was and still is the organization’ s all-time leading money winner.
“ If you asked anyone, they would tell you I was rich,” he says.“ They’ d say,‘ Look at his winnings. Dudley is loaded.’ I can assure you, that wasn’ t the case.”
Dudley’ s financial demise was not due to frivolous or superficial spending, but simply bad timing. He had invested a lot of money in real estate— mostly vacation rental properties— at the top of the market.
“ I love professional fishing, but I’ ve always wanted to have other types of business income to fall back on,” Dudley says.“ So I invested a lot of my winnings. These weren’ t get-rich-quick schemes, either. These were solid vacation rentals that were cranking out some extra income back then.”
But once the economy tanked, people throttled back on vacation spending, and Dudley’ s rental income dried up. The economic crash also caused a devaluation of real estate. Dudley had purchased much of his property at the peak of the market, and three years later those real estate assets took a serious hit in value. Like many real estate investors during that time, Dudley found himself upside down in real estate debt.
“ We had money on paper, but no liquidity whatsoever,” he explains.“ I was making hefty payments on all this rental property, and it was not paying me back at all. It just completely drained us.
“ When I started the 2011 season, I was at the absolute bottom of the barrel.”
Familiar Territory
To some degree, being on the very bottom financial rung was familiar territory for Dudley. After all, he started his fishing career in the early 1990s from essentially nothing, often borrowing boats, rods, tackle and entry fees to get from one tournament to the next. He even bummed gas from farmers along lake banks to keep his boat going during practice for professional events.
WANTED: A CLASSIC TITLE
Business ventures aside, Dudley keeps busy on the water too. Overall, he’ s fished with remarkable success throughout his career. He’ s qualified for the last seven Forrest Wood Cups with FLW, but Dudley also qualified for the 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series by finishing fifth in the 2016 B. A. S. S. Northern Open points. He declined his Elite Series qualification, however, saying the reason he fished the Open series was mostly for a shot at a Bassmaster Classic spot, which is awarded to each Open champion.
Dudley has chalked up wins at nearly every level in pro fishing, including the Forrest Wood Cup, FLW Tour, Costa FLW Series, FLW Series Eastern Division, Ranger M1 Millenium, FLW Tour Open, B. A. S. S. Open and even the old Bassmaster Top 100 series that preceded the Elite Series. He’ s one of three anglers to have won three Tour AOY titles.
“ The only two things I’ m missing for a true grand slam in this sport are a B. A. S. S. Angler of the Year title and a Bassmaster Classic win,” Dudley says.“ I’ ll probably never check the B. A. S. S. AOY off the list, but I still want a Classic trophy. And as long as B. A. S. S. offers Classic qualifications for winning B. A. S. S. Opens, I’ m going to fish B. A. S. S. Opens to try to get in that Classic. I’ d love to have a shot at that one.”
Add“ horse ranching” to David Dudley ' s resume. It ' s part of his youth outreach efforts.
It was a struggle, to be sure, but a familiar one shared by many young and hungry pros just starting out. No money, perhaps, but also no worries or responsibilities beyond making it to the next tournament. Things change drastically, however, when there are others depending on you.
“ It’ s a whole lot different when you have a family to support,” says Dudley.“ When I first started in pro fishing, I was young, single and had nothing to lose. I didn’ t care where I slept or what I ate. But when you have mouths to feed and bills to pay, the stress level is much higher.”
Still, Dudley relied on what he has always relied on to claw his way back to firmer ground: raw determination, extreme resourcefulness and— above all— his undeniable faith. Together these elements have provided Dudley with a deep well of resiliency.
The fact that Dudley produced such remarkable fishing performances during his 2011 and 2012 AOY seasons while being mired in a sea of debt remains one of the most unheralded achievements in pro fishing. Some of his top competitors were aware of Dudley’ s hardships at the time, including Andy Morgan, who remains in awe of Dudley’ s remarkable feat.
“ I’ ve fished through some tough times,” Morgan says,“ but how he was able to maintain focus on the water during that time and win like that is something that’ s just inexplicable.”
Inexplicable, perhaps, but Dudley sees it all as part of real life.
“ That’ s how God tests your faith,” Dudley says.“ He can build you up and tear you down, humble you, and it makes you stronger.
“ I’ m just not a quitter,” he adds.“ When my back is up against the wall and all the chips are down, that’ s when the determination wells up inside of me like some kind of adrenaline. Trust me, it’ s not a position I put myself in on purpose, but when it’ s fourth and long, I feel like it’ s all on me to get a first down.”
Entrepreneur
Despite his painful early real estate experiences, Dudley’ s entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well. Donald Trump himself would likely be impressed with the number of part-time businesses Dudley runs while also competing as a professional angler on the FLW Tour.
His early real estate investments on the coast taught him that the vacation rental business is a very seasonal market. With that in
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