TAKEOFF
ANGLER PROFILE
MORE FUN THAN PROFIT
I
WIN, LOSE OR DRAW, JAMES WATSON IS HAVING A BLAST
f James Watson could talk bass into
biting as well as he can talk people
into buying houses, his den would
be festooned with Forrest Wood Cups.
In 2006 and 2007, Watson was not only
Realty Executives’ top salesman in his
home state of Missouri, but the inter-
national realtor’s top salesman in the
world. Then he walked away from it all
in 2013 to fish full-time.
Since then, Watson has carved out a
niche for himself in the tournament
realm. He’s one of only a few still-active
pros to have qualified for both the
Bassmaster Classic (in 2016, finishing
15th) and the Forrest Wood Cup. Most
importantly to him, Watson is doing
what he always wanted to do with his
life, and just being able to fish tourna-
ments is part of the payoff.
Joining the Pro Ranks
30
Watson is committed to the Tour’s
pro side now, but if he had it to do all
over again, probably he would have
continued to fish as a co-angler for a
By Colin Moore
PHOTOS BY KEVIN PIEPER
couple more years before going to the
front of the boat in 2010.
“I made the switch too early. I came
to that conclusion after I got my butt
handed to me a few times,” he says. “I
first talked to Robbie Dodson about
fishing the Tour in 2009. He was going
to fish as a pro, and I was going to fish
as a co-angler, and we were going to
split the bills. I grinded out that season,
but I got it in my head that fishing out
of the back of the boat in a tournament
wasn’t for me, so I made the jump in
2010. I was fishing, but I was still in the
realty business, too.”
A couple of dismal seasons followed,
yet Watson felt that he had the skill to do
better. One distraction was his Watson &
Associates realty business, whose office
was just outside the gates of Fort
Leonard Wood between St. Louis and
Springfield, Mo. Watson had opened it a
few years earlier following a nine-year
stint in the Army, where his last assign-
ment was as a drill instructor (“I was
mean only when I had to be; otherwise, I
was about the way I am now,” he says).
Once he decided to focus on tourna-
ment fishing, he worked out a deal with
one of the agents in his office, a retired
lieutenant colonel named David
Holbrook, to become a silent partner of
sorts.
“I said I would be a partner on con-
dition that I didn’t have to talk to any
customers, and I told David where to
mail my checks,” recalls Watson. “David
is a top producer and a great organizer,
and there wasn’t anybody better than
him to take over. So in 2013, when I
made the move to full-time pro, I quali-
fied for the Cup and I won a PAA
[Professional Anglers Association] tour-
nament. Of course, I haven’t cashed
nearly as many tournament checks as
commission checks, but I’m satisfied
because I was able to go in the direc-
tion I wanted to go with my life.”
The highlights of Watson’s 2017
campaign included a 40th-place finish
in the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake
Murray and a 10th-place showing in a
FLWFISHING.COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2018