I was born in Coshocton, Ohio, and raised in Newcomerstown, Ohio.
When I was really young, we lived near a strip pond. I’ve been fishing since before I can even remember. I watched all the bass fishing TV shows when I was a kid. I even tried to make my own show when I was 10 years old. You can find it on YouTube.com if you search “Fletcher Shryock’s Spiderwire Commercial.” Editor’s Note: He’s right â we found it. Click here to view it.
I’m sure it was a bluegill, but I was so young that I can’t even remember it.
I can’t remember my first bass, but I know that I caught my first bass on an artificial lure when I was 7 or 8 years old. I was fishing a Texas rigged 7-inch Berkley Power Worm in pumpkinseed. I fell in love with Power Worms early on because bass would hold onto them long enough for me to realize I had a bite!
George Cochran won the Bassmaster Classic when I was 10 or 11, and I became a fan of his. I also liked all the TV fishermen â Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, Hank Parker.
I caught a 10-pounder at Falcon Lake on a big crankbait. That’s my personal best so far.
I love the challenge of it. It’s a different challenge every day. Things are constantly changing, and you can’t do the same thing all the time if you want to be successful.
I love Lake Erie. I know a lot of people hate fishing there because it can really beat you up and tear up your gear, but I come from the Motocross world, and there’s a sick part of me that really enjoys that. The fishing is great on Erie â giant smallmouths and lots of them â and it presents a lot of challenges you don’t face other places.
I’m proud of the fact that I made it to the Elite Series very quickly. I only started fishing bass tournaments in 2009, and I won a Southern Open in 2011 and qualified for the Elite Series through the Northern Opens. Sometimes my lack of experience catches up to me, but I’m happy to have made it so far so fast.
At this point, my short-term goal is to win an Elite event. If you look at the final standings, I haven’t been close, but I’ve had my chances. A little change here or there might have made a big difference and given me an opportunity to win. I have a ways to go, and I’m working hard to get there.
Bass tournaments aren’t as spectator-friendly as a lot of other sports where the field is much more contained. It presents a lot of challenges in presenting it to the fans, especially presenting it live and making it as exciting as it really is out there on the water.
My lack of on-the-water tournament experience on waters around the country. Things have happened very fast for me, and my learning curve has been pretty steep. I still have a lot to learn, but I think things are starting to come together for me.
I think the flat-brimmed caps I wear give some people the wrong idea about me. They may think I’m some punk kid, but I’m not that kind of person at all. The look comes from my background in Motocross and because I’m younger than a lot of the established pros and some of our audience.
I wish I had done more planning and preparing for my Elite Series career. I was able to have some early success and get to this level fast, and now I’m trying to make the best of it. I’m a person who likes to do a lot of planning, and it can take me off my game when I don’t get that opportunity.
It’s one that I learned very recently, actually â that I need to fish what I have confidence in doing and trust my gut. Advice from other anglers is great, but just because they’re catching bass one way doesn’t mean it’s the best way for me. For me, my own instincts and strengths end up being right more than any outside advice I might get. Plus, as I gain experience, my instincts are getting better.
My work ethic. I work really hard at my fishing. I won a B.A.S.S. tournament early in my career and got to the Elites pretty fast, but it wasn’t luck. It came through hard work.
Experience … or the lack of it. I have a lot to learn. When I’m out there on new tournament waters, I realize how little experience I really have and how little I know sometimes. As I gain experience, I hope to get a lot better. When I was just starting out, I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know and there was actually a good side to that. I felt less pressure and may have fished better because of it. On some level, I need to find a way to get back to that feeling while still gaining experience.
I think superstitions are bad luck! I’m not one of those people who thinks that everything happens for some unknown reason. I think things happen because of decisions I make and actions I take.
I’d take the Classic … no doubt, hands down. If you win the biggest bash of the year, people remember that. Winning AOY is incredibly impressive, and I think most people have no appreciation for how hard that is, but I’d take the Classic.
Being at a tournament and asking someone how they did, and all they say is “I’ve got five.” Really? Is that all you can say? Why did I even ask?
For more on this Elite Series pro, check out his bassin’ rig in “Inside Fletcher Shryock’s Ride.”