THE
LAST CAST
By Justin Onslow
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOE MAHLER
Road Warriors
THE LIFE OF A TOURING PROFESSIONAL ANGLER IS FULL OF UPS AND DOWNS
hen you tune in to FLW Live or MLF NOW ! or the Outdoor Channel or Discovery or any other outlet that airs professional bass fishing tournaments , it ’ s easy to get sucked into the glamour of it all : a life of fishing for a living ; fast
W boats and high-end tackle , lucrative sponsorships , jerseys adorned with the logos of dozens of brands , big bass and big checks .
The tour life is sometimes all of that , but the vast majority of a tour-level bass pro ’ s life is hidden beneath the surface . Like a giant iceberg , there ’ s much more to fishing professionally than meets the eye .
MLF pro Alton Jones Jr . is just 28 years old , but he was indoctrinated into the touring lifestyle from a young age , often traveling with his father – who needs no introduction among the fishing community at large – and learning the ropes . He saw tour life firsthand before he ever made the choice to make that his life as well .
There are highs and lows and a lot of stuff in between . But one thing is clear : The life of a touring pro sure is interesting , and the lessons are endless .
LESSON NO . 1
THERE ’ S NO REST FOR THE WEARY
Jones lives in Waco , Texas . Sure , there are some tournaments close to home in a typical tournament schedule , but this year especially , touring often requires an awful lot of travel .
“ On the year I put about 48,000 miles on my truck ,” Jones says . “ It ’ s not vacation for me . I get there as quick as I can , and I get home as quick as I can . Usually , it ’ s four hours or so [ of sleep ] on actual travel days . Many of those days , depending on what the hotel situation is , probably five nights a year I ’ ll sleep in the back of my truck .”
LESSON NO . 2
THERE ’ S NO SNOOZE BUTTON
“ A lot of nights I ’ ll drive until 2 a . m . or something and I ’ ll let the sunrise be my alarm the next morning and sleep across the back seat .”
During practice and tournament days , Jones gets closer to six hours of sleep a night , but the days are long , and the work never really stops .
“ I record a YouTube video of each tournament day and sometimes I do practice ,” he says . “ At Lake Fork for example , I had to put out five videos of that week . That ’ s some of the things that are written into my sponsor obligations . Every night I have to come in and make sure I save all the footage , delete it off the cameras , charge all the cameras and get them ready for the next day .”
Jones does all his own video editing and social media posts — “ I regret it ,” Jones jokes — but it keeps his sponsors happy and saves him some money . Pro fishing is a business . Jones takes that to heart .
LESSON NO . 3
IT ’ S NOT ALL BAD
“ I make sure to realize how lucky I am ,” Jones says . “ We ’ re seeing these beautiful bodies of water and watching sunrises and sunsets every day , which most people would consider vacation . When I ’ m fishing , I always stop and realize how blessed I am to do what I do and how beautiful it is where I am .”
Everyone knows the expression about a bad day fishing beating a good day at work . For Jones , they ’ re one and the same , so finding the beauty and blessings in it all is absolutely essential .
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | FLWFISHING . COM 79