TAKEOFF
ANGLER PROFILE
FACE OF THE STORM
TAYLOR ASHLEY IS ONLY 20 , BUT HE REPRESENTS THE NEXT WAVE OF YOUNG ANGLERS HOPING TO TAKE OVER THE SPORT
By Sean Ostruszka
“ The FLW Tour and Elite Series , they ’ re about to be taken by storm .”
Taylor Ashley ’ s words are part reality and part prognostication .
The reality is the “ storm ” of young , talented anglers has been on the horizon for quite some time , with the first raindrops of exceptionalism already falling on lakes throughout the country . Jacob Wheeler might have been the first drop . In 2011 , at age 20 , he became the youngest person to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League All-American , and a year later he won the Forrest Wood Cup . Jordan Lee made another splash this year when , at 25 , he won the Bassmaster Classic . The likes of Zack Birge ( 26 ), Michael Neal ( 25 ) and tour rookie Joshua Weaver ( 23 ) could certainly be tossed into the mix of young anglers with impressive resumes .
Ashley isn ’ t talking about those pros , however . He certainly acknowledges their early accomplishments – one of his goals is to beat either Wheeler or Lee by age in terms of winning one of the respective championships – but the storm he alludes to is in college , and even high school . At just 20 years old and having already won his first Costa FLW Series tournament ( in January on Lake Okeechobee ), he thinks he ’ s one of the “ early ” ones in this next wave of talent , a wave that Ashley believes is going to make its mark on the sport earlier than perhaps any generation before it .
PHOTO BY CHRIS IRWIN
The Proving Grounds
A top athlete ’ s arena is the professional stage , regardless of sport , but the proving grounds to reach the top have changed dramatically .
Historically , athletes in the team sports had to prove their talents in college , but now college is just a warm-up for the pros . High school has become the true proving grounds , where truly elite high school players are showcased on ESPN . By the time such athletes hit college age , the best are already earmarked for greatness .
Not coincidently , our sport looks primed to follow suit .
College fishing has been around in some form since the early 1990s , and the professional ranks have certainly seen the fruits of that with collegeanglers-turned-pros such as Brandon Cobb , Shane LeHew and Austin Felix , to name a few . Yet high school fishing only began gaining popularity in 2008 , when Illinois became the first state to sanction it as a sport . Three years later FLW and The Bass Federation created the Student Angler Federation High School Fishing circuit , and that ’ s when the level of competition ramped up .
As a result , Ashley ’ s generation ( and younger ) comprises the first group of competitive anglers to have never known a time without organized high school competition . And much as in other sports , the best – including Ashley – are beginning to separate themselves from the pack .
Thanks to organized high school fishing , 20-year-old Taylor Ashley thinks he already has the experience needed to challenge the sport ’ s top pros .
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