BACKLASH
Q&A
GRAE BUCK
HARLEYSVILLE, PA.
Wait, I thought everyone in
Pennsylvania fly-fished for trout,
and you just learned to do it?
That’s a lie. I guess I fly-fished once
when I was 16. We went to a dude
ranch, and that was actually in
Colorado. I had a guide show me how
to do it there. And then last year was
the first year I did it since then. I went
to Penn State, and we had all those
great trout creeks up there. But I
always just took an ultra-light spinning
rod and a jerkbait and caught brown
trout that way. I guess I’d done too
much smallie fishing.
Isn’t that cheating?
Oh yeah, absolutely. You got a lot
of dirty looks from the guys there.
So your wife fishes too? What’s
her name?
Jess. Yeah, she fished at Penn State
with me.
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What’s the dynamic like when you
two are in the boat together?
She usually lets me kind of do my
thing, and she just picks fish off as we
go. She’s very good with a tube. She
likes smallmouth fishing. She’s not a
largemouth fan at all. She wants to
catch numbers; she doesn’t want to
try and catch one big one.
You certainly caught the smallies
well at Cherokee. What was it like
being in contention to win the
final day?
It’s hard to explain. At the time when
the tournament was going on, I knew I
was doing well that last day. But I didn’t
realistically think I had a shot at winning
it until I came in and my travel partner,
Matt Becker, told me. I guess he had
looked at the coverage when we got in
and saw that I was leading at that point.
And then I saw my wife there, and she
was jumping up and down all excited,
and my parents were there. So that’s
what got me nervous at that point that I
realistically had a shot at it.
You seemed so comfortable on
FLW Live that I wonder if you
might one day want to host your
own TV or internet fishing show.
I’d be all for it. I think it’d be fun. It’s
funny because sometimes, when I do
a seminar or something, I talk really
fast. I get really nervous when I do it.
But when I’m fishing, I kind of get into
the moment of it, and I explain exactly
what’s going on. I think I kind of calm
down a little bit. So I think it was a
great life experience having the cam-
era guy with me for Live. And I think it’s
going to help with every part of my
career, kind of settling me down, giv-
ing me the confidence that I can catch
the fish and can actually promote
myself at the same time.
How is it that you always stay so
positive? You’re always smiling.
I just love fishing. I would go fishing
every single day if I could.
Do you have a favorite national
park?
Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We
went out there last summer for 10
days, and we hiked way too many
miles and fished a ton. I taught myself
how to fly-fish, so that was cool.
On the subject of small-
mouths, do you consider
yourself a smallmouth
specialist?
Um … I prefer it. I didn’t
grow up doing it. I didn’t start
doing it until I got my first bass boat
when I was at Penn State.
Living close to Philadelphia, have
you always had an interest in the
outdoors?
Absolutely. I’ve always been out-
side. I love it outside, and traveling. My
wife and I go to national parks every
summer and do a bunch of fishing,
and we’re always outside.
By Curtis Niedermier
You have to get mad once in a
while, right?
I got mad when I lost that fish for
the third time that day [at Cherokee].
I’m sure you saw that.
I’m not an angry person. It would
take a lot. I could tell you a story …
Please do.
I’ve played hockey since I was 4
years old, and I played through college
and still play men’s league hockey. I’ve
gotten in some pushing matches and
stuff, but two years ago I got in the
first fight I was ever in.
What happened?
There was like a minute left in the
game. I was standing in front of the
net. We were trying to, I believe, tie the
game up. And he cross-checked me in
the back real hard and kind of took
me out. I got up, and I don’t know
what I said to him, but he got fired up,
and he dropped his gloves with me.
I was all about it. I threw my gloves
down, and I hit him three times. I got
him once in the head. The second time
I got him in the nose, and that’s when
he kind of ducked, and I hit him the
third time and he went down on the
ice and I kind of landed on him. I kept
it classy. I didn’t hit him when he was
on the ice. I skated away. I’ve become
buddies with that guy actually.
Could fishing benefit from a little
fist-i-cuffs and a penalty box?
Yeah, definitely. When we get on
these ledges, or down on Aquia Creek
on the Potomac, you should be able
to fight for your space.
FLWFISHING.COM I SUMMER 2019