by Will Eads
Why I love being a Marshal
Since 2010, I have been participating in the Bassmaster Marshal program. It was the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Smith Mountain Lake that Skeet Reese won. I was a little apprehensive, unsure as to what I was getting myself into. Not only was this my first event, but it was the only event I’ve had the opportunity to go out all four days of competition. I’ll never forget that week as long as I live. When I got home the Sunday evening of that magical week in April 2010, I told my wife that I would always be a Marshal, no matter the changes each year brought or how far I had to travel.
I love being a Marshal because from the early beginnings of that first Thursday morning at Smith Mountain Lake in April 2010, I fell in love with being a Marshal. I also love Marshaling because it’s such an escape from my everyday life. As a pastoral psychotherapist, I daily sit with people and journey with them as they face life’s trials and tribulations. I love my job, but it’s emotionally taxing and requires me to regularly reorient myself to what is sacred in life. Marshaling provides me an opportunity to do just that, to immerse myself in what I love (bass fishing) with people (the Elites Series pros) that I so deeply appreciate and admire.
My favorite moment
In 2012, I Marshaled my third Elite Series event which was held at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tenn. At this point, I was becoming more comfortable with being a Marshal and starting to get more efficient with Marshalling responsibilities. After the Day 2 weigh-in, I discovered that I was being paired with Jeff Kriet. I was ecstatic and could hardly sleep that evening as I thought about what the next day might bring. Being in the boat that day with Jeff was unbelievable, and I learned so much from him.
When you’re Marshaling an Elite Series event, in order to communicate with the pro you’re paired with each day, you end up exchanging cellphone numbers with them. As is reiterated in the Marshal briefing, we are asked to delete these numbers at the end of the competition day to respect their privacy. So, I’m on my way home that Saturday evening and just to reiterate my gratitude for the day, I ended up calling Jeff. I told him that per protocol, I was about to delete his cell number from my phone, but before I did, I just wanted to once again thank him for the day and congratulate him for making it to Championship Sunday (he ended up finishing eighth in the tournament). He told me not to delete his number and if I ever needed him for anything, just to give him a call. I was speechless. To this day, I still have Jeff’s name and number in my phone (I’ve never called the number since) and every time I see it, I am reminded of that memorable day.
How Marshaling helped my fishing
There isn’t enough time to adequately explain this because being a Marshal has so dramatically changed how I fish, period. One of the most vital parts of my fishing that Marshaling has helped is the importance of paying attention to subtleties. The Elite Series pros are so meticulous and accurate to detail in everything they do. Once you’re in a pro’s boat and spend the day with them, you vastly learn the importance of the “little things” and how they can make such a difference in the course of a day.
Mechanically speaking, the pros are pretty equal, and so you learn that what distinguishes them from each other is how they emotionally and psychologically approach the day. The other aspect of Marshaling that has helped my fishing is the realization of how human the Elite Series pros are. They struggle, backlash, get hung up and go long periods of time without a bite just like the rest of us. When you read about the pros or watch them on TV or follow them online, they seem inhuman at times. Being a Marshal gives you a chance to experience the pros in a more realistic, humanistic way. You get to hear their stories, ask them questions and learn from them in ways that can only be experienced by Marshaling.
Sign up to be a 2018 Bassmaster Marshal.