By Chad Gay hen you ’ re 20 years old and seated
W behind the wheel of a bass boat as you ’ re idling toward takeoff – one hand on the throttle , just waiting to throw it forward to kick off a hopeful professional fishing career – lots of things might go through your mind .
Remember to breathe . Trust your instincts . Have fun . Fish what you know . Remember what you learned in practice . And just don ’ t overthink .
You probably don ’ t think about three career tour-level wins , 40 Top 20s and 36 Top 10s . You likely don ’ t think about an Angler of the Year title . And you certainly don ’ t think about back-to-back AOY trophies .
But in 2012 , 20-year-old Michael Neal of Dayton , Tennessee , heard his takeoff number called and pushed the throttle forward on his professional fishing debut at the FLW Tour season opener at Lake Hartwell , South Carolina . He hasn ’ t looked back since .
In late July , after finishing 15th at Covercraft Stop 6 Presented by Wiley X at Lake Champlain , Neal claimed his second AOY title in back-to-back fashion , becoming only the third pro in the history of the Pro Circuit / FLW Tour to claim AOY titles in consecutive years ( and the sixth pro to win multiple AOY titles ). The other two anglers to win backto-back AOY trophies are among the greats of the sport : fellow Dayton native Andy Morgan ( 2013 , 2014 ) and David Dudley ( 2011 , 2012 ).
neal ’ s fishing upbringing
Neal comes from a fishing family , and it seemed his grandfather Alan Brown , uncle Rogne Brown or his dad Mike Neal – who serves as Rhea County sheriff in Dayton – always had young Michael in tow when they headed to the water . Uncle Rogne was a tournament fisherman and served as Michel ’ s doorway to his first tournaments .
Morgan , who has been Neal ’ s roommate on the road since 2018 , describes Neal as “ a good dude – fun-loving , a good character ” and has witnessed the 31-year-old ’ s transformation from rookie pro to back-to-back AOY .
“ I knew he fished as a kid , but I didn ’ t know he was super serious about it until he started fishing with his uncle ,” Morgan said . “ Rogne was one of the pioneers of side imaging and mapping and finding offshore hotspots . Rogne was really coming around bigtime with the Alabama rig and the side imaging and catching those great big stringers of fish when Chickamauga was getting real , real hot .
“ So , Michael and Rogne were fishing some local tournaments and whipping everybody pretty good , and Michael got on the road and fished FLW early on . He fished for a couple of years as a co-angler and traveled with me a little bit then .”
Morgan started paying close attention to Neal and noticed how fast the youngster was picking up the nuances of competitive fishing .
“ His uncle Rogne was a really good teacher , and Michael learned a lot real fast from him , and he ’ s really incorporated everything he learned from Rogne into his style now ,” Morgan said . “ Michael has a computer science degree , so offshore fishing and the electronics involved really appealed to him .”
Finesse fishing wasn ’ t how Neal fished early on , but he quickly learned that , in order to cash checks in the professional ranks , he had better broaden his horizons .
PHOTO BY ROB MATSUURA
“ Michael has a computer science degree , so offshore fishing and the electronics involved really appealed to him .”
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 47