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WITH 2013 TBF NATIONAL CHAMPION MARK DANIELS JR .
Mark Daniels Jr .
Q : What would be your biggest piece of advice to a grassroots angler looking to get involved in his local TBF chapter for the first time ?
A : My advice is to look at your potential endgame . A lot of people don ’ t want to fish TBF because they think so short-term . The end game that I always saw is that if you work your way up through the ranks , you could potentially qualify for the National Championship and have a chance at winning that “ Living Your Dream ” prize package . If you ’ re looking to get on a path to becoming a pro – or even of if you just want to get involved in tournament fishing – TBF is a great way to get your feet wet .
Q : How long were you involved in TBF before you were able to win the National Championship in 2013 ?
A : I joined TBF when I was 16 and fished there until I was 20 . Then I went to college and took five years off from TBF . Then I got back into it at 26 and fished every year until I won the National Championship at 32 . Out of all the tournaments I could enter , the TBF tournaments were the only ones I could afford , allowed me to travel outside of my state , compete against anglers from all over the nation and give me the opportunity to become a professional .
Q : You ’ re now 40 years old , a fulltime professional going into your ninth year . What would Mark Daniels Jr . of today say to 16-year-old MDJ just getting his TBF fishing career started ?
A : Follow your dreams . That ’ s my motto for life . It ’ s such a simple and cliché statement , but it holds so much weight to me . You ’ ll never work as hard as you will for something that you ’ re passionate about . You ’ ll never love something as much as something you ’ re passionate about . If you have a dream , you ’ re going to put hard work into it , and that ’ s just part of chasing it . Don ’ t quit , keep grinding and it will all pay off in the end .
PHOTO BY DAVID BROWN
MLF Bass Pro Tour angler Mark Daniels Jr . epitomizes the “ Living the Dream ” potential of The Bass Federation National Championship . Daniels was an agriculture biologist and weekend bass angler fishing TBF tournaments near his home in Northern California when he qualified for the 2013 National Championship on Grand Lake , Oklahoma in 2013 .
Little did Daniels know that that TBF tournament would change his life and start him down the path toward a new career as a tour-level bass pro .
Daniels won the 2013 TBF National Championship and then parlayed the “ Living the Dream ” prize package into a successful stint on the then-FLW Tour and eventually the MLF Bass Pro Tour . The Alabama pro has racked up nearly $ 1 million in tournament winnings and collected three tour-level wins since that fateful day on Grand Lake in 2013 , when he claimed the title of “ National Champion .”
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
Daniels has parlayed his TBF National Championship opportunity into a successful pro career on the MLF Bass Pro Tour .
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 85