Former Bassmaster Elite Series pro Mark Tucker, an old-guard angler who competed in eight Bassmaster Classics, passed away Sunday at his home in St. Louis, Mo.
Bass Cat president Rick Pierce was among those posting tributes to Tucker, along with possibly the last photo of him — the 62-year-old was shown overjoyed with a monster buck he had just killed.
“God gave us this last gift of Mark’s image,” Pierce wrote of Tucker, one of Bass Cat’s pro staffers. “I have never met a straighter shooter and that infectious smile would get ya’ going. Mark, you went too young and we will see you one day. We’re gonna miss you … Bub.”
Apparently, Tucker had to drag the behemoth buck a good way to his truck, went home to nap and never woke.
“It’s so sad. Definitely a surprise to see that,” said Bernie Schultz, who traveled the B.A.S.S. circuit with Tucker, Peter Thliveros and Kenyon Hill. “I remember that group as some of the best times in my fishing career.
“Mark was a force on the Ozarks, the fisheries in Missouri, Arkansas. He was a really good jig fisherman.”
Schultz said he hadn’t spoken to Tucker for several years, but was recently asked by him to help obtain Power-Poles because he was thinking about “getting back in the game.” Tucker left the Elites in 2010 after 10 years competing at Bassmaster’s top level, only to post his sole B.A.S.S. victory the next year at the Open on Texas’ Lewisville Lake.
“Everyone was happy that he finally won one,” Schultz said.
After winning the Open, Tucker told the Daily Limit he left the Elites due to financial considerations.
“You just can’t stay out on the Elite Series when you’re funding the whole boat,” he said for this 2011 article. “I paid all my own entry fees, the expenses, everything. It was expensive. I’m glad I didn’t go so far in debt that you couldn’t see daylight.
“You can only do what you can do. When you’re funding it out of your own pocket, you can’t put yourself in position to win an event when you have to win $10,000 to get in the next event.”
Schultz said Tucker would work as a concrete finisher even between tournaments and, while still dabbling in derbies, went back to work in that field full-time.
In his Bassmaster career that began in the 1990s, Tucker competed in 137 B.A.S.S. events, cashing checks 74 times with 18 Top 10s. His earnings were $733,905. He finished runner-up three times, and his best Classic finish was his first entry, an eighth at High Rock Lake in 1998.
“He was self-made. Definitely old guard,” Schultz said. “He was a hard worker. I’d put him in regard with Aaron Martens on how much he’d work on tackle. He’d rig a dozen rods then rethink something and re-rig them all.”
Mark Menendez called the news of Tucker’s passing heartbreaking. Although he said he wasn’t super close to Tucker, they had plenty of interaction, calling each other “Marky Mark” in their encounters. Menendez said Tucker earned his respect, even though he was known to have a quick temper.
“Just a phenomenal, phenomenal fisherman,” Menendez said. “He always had a kind word for me and I did him. I respected Mark a tremendous amount for his angling abilities, specifically with a jig. If they were biting a jig, he would catch them. If they weren’t biting a jig, he would still catch them on a jig.
“I never had any issues with Marky Mark on the water. If I pulled into an area and he was doing well in the tournament, I would just leave out of respect for him, and he did that for me as well. Mark expected that out of competitors, but as you know, with 100 different opinions, you don’t always get that.”
Menendez said Tucker was a true outdoorsman. He loved chasing bass, birds and deer, and was most definitely old school.
“In every shape, fashion and form, etiquette and demeanor, just a guy who loved being outside and had a true passion for catching fish,” he said. “His enthusiasm and love of the sport was big, big, big.”
Tucker was a weightlifter and took care of himself, said Menendez, who called him a tough son of a gun. Although his cause of death hasn’t been released, there is speculation he suffered a heart attack after dragging in the deer.
“He loved deer hunting. That’s a big part of who mark was,” Menendez said.
There has been an outpouring of posts sending condolences to his widow, Cheryl, and his family.
Joe McBride summed up the thoughts of most every friend and fishing acquaintance of Tucker.
“I’m still in shock,” he posted. “Prayers to Cheryl and the rest of his family. Mark should be pictured next to the word ‘outdoorsman’ and ‘sportsman’ in the dictionary.”
R.I.P. Mark Tucker.
