JACOPO GALLELLI GIVES IT ALL FOR ANGLING
In the tournament fishing world , there ’ s a truism you ’ ll often hear from successful pros : Don ’ t leave fish to find fish . For Jacopo Gallelli and his dream of becoming the first-ever European touring professional , there was no other option .
By Joe Sills
PHOTO BY CHARLES WALDORF
It started with a line . There was no rod , no reel ; just line , a hook and a grub . A fishing trip that would take Jacopo Gallelli on a journey of 5,000 miles and 39 years began without even a reel , in the sunflower-speckled fields and rolling hills of Tuscany . There , a young Gallelli would walk the banks of Lago di Chiusi with his two older brothers , Clelio and Duccio .
The more experienced anglers would cast spinning reels . Jacopo would patiently toss a line into in the water , hauling sunfish to shore with his fingertips .
“ It ’ s a place that is fixed in my mind ,” Gallelli says . “ Lake Chiusi is gorgeous . It ’ s filled with wheat fields and vineyards , with cypress and hills . It ’ s the place where I caught my first fish .”
That first catch became a seminal moment in Gallelli ’ s story . It was the moment the sport hooked him for life . There , on the shores of Lake Chiusi , he immediately proclaimed that he would become a fisherman one day .