“We went to one of my best spots
for a lipless,” he recounts. “I threw the
same one I always do and nothing hap-
pened. Then Alex says, ‘Let’s give them
a little different sound,’ and he threw
that Jackall bait out there and started
wearing them out. When I put one on, I
started catching them, too. Some of
the things he has shown me have
helped revive my old places.”
Learning the Old School
Though Deakins claims that Davis
has helped him more than he has
helped Davis, the latter disagrees.
“No way,” Davis responds. “That man
has taught me so much it’s incredible,
and it’s only the kinds of things you
learn from 40 years on the water, like
how rain affects a frog bite or how
muddy water affects a flipping bite or
how fish move around in a grass bed
based on conditions.”
Though Davis falls into the early end
of the millennial generation, he is an
old soul in his respect for the work
ethic and practicality of the generations
before him, which is why he found a
kindred spirit in Deakins.
“Marshall wears jeans and a T-shirt
and drives a regular truck,” Davis says.
44
“He gets up every day at 5 a.m. and
works like a horse until dark. His hands
are worn and scarred from cabinet
work. For some reason I just identify
with those kinds of things – it’s old
school.”
One of the primary intangibles
Davis has picked up from Deakins is
patience – the understanding that big
limits take time to catch, and panicking
or spinning out early in the day only
makes a situation more challenging.
Davis says his previous tendency to
panic stemmed from not having
enough fish located for different condi-
tions, something else Deakins helped
assuage.
“One of Marshall’s favorite sayings
is, ‘You can never have enough fish
found,’” Davis says. “I used to think if I
had found three or four groups of fish
my practice was over; I had done my
job. With Marshall, the job of finding
fish is never done. You keep fishing no
matter how many fish you’ve found.”
Another golden rule Davis took
from Deakins’ playbook is to fish – as in,
actually cast – to find fish, a timely
virtue in the era of bottom imaging.
Whether searching ledges or acres
of grass, there are no shortcuts.
“Due to the new technologies, we as
young anglers have gotten into the
habit of just riding around looking at
graphs to find fish. I’m as guilty of it as
anyone,” Davis admits. “But in the old
days, those guys fished until they found
fish, and there is still a lot to be said for
that style of fish-finding. Marshall still
fishes down miles of ledges to find
those subtle sweet spots that can’t
always be seen on graphs. That’s how
he won the All-American – finding
places by just fishing and not looking
only for dots on a screen.”
Above all, Davis says it’s Deakins’
pure passion for fishing that has had
the most potent impact on him.
“He is not in this sport for the fame,
the fortune or the glory,” Davis says.
“He does this because he has a burning
desire to catch a bass and learn from
the experience. Win, lose or draw –
when a tournament is over and every-
one puts it on the trailer to go eat,
Marshall goes back out and fishes until
dark because he truly loves it.
“That’s something you can’t buy;
that’s something that comes from
within, and I totally admire it, which is
why I’m honored to be a good friend of
his.”
FLWFISHING.COM I APRIL 2018