Meet the Pros Night an Overwhelming Sensation
by Brad Wiegmann

If anyone going to the Meet the Pros night at First Baptist Church in Branson, Missouri, expected to hear four of the elite FLW Tour Professional anglers stand up and tell stories just about fishing all-night long, they went home disappointed. If they went to hear how four of the top FLW have had their lives changed and praise the Lord for his glory and guidance, they were in for a treat. Of course, when anglers get together sooner or later the subject of fishing comes up. Tonight, the living center was packed full of men, wives, sons, and daughters. Meet the Pros Night had a full house and everyone was in for a treat.

The MC and leader for the night was Glenn Chappelear. Chappelear is the founder of the Sportmen's Outreach (www.sportsmensoutreach.org) ministry and a professional angler on the FLW Tour. The evening began with down-home southern style music followed by a delicious meal before the speakers took to the stage. No one knew it was only going to get better.

After the introductions were over the microphone was turned over to Chappelear. The first professional angler to speak was Clark Wendlandt. Wendlandt was in a new jersey since I had seen him the last time. His new sponsor is Cabelas, but it is still the same competitive Wendlandt. Always wanting to win and willing to sacrifice to achieve any goal he sets for himself. Wendlandt has won the FLW Angler of the Year three times. Nevertheless, it has not always been easy. "When I first started out, I was on the Clark Wendlandt plan," Wendlandt continued, "God was not part of the plan." Wendlandt went on to explain how he turned his life over to God and only after that was he able to achieve his true goals in life to serve God through words and his actions. "I am very humble that God would allow me to work with this ministry to reach out to people and tell my story," said Wendlandt. Before sharing his testimony, Wendlandt had shared his insights on fishing a jerkbait. Wendlandt explained how jerkbaits work in cold water, locations to fish them, and cadence to use to catch bass. He prefers a jerk, jerk, pause cadence but will change up during the day if the bass stop biting. As for equipment, Wendlandt likes to use 8- or 10-pound fluorocarbon line with an Abu Garcia XTS reel with a 6-1/2-foot light tip rod.

Next up was FLW National Guard Pro Scott Martin, who had just come from winning the FLW Series Tournament on Lake Okeechobee in Florida. Not only is Martin a successful tournament angler but also has a flourishing guide service on Lake Okeechobee and his own TV show The Scott Martin Challenge. Martin took the stage with a rod in his hand looking out at the crowd began explaining how he fishes for bass with jigs. Martin likes to drag his football jigs across the bottom like a crawfish, not in a hopping motion. "Dragging a jig makes a lot of noise that attracts bass," explained Martin. His favorite color is PB&J with a brown color trailer. "I like to fish my football head jigs on an Abu Garcia Revo with a 6:1.1 ratio, 12-pound Berkley Fluorocarbon line, and a 7-foot medium heavy rod. After explaining how to fish a football head jig, Martin turned to the crowd and said, "When I first started fishing tournaments, nothing was more important to me than fishing," Martin continued, "I went to church in body but not in spirit, I was riding the fence and not committing my life to God." That all changed when Martin decided to welcome God into his life. "Every angler out here (pointing to the crowd) has to be accountable for what they do in life and when you go through boat check," Martin asked, "Will you be ready?"

After Martin was done, Chappelear went on and introduced FLW Chevy Pro Jay Yelas. Yelas, who has won the Bassmaster Classic Championship and been a successful bass angler for years broke open a package of Berkley Hollow Belly swimbaits and began explaining how to rig them. "It very important to correctly rig a Hollow Belly, if it is done incorrectly the bait will not run right," Yelas went on, "it's an easy bait to fish, just cast it out and reel it back slowly." Yelas explained how soft swimbaits can be fished in shallow water, around boat docks, and even in deep timber like on Table Rock. He prefers to use 10- to 20-pound Berkley Fluorocarbon on a 7- to 7-1/2 foot rod when fishing with a soft swimbait.

Yelas started his testimonial with a humorous story from fishing in the Bassmaster Classic Championship and how the situation tested his faith. "Everyone sins but God's love allows us to come back to him," said Yelas. For Yelas getting the opportunity to speak was exciting, "This will be the highlight of my week, people will remember this longer than anything I do in the tournament coming up," said Yelas. His testimony focused on how everyone sins but God is always willing to take us back.

When Yelas had finished, Chappelear introduced the next FLW Professional Angler Mark Rose. Rose, who is part of the Strike King Pro Staff and winner of two FLW events came up to the stage without a fishing pole. Unlike the other anglers before him, Rose talked about the mental and physical side of fishing. Rose explained how the moon affects fish and paying attention to everything around you. His testimony covered how the decisions you make in life will affect you after death.

Meet the Pros Night turned out to be a life changing experience for everyone who attended. Rose said it best when I asked him about speaking at the event, "I'm just so thankful for what Jesus has done for me and the opportunity through the outdoors to tell his story and he means to do it through fishing," said Rose. For every angler who attended Meet the Pros Night it will be one night they never forget.

Brad Wiegmann is a full time fishing guide on Beaver lake and Lake SWEPCO in Northwest Arkansas. Brad guides for Largemouth, Spotted, Smallmouth, Stripers and White Bass. He is also a free-lance writer who's weekly column "Speaking of Fishing" appears weekly in several local newspapers. You may also see him doing seminars, working outdoor shows or featured in outdoor magazines such as BASSMASTER Magazine, Outdoor life and Arkansas Sportsman. He also fishes the FLW Tour, Stren and local open tournaments. He is currently on the Pro staff, promotional staff and guide programs of numerous tackle manufactures, lure companies, and fishing related companies. You can contact him at (479) 756-5279, at bwiegmann@cox.net or visit his website at www.bradwiegmann.com for more information.