BACKLASH
Q&A
JOE URIBE JR.
Surprise, Ariz.
In seven years of fishing the costa
flW series Western division, you
have five top-five finishes in the
angler of the year race and two
more top 20s. that’s kind of ridicu-
lous, don’t you think?
Yeah, I’ve been very blessed. I’ve
been fishing for quite a while. So even
though I’m pretty young at 38, I’m still a
veteran out here. I have confidence in
my knowledge of the lakes and in my
abilities.
to what do you attribute most of
your success?
I think it’s a few things. I have a bet-
ter understanding of the lakes out here
[in the West] than I do elsewhere. Part
of it also is how I practice; how I fish. I’m
a very technical, organized angler. I also
try to be very observant, both of the
conditions and of other anglers’ body
language. You can tell if a guy is calm
and has a good bag or if he’s struggling
and making a lot of casts. Little things
like that make a difference.
88
Well, it’s obviously all working.
let’s talk about practice. I hear
you have a great partner.
I do. My sister, Rachel, travels and
practices with me. She’s been a really
By Sean Ostruszka
big reason for my success, especially in
the last three seasons since she’s been
a co-angler in every event.
We complement each other really
well. If I’m fishing fast up shallow, she’ll
be slowing down out deep. She’s the
reason I won the tournament at Clear
Lake in 2015.
Why’s that?
Well, I’d been cranking shallow, but I
felt my pattern was running out. She’d
found a pattern dragging a Texas rig in
deeper water, and she did well the first
day doing that and really well the sec-
ond day.
The night after the second day, she
told me I really should try her pattern.
Well, I started out doing mine, but
then I finally gave it a shot and I
caught a 6-pounder. But after an hour
it was getting windier and I felt my
crankbait pattern would improve. So I
went back to that and lost a 4-
pounder. I thought I needed one
more good bite, and with 30 minutes
left I decided to try her pattern again.
First cast was a 9-pounder.
She was actually in a camera boat
watching me when that happened. I
remember turning to her and her just
saying, “I told you.”
Who got you both into fishing?
Our dad, Joe Sr. We grew up in a
tough neighborhood in Long Beach,
Calif., but he introduced us to fishing,
hunting and the outdoors. It really kept
us out of trouble.
I take it there weren’t too many
outdoorsmen in your neighbor-
hood growing up, huh?
No. My friends always gave me a hard
time about me fishing and it being bor-
ing. They thought we were just bobber
fishing, waiting for something to happen.
Then, once I started fishing tourna-
ments, they were like, “How much money
did you make?” It wasn’t so boring to
them then.
circling back, in that 2015 season
you earned two wins and another
top 10. What was that like?
It was amazing. That first tournament
at Havasu was special because it was my
first win ever in the Costas. I’d almost
given up on trying to win, because I’d fin-
ished second and third so many times,
but never won. I was mentally exhaust-
ed from trying to figure out why. I’d final-
ly let it be before that season, left it up to
God, and figured when it was my time it
would be my time.
flWfIshIng.com I february-march 2018