Editor’s note: B.A.S.S. has designated 2019 as the Year of the Fan. To celebrate, B.A.S.S. is profiling some of the sport’s biggest supporters.
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. — Scott Christy has been around so many B.A.S.S. competitions, they put him to work.
Christy is a self-proclaimed “Fishing Dad,” spending time taking his son, Tyler, across the country for high school tournaments, including Bassmaster. Now he’s following college events as Tyler fishes for McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.
“I’ve got to give some accolades to B.A.S.S., they’re doing a great job,” said Christy, 48. “I remember when we’d come out and there was 40 boats. Now there’s 400 boats. It’s good and bad (harder to win). You’ve got to maintain growth.”
At the Carhartt College event in April on Bull Shoals Lake, Christy volunteered to man the bag table. Among the dozen or so parents who faithfully make the journeys to watch their offspring compete, he thought it was a great way to give back.
“I loved watching the high school kids, and now we’re here talking college,” he said. “What B.A.S.S. offers, FLW and Illinois High School Association, has been phenomenal for these kids to get to where they’re at.”
Christy grew up fishing in northeast Ohio, chasing smallmouth bass and walleye on Lake Erie out of Port Clinton. He moved to Chicago at 22 for work at a company supplying copper and fiber for computer networks.
“I actually got hooked on salmon fishing on Lake Michigan for 5 or 7 years,” he said, adding he’d fish for largemouth closer to home. After marrying Kara Openchowski, it wasn’t long before Tyler came along and got involved in the sport. At 4, he was out with fishing with dad near their home in Cole City on Braidwood Lake, a phenomenal power plant lake that hosts tournaments.
“He followed dad, but he also followed my father-in-law (Dick Openchowski), who was a big bass fisherman,” Christy said. “Chicago is the retention pond capitol of the world. There’s ponds all over the place where they built these warehouses. It’s really good fishing. It’s a great way to teach a kid how to fish, because there’s a lot of fish, they catch them and they have of fun, but they learn a lot.”
The Christys began venturing out on larger bodies of water and soon Scott was seeing Tyler’s skills rival and even surpass his.
“I started to notice this kid is pretty good at what he does. He was picking techniques up,” said Christy, who discussed his acumen and potential of fishing competitively with his wife. “‘He’s pretty good. We might need to try this.’ ‘How good?’ ‘I think he’s tournament good.’”
Tyler’s connection to his grandfather and fishing was strong, so much so that when Openchowski passed away from pancreatic cancer, he willed Tyler his 17-foot Nitro bass boat. That started the Christy family down the high school path. While Illinois was the first state to sanction high school tournaments, Tyler’s school didn’t have a team. With one of Tyler’s friends, Scott started a community team and served as boat captain.
“We had a very successful high school team,” said Christy, “Tyler won the state championship with Tyler Lubbat, won a high school open on Toledo Bend. They had a string of top 10s going. It was really fun to watch. It’s fun to watch kids who get the sport, grow in the sport.”
The high school experiences, traveling around the country competing on the likes of Hartwell, Kentucky, Pickwick lakes among others, helps prepares youth for college fishing. Christy said it’s important to fish more than your local pond if you want to become a more well-rounded angler.
“If you do the high school program correctly, it will prepare you for college,” he said. “You learn to travel. You learn to be on the road. You learn how to break down a big body of water, like this big, clear lake. You learn how to manage your fish for three days. You learn about changing conditions.”
Those experiences has helped Tyler transition to McKendree, where Jon and Carla Rinderer run one of the larger college bass fishing programs. One of the school’s eight teams that fished at Bull Shoals, Tyler and Trey Schoeder, finished 12th just behind teammates Jacob Louis and Nate Doty, who led the Carhartt Bassmaster Team of the Year standings.
Christy said Jon is a well-known “southern Illinois hammer” and instills his knowledge into the collegians, while Carla is a “team Mom” who makes sure the young men get all their homework done while on the road.
“They take care of them. Nobody travels alone,” Christy said. “Jon is a phenomenal angler — he brings those experiences and teaches the kids.”
Tyler had considered other schools, talked to some, but chose McKendree, four hours south of their home outside Chicago in Bolingbrook, because of its business finance program.
“First and foremost, you better pick the right school. Pick a school that’s going to get you a career,” said Scott, who coached Tyler through much of his baseball career. “Let’s be honest, this is no different than baseball. We’ve got 10,000 kids playing the game. That pyramid is going to collapse down and the top 2 percent are going to go on to play the game. If you make it out here, that’s great, because that’s what they all aspire to do.”
With around 600 schools participating, the college competition continues to improve. It’s sped the learning curve for many young anglers, and a number of former college anglers currently fish the Bassmaster Elite Series. Natural ability goes a long way, but derby experience can’t be duplicated. Anglers get put through the paces, learn from mistakes and hope to improve the next time out.
“I’m a coach. Coached a lot of baseball. I like to watch him struggle right here,” Scott said. “It makes you want it more. Adversity makes you learn.
“He now runs my graphs better than I can. I have to ask him sometimes. He says, ‘Don’t touch that setting. Leave it alone.’ Then there’s the art of fishing. Their ability to cast. I can’t skip a dock like he can.”
Christy said there is a lot to be said for time on the water. Yet he thinks actual competition, while producing benefits, isn’t all about winning.
“I tell him, Tyler, you’re a freshman, in a 200-boat shoot, if you finish in the top 20 percent, that’s a day. If you’re in the top 30 every week, you’re doing your job. You’re fishing against 22-, 23-year-olds who have been doing this longer than you,’” he said.
Just maybe he will become good enough to move on to the next steps past college.
“I know he wants to go on,” he said. “He’s already fished some BFLs. We’ve had some conversations about Costas.”
And dad might just join him there.
