PROFILE: AARON BRITT
understanding the love/hate relationship that is the California pro
T
here’s no middle ground.
You either love Aaron Britt,
or you hate him. And hon-
estly, he doesn’t care which
camp you’re in.
That might seem blunt or harsh or
arrogant, because it is all those things;
because Britt is all those things. He’s a
32-year-old who curses frequently,
never holds his tongue, refers to him-
self as “Legit Britt” and wears his emo-
tions on his sleeves, which happen to
cover a tapestry of tattoos.
By his accounts he eats and
breathes bass fishing, and his one
and only goal is to be the best fisher-
man in the sport, “period, because I
know I can be.”
Basically, in a sport whose tradi-
tions venerate the old-guard model of
modesty and quiet confidence, he’s
the polar opposite. He’s everything the
sport loathes. In fact, based on what
you’ve read thus far, you might even
loathe him, too.
If you do, that’s OK. The California
pro is used to people making snap
judgements about him. As he says,
when you’re “so vibrant, so passionate
and so emotional” as he is, you’re an
easy target for judgement. But he
wants to stand out; to be different.
All he asks is that if you are going
to judge him, actually get to know him
before you do.
“I’m about as straight and honest
as they come,” says Britt. “I am who I
am, and I like who I am. Yet, people
misunderstand me.
“I don’t mind, though. I under-
stand, being who I am, it’s a tougher
price to pay. Some people get me.
Some don’t. You can’t expect every-
one to understand.”
THE arT oF FIsHIng
His neck, his knuckles, his fore-
arms – Britt’s canvas of tattoos is
extensive, which only helps him play
the role of West Coast punk in many
people’s minds.
sprIng 2019 I FLWFIsHIng.com
“People see the tattoos, and they
immediately frown upon them and
me,” Britt says. “They don’t even both-
er to read them. They should, because
every one of them is important to me.”
There’s the garden of roses on his
left forearm and hand. There’s the
pocket watch on the back of his right
hand. A lock and his birth year on his
right wrist. A heart with the word
“Mom” on his left hand.
And then there are the others; the
ones where he professes his passions
and mantras.
“My knuckles say ‘Stay True’
because that’s what I always want to
be, every day,” Britt says. “And on each
finger is a fish jumping.”
He has the Star of
David prominently dis-
played because “I’m
Jewish, and I’m proud of
my religion.”
His right forearm
features a giant bass
with the word
“Addicted,” and in
among the roses on his
left forearm is “Chase
Your Dreams.” He also
has “Never Give Up”
inscribed on his neck.
“I chose places for
those tattoos because I
wanted people to see them,” Britt says.
“They’re important to me. I want peo-
ple to see what drives me every day;
what I’m all about.”
As noted, some people get him,
and some don’t. One who does is
Michael Iaconelli, which should come
as little surprise. Iaconelli pioneered
the persona of being too brash and
bold for the sport. It got him intense
notoriety and intense scrutiny, and to
this day, despite all of Iaconelli’s suc-
cess in pro fishing, many still consider
him an outcast.
The two have shared the boat on
a number of occasions, and Iaconelli’s
message to Britt has stayed the same.
By Sean Ostruszka
“He gets it,” Britt says. “He gets
what it’s like to be this passionate
about fishing, and he has tried to
teach me there’s a fine line that I’m
still learning. But there’s a reason
people call me the ‘West Coast
Iaconelli.’ I take it as a compliment.”
sTIrrIng EmoTIons
If you couldn’t tell, Britt is an emo-
tional guy. Then again, you probably
would be, too, if you had Tourette syn-
drome, ADHD and an impulse disorder.
Trying to keep all those issues
under control on a daily basis is not
easy, and obviously, they get the bet-
ter of him at times, resulting in blunt-
ness and outbursts of emotion, which
some fans noticed when
Britt was on FLW Live at
Lake Toho.
Just ask him what
it’s like to be a profes-
sional fisherman.
“Stressful! But I wouldn’t
want to do anything
else.”
Or ask him about
his one and only MMA
fight; one which has
gone down in infamy for
ending in a double
knockout 14 seconds in.
“Unbelievable! I just
thank God it didn’t go longer. My car-
dio sucked.”
Or about him being disqualified
from the Lake Lanier event for violat-
ing FLW’s no-information rule during
the off-limits period. “It damn near
brought me to tears. No info was
exchanged, but I made a mistake so
it’s my fault.”
That episode still stirs plenty of
emotional reactions from Britt, though
most of them are positive now.
“I had so many pros reach out
after,” Britt says. “Guys like Jason Reyes
and Cody Meyer and John Cox. It gave
me a warm feeling to know guys like
that were there for me.”
“I wanted to play
baseball, but that
all changed when I
was 16 and my
dad, Ron, and I
went on a guided
trip to Clear Lake.”
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