Reeling ’em in

It’s time for bass boats, biting fish and big money

Friday, Aug. 10, 2007

‘‘I was probably 12 when I saw this weigh-in. I didn’t know I could actually go bass fishing and compete against others,” said Brent Chapman, of the Kansas Chapmans. ‘‘That gave me the desire to try it. The first tournament I tried I loved it. It was the competition. I was always competitive growing up, doing a lot of sports. But now I could do something I loved to do for competition and win.”

And win he has.

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted Photo Serious fishing requires the utmost concentration, as 4-year-old Mason Chapman, above, shows. Even if the boat is tied up near the pier, dad — professional angler Brent Chapman — and son enjoy some practice time casting. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted Photo   If you go ... The Bassmaster Capitol Clash Elite Series tournament will be held Aug. 10-12 at Smallwood State Park in Marbury. Family activities will include live entertainment, radio broadcasts, displays of art at the Mattawoman Creek Art Center and stories for kids of all ages. No pets will be allowed. Concessions will be available. Admission to the park is $3 per person. The park is off Route 224. Call 301-885-1340 or go to www.bassmaster.com.

Chapman is climbing up the ranks of professional bass fishermen, gaining big-name sponsors and big-time wins.

He said the highlight so far was when he won two back-to-back tournaments — the 2005 BassFan.com Top Gun and then the Bassmaster 2005 Busch Shootout.

Chapman will be one of many sport fishermen and women already trolling the Potomac River in the Bassmaster Elite Capitol Clash tournament that began Thursday and runs through Sunday in Marbury.

Chapman has been fishing professionally for the past 11 years but started when he was very small. His father, Ron, started him out with his own reel.

‘‘I started when I was 3 years old,” he said. ‘‘I have pictures of me probably 3 holding a bucket and all that fun stuff. It was just one of those pastimes we did. We used to go camping a lot, and one weekend I saw a bass tournament and saw the weigh-in. I think I was hooked from there.”

Winning is great, but if it weren’t for a lot of other aspects, Chapman said he might be doing something else for a living.

‘‘I like just being outdoors. I love the challenge of fishing — it’s so complex. It takes a lot to figure the fish out, and you constantly have to adjust to the fishing and the weather conditions,” Chapman explained. ‘‘It’s not like with other sports, in that if I have a good day casting, I have a good day. There are so many other variables involved.

‘‘The hardest thing about bass fishing is just being able to adjust and adapt to the changing conditions. From what I’ve learned, a bass is a bass anywhere you go. The thing that makes it difficult is the different conditions and variables in different parts of the country: The covers, structures and different times of the year.”

He said he has fished the Potomac River many times and enjoys his visits. It’s part of the fun of sport fishing for a living, he said.

‘‘The easiest thing about bass fishing is getting out and going to do it. People have to get up and go to their jobs. I enjoy getting up to go do my job,” he said. ‘‘I don’t think there’s anything easy about it as a bass tournament goes, but the more I do it, the easier it becomes.”

He’s handing the tradition and fun down to his own children, and 4-year-old Mason is already enjoying the thrill of fishing with dad. Speaking by phone after a day of practicing on the water, Chapman talked about getting ready for the tournament.

‘‘Mason is all excited, and so we’re headed back to where we’re camping for some pictures and fishing,” Chapman said. ‘‘Probably the neatest thing about him is we’ll go home and I’ll put some of the plastic lures we use on the boat bottom and he’ll come on when we get in and pick them up. He’s got his own tackle box, and for a 4-year-old he can tell you more about tackle than most people I know.”

More than 200 of those professionals and amateurs who really do know about bass fishing tackle will be on hand at Smallwood State Park to compete for points and prizes.

According to a BASS Communications release on the ESPN Web site, this is the Potomac’s second appearance in the Elite Series and part of the final run for pros to make points and gain bragging rights for next few months.

You don’t have to own a GE Silicon II-wrapped Triton bass boat to enjoy the fun of bass fishing. You can take part in the excitement on site at the park. There will be a number of activities for families and fans of all ages during the tournament.

By the time you read this, the anglers will have been in the water, but you, too, can catch the excitement of competition during the weigh-ins from 3 to 6 p.m. through Sunday.

From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, young artists can submit entries from the Capitol Clash newspaper section centerfold at the Marina Services Building. Color it there or bring in one already finished.

A Bass Bash arts and entertainment festival will be held throughout the day. WKIK’s Frank Dawson will make a remote broadcast from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. while Scales and Tales will entertain the youngsters at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Marina Services Building on Saturday.

Singer and guitarist John O’Loughlin will perform from noon to 1 p.m. on stage Saturday and will be followed by acoustic rock musician Jeff Miller, who will sing from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The Mattawoman Creek Arts Center will host an ‘‘Everything Maryland” exhibit from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Sunday in its building near the fishing ramps, and works by members of the Charles County Arts Alliance will also be on display.

If you really do want to get the feel for angling at its finest, competitors will launch their boats at 6 a.m. each morning, probably not a challenge for an area that is already on the road most days by 5 a.m.

Admission to the park is $3 per person, quite a deal to be a spectator for one of bass fishing’s elite — no pun intended — competitions at what has been one of the finest fishing spots in the world.

Reel in your cameras, kids and fishing buddies, and cast your eyes on the Capitol Clash Bassmaster Elite Series fishing tournament.

It’s not your ordinary work day.