COLUMN: BALOG ON BASS FISHING
Dennis Berhorst
A Carolina Champion
Robert Walser won the All-American in 2006 and has racked
up two Regional wins to boot.
Walser is a shallow-water power fisherman and proud of it.
He sums up his shallow-water program – and his approach to
fishing Regionals – pretty simply: “I’m not one to drop-shot,
and I’m not going to put time in to go to a Regional at Lanier.”
Forty years of tournament fishing have grounded Walser in
terms of tactics.
“From the start in practice, I just look for a place where I
can get a bite,” he says. “From there, I duplicate it.”
Walser admits that his Regional plan is to fish textbook fall
patterns on shad-filled reservoirs. But, he cautions that eliminating
water is as important as finding productive stretches
because “not every creek is a fall creek, for whatever reason.”
With four full days of practice, Walser burns through tremendous
amounts of shallow water in an attempt to unlock the
secrets of the lake. He does so through a practiced program, fishing
spinnerbaits, topwaters, crankbaits – anything he considers
efficient. He scoffs at the idea that he’s a one-trick pony with a
diving plug, despite a reputation for winning with a crankbait.
“I don’t want to be known as anything other than the man
who took your money this week,” he says.
Robert Walser
PHOTO BY MATT PACE
PHOTO BY MATT PACE
ALL-AMERICAN
BOATER CHAMPIONS
YEAR NAME FISHERY
2019 Brennon McCord Potomac River
2018 Nick LeBrun Cross Lake
2017 Marshall Deakins Pickwick Lake
2016 Jeremy Lawyer Lake Barkley
2015 Curtis Richardson Kentucky Lake
2014 Marcus Sykora Wilson Lake
2013 Kerry Milner Nickajack Lake
2012 Brian Maloney Potomac River
2011 Jacob Wheeler Cross Lake
2010 Troy Morrow DeGray Lake
2009 Adam Wagner Mississippi River
2008 Shayne Berlo Lake Hamilton
2007 Shonn Goodwin Ohio River
2006 Robert Walser Connecticut River
2005 Wade Ramsey Ohio River
2004 Allen Hayes Lake Hamilton
2003 Tony Christian Mobile Delta
2002 Eddie Waits III Cross Lake
2001 Jeff Coble Lake Hamilton
2000 Jeff Coble Lake Hamilton
1999 Mike Baldwin Mississippi River
1998 Kim Carver Mississippi River
1997 Daniel Branscum Arkansas River
1996 Stephen Browning Arkansas River
1995 Rick LaMountain Ohio River
1994 Dean Starkey Arkansas River
1993 Doug Garrett Black Warrior River
1992 Clark Wendlandt Arkansas River
1991 Arvin Smith Lake Erie
1990 Joe Thomas Lake Erie
1989 Grayson Tobler Arkansas River
1988 *All-American tournament date moved
from November 1988 to June 1989
1987 O.T. Fears Arkansas River
1986 Joseph Yates Lake Havasu
1985 Rick Clunn Lake Havasu
1984 Shaw Grigsby Kissimmee Chain
1983 Dean Starkey Kentucky Lake
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