EDITOR’S NOTE
FLW IS IN MY
BLOOD, TOO
I
really liked something David Dudley said on stage during the 2019 FLW Tour
Angler of the Year award presentation back in June.
“Actually, one of the fish kind of cut my finger earlier today, and the letters
F-L-W came out of my blood. I don’t know what that means, but I bleed FLW.”
I feel the same way as Dudley, and while I might have worded my
thoughts a little differently, I couldn’t have said it any better.
As fans of tournament bass fishing, you know all about the changes that have
taken place in this industry in the last year. We’ve had to endure a lot of rumors
and a lot of talk about entry fees and payouts and the business behind big-time
bass tournaments. All the chatter has, at times, drowned out the fishing.
I don’t know what all is in store for the sport of pro bass fishing in the
next few years, but I know that despite any changes that have already
occurred, one thing has stayed the same. It’s what Dudley was getting at on
stage: Here at FLW, we’re all one big family.
This organization is still comprised of some of the best anglers in the
world – people like Dudley and our new FLW Cup champ, Bryan Thrift – plus
a staff of hard-working, honest people who love bass fishing and love FLW’s
customers – you.
I’m proud to be part of the FLW family. I grew up here. I was only 22 when
I started in the editorial department. When I attended the 2007 Cup at Lake
Ouachita in Hot Springs, Ark., not only was it my first bass tournament with
FLW, but it was my first bass tournament of any kind.
My bosses at the time, possibly to test how badly I really wanted to do
this job, sent me out on the water with Dudley during practice. Dudley is
what you might call an “interesting cat.” He has a lot of personality. There’s
no one like him. He could obviously tell how green I was that day, which I
guess is why he picked on me the entire time. Whenever I’d write a note on
my pad, he’d pretend to narrate: “At 9:30 a.m., David scratches his butt.” He
also referred to me by my full name all day long.
At one point, when he snagged a favorite crankbait on the bottom, Dudley
dove in after it. I couldn’t believe it. The water was 16 feet deep, which appar-
ently wasn’t too deep for Dudley. He worked his way down his fishing line,
rooted around the bottom, and eventually surfaced with a potato sack full of
rocks; his crankbait snagged in the fabric. That was my first “Dudley experi-
ence.” The photo I took of him showing off his crankbait stuck to that sack is
still one of my favorites from my career.
I’ll never forget that day. Despite the ribbings I took (I delivered a few, too),
I had a lot of fun. He showed me every detail of how he planned to catch his
fish that week, and I got to see a master at work. Though I’d started my job a
couple months earlier, I think that’s when I officially joined the family.
Now, 12 years later, we’ve just wrapped up another Cup in Hot Springs.
Dudley is still at the top of the sport, and I’m still lucky to be writing about
him – two things I’m glad haven’t changed.
Thanks, David, for sticking with FLW, and for not leaving me on the bank
that day. And congratulations from the entire FLW family on winning your
fourth FLW Tour Angler of the Year.
4
Curtis Niedermier, Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief
Curtis Niedermier
Production Manager/
Graphic Designer
Michelle Dowling
Associate Editor
Justin Onslow
Field Editor
Matt Williams
Contributors
Joe Balog, TJ Maglio, Sean Ostruszka,
Joseph Webster
Graphic Designer/Illustrator
Matt Pace
Director of Advertising
Al Chapman | 270.252.1628
FLWFishing.com
Senior Editor
Kyle Wood
Digital Editor
Jody White
Staff Videographer/
Photographer
Rob Matsuura
Letters to the Editor
FLW Bass Fishing
30 Gamble Lane, Benton, KY 42025
[email protected]
Past Chairman & CEO
Irwin L. Jacobs
President of FLW
Marketing Division
Trish Blake
President of FLW
Operations Division
Kathy Fennel
Chief Financial Officer
Dave Mahler
Vice President, Controller
Tommy Boaz
Vice President of Marketing
Kelly Oettinger
Vice President of Operations
Dave Washburn
FLWFISHING.COM I FALL 2019