trail and in life
Both John and Johnny have experienced a good bit of success fishing the B.A.S.S. Nation. John has won a State Championship and made five state teams out of the back of the boat. And his son has made nine state teams as a boater and won six Kentucky B.A.S.S. Nation Angler of the Year titles.
“I’ve enjoyed it, that time I get to spend with my son. That means more to me than any of it, you know? A lot of this I’ve done just for him. To support him and make sure he can be a boater. It’s nice to sit back and see him execute and be successful in the things you taught him, to see him go out and do it. I get my enjoyment out of that, even if I don’t do anything.”
Johnny also stressed the importance of the time on the water together over the accolades they’ve earned.
“He’s the reason I even do it. I got into it, and then I just got a passion for it from him. He’s so laid back, and he only cares how I do. It’s whatever for him. But that’s what makes him such an awesome nonboater.”
“They call him ‘Papa Roth’ and ‘Legend’ in the Kentucky B.A.S.S. Nation, because he’s just known by everybody, and he catches fish out of the back of everybody’s boat. He’s always up there for angler of the year and he’s always winning tournaments. And it’s because he’s so patient and his outlook on it is so good.”
Johnny has three kids of his own now, and he gets them out on the water as much as he can. Admittedly, the younger two are more into it than his eldest, but he loves them all the same. The kid in the middle, though, she’s the one most likely to hobble off in a creek with a cast on her leg.
“She goes to tournaments with me. I’ll make it a point, because she’ll be mad at me if I don’t ask her to go to a team tournament. She’s been out there with me, it’ll be pouring down rain and I’ll feel terrible for her. And she’ll sit out there and do it the whole time.”
“And these lakes are tough; it’s not like you’re getting bites constantly. But she’s hung in there. We actually came in third and won some money back one time, and that was really cool for her.”
Though only most of the Roth crew loves to fish, all of them know what’s most important in life. Family, memories and love for one another prevail at the end of the day. Catching a fish is great. Winning is a bonus. But having someone to share those memories with … that’s priceless. Papa John summed it all up well.
“I’m proud of him. He’s got a great family. He’s a good Christian young man. And I couldn’t ask for more.”
