Page 48 - 2022-08-01 Paddling Magazine

KAYAK ANGLER

PROFILE
Winning Big

2021 Hobie BOS Champion Kristine Fischer on competing, succeeding and the state of tournament fishing by ric burnley
Five years ago, Kristine Fischer started fishing local club tournaments. Following a string of successes, three years getting respect. They’ll never be on the same level
ago she went pro. Last year, the Nebraska native won the Hobie Bass Open Series Tournament of Champions in as boat tournaments, but I know our competition is
Lake Eufaula, Alabama, adding a gold star to her impressive collection of wins. Fischer is one of a growing num- second to none. We have guys who used to fish bass
ber of full-time pros making a living on the tournament trail. Maintaining an active social media presence and boat tournaments.
recording and producing YouTube videos of each tournament appearance, Fischer isn’t just the latest champion, Greg Blanchard is incredibly successful with
she’s setting the standard for the future of the sport. We sat down for an interview with Fischer after her big win. 100,000 followers and he posts his tournaments on
YouTube. Big-time bass pros like Mike Iaconelli and
Jordan Lee are fishing kayak tournaments, too. Still,
WHAT WAS A TURNING POINT WHAT IS AN UNEXPECTED QUALITY everyone starts at the grassroots level winning local
IN YOUR CAREER? OF A TOURNAMENT PRO? fishing tournaments.
In the last three years, I’ve maintained a consistent Paying attention to details on the water. I’m curious
showing. I won my first big tournament my first year. by nature and I notice things during the day. That’s IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT
I’ve done well all three years staying in contention how it paid out in the Tournament of Champions. KAYAK TOURNAMENTS, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
for the top 10. I stayed away from the most popular areas. A lot of I wish we had a camera boat for each kayaker. Or a
The thing that has changed is my overall outlook the other anglers were fishing deep. I fished to my camera on each kayak. I believe in the abilities of our
regarding my role in the industry. I don’t get flustered strengths. I ran my pattern and covered a ton of water top-level anglers and I would love to see exposure like
easily by social media trolls. I can navigate that stuff and fished new water all three days. the big tournaments get. I encourage others to run a
with grace and patience. I used to get upset. When I I hardly saw another angler all day. Obviously, there GoPro on every tournament and post videos to gain
first got into tournament fishing, I used to despise get- are giant fish living deep in the brush. I found a better attention and legitimacy. I record every catch and
ting credit for being female. I’m still not comfortable size of fish in shallow water. After the cold front passed, put every fish on video because people accuse me of
with recognition, but now I realize it’s bigger than me. the water temperature only dropped three degrees. I getting help or not catching my own fish.
When I see a headline like “Woman Wins Tourna- slowed my presentation and the fish didn’t pull out.
ment,” I can set my pride aside. Being a woman in a WHAT FUTURE DO YOU
male-dominated sport is part of what I’m doing and WHAT’S THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PREDICT FOR TOURNAMENTS?
who I am. People talking about me doesn’t bother me TURNING POINT IN THE GROWTH There is talk about high-stakes, like $1,000 entry
anymore. I won’t witness total equality in my lifetime, OF KAYAK FISHING TOURNAMENTS? tournaments with qualifiers and a big payout. The
but I’m okay with that. We have a few key anglers with large influence who challenge is finding 25 to 50 people who can fish every
shed light on our sport and show how unique, cred- event and commit the money to it. As sponsorships
ible and lucrative it is. Kayak fishing tournaments are increase, we’ll see this type of tournament grow.

FISCHER IS ONE OF A GROWING NUMBER OF
FULL-TIME KAYAK FISHING PROS MAKING A
LIVING ON THE TOURNAMENT TRAIL.
PHOTO: SHANE DURRANCE

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