Alabama Continues To Pump Out Tour Stars Wednesday, December 13, 2006   by:  Bassfan.com Photo: ESPN Outdoors Russ Lane is the latest Alabama pro to have a breakout year. The history of pro bass fishing shows a series of vintages – times when a certain state or region produced a winning class of anglers. Texas had its time with Tommy Martin, Zell Rowland and adopted sons like Jay Yelas and Gary Klein. Also Missouri with Rick Clunn, Denny Brauer, Randy Blaukat and the Hibdons. Or Arkansas with George Cochran, Larry Nixon and Mark Davis. Or California with Aaron Martens, Skeet Reese and Dean Rojas (originally from San Diego). But the past few years have definitely been of an Alabama vintage. Tim Horton (Muscle Shoals) won BASS Angler of the Year (AOY) in his 2000 rookie season. Gerald Swindle (Hayden) won BASS AOY in 2004. Matt Herren (Clay) narrowly missed an FLW AOY title this year – his fourth season at the tour level – and has never finished worse than 12th in the points. Then there's Steve Kennedy (Auburn) who also narrowly missed an AOY crown on the BASS side in his fifth season (first with BASS), and Russ Lane, who finished 15th in the BASS points in his sophomore campaign. With Kennedy ranked 5th, Swindle ranked 6th, and Herren ranked 8th, it seems like a crimson tide has swept the BassFan World Rankings (or a war eagle cry, if you're from that camp). So why has Alabama produced not just a wealth of tour anglers, but a wealth of winning tour anglers, over the past half-decade? It looks like two main factors stand out. One is the diversity of fisheries within the state. The other is the level of local competition, which is incredibly stiff. Remember, competitive bass fishing was born in Alabama. Everything You'd Want It's common for states to have a diversity of fisheries, but Alabama takes that to the extreme. From the grass lakes of the north, to the spotted-bass fisheries of the central region, to the river and tidal waters of the south, Alabama anglers can sample just about anything. That gives Alabama anglers an immediate advantage when they step up to the tour level, because any condition they find on tour is one they've likely experienced in Alabama. Lane noted: "We've all grown up fishing some of the smaller circuits and team trails throughout Alabama. Every scenario you could possibly face on tour, you can find an instance of that in Alabama. We've got deep hydrilla, milfoil, ledges at Eufaula, timber on Lay Lake, river systems with current, clear water at Martin, dock lakes, smallmouths, spotted bass, shore-grass lakes – you can go on and on. "All of us have fished all of those conditions and learned to fish tournaments on those types of places. When we're on the road, there's nothing we haven't seen before. I think that's why most of us are really consistent, and next year, I think more AOY titles will come to the state of Alabama." Horton said: "Alabama's one of the few states that has all three species, and everything from highland reservoirs to lakes full of vegetation. Alabama has more navigable waterways than any other state in the nation, so when these anglers do go pro, they don't skip a beat." Here's a sampling of tournament venues in Alabama that'll get BassFans shaking: Pickwick, Wheeler, Guntersville, Lewis Smith, Weiss, Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell, Jordan, Martin, West Point, Harding, Eufaula, Alabama River, Tombigbee River, Tensaw River, and the Mobile River. And that's just the big-tournament venues – not the thousands of ponds, creeks and backwaters Alabamans grow up on. The Competition Even with all that water, there needs to be a proving ground to produce a vintage class of anglers. After all, Minnesota's the land of 10,000 lakes, but only two Minnesotans competed at the tour level this year – Jim Moynagh and Karen Savik. The general consensus is that Alabama's regional and local competition is the most extensive, and most competitive, in the nation. Photo: ESPN Outdoors Steve Kennedy – the No. 5 ranked angler in the world – won his first Red Man out of the back of Matt Herren's boat. And within that competitive circle, the anglers mentioned above fished against each other. Herren and Lane were rivals for years – Lane called Herren "a thorn in his side." Herren and Kennedy fished against each other too. In fact, Kennedy won his first Red Man (now BFL) from the back of Herren's boat. And Kennedy squared off against Horton at the regional level. What's potentially scary is the amount of Alabama anglers who haven't reached the tour level yet. Herren said: "I was a little older than Russ, and I dominated this state for 10 years before Russ ever came along. I fished against him for about 5 years before I turned pro, and he took over where I left off. Russ is top-notch – a great angler – and he just speaks great things for the state of Alabama, especially the area right here around the Coosa River. Herren added: "What's happening is you're kind of getting a taste of the true competition level coming out of the state of Alabama. Some guys are getting the opportunity to step up to the next level, but there's five times that many great anglers walking around here now who haven't had the opportunity yet." According to Lane, the ultra-stiff competition in Alabama has actually intensified in recent years, due to the influx of big-dollar payouts at local and regional events. "It's unbelievable," he said. "These guys live it and breathe it every day, all year long. "Right now, in December, Airport Marine has a team trail they put on, and it's unreal the money they pay back. Some guys are actually making a living fishing buddy tournaments in the state of Alabama." Kennedy, who's actually from Georgia, but graduated from Auburn then eventually settled back in Auburn, didn't fiddle with local events too much. He mostly fished the BFLs in Alabama and Georgia. "I fished the BFLs since I got out of college," he said. "And I actually fished with Horton in the BFLs, and I think I beat him pretty bad. We may have been number 1 and number 2 in the points – I can't remember exactly – but I fished with him once at the Alabama River below Selma. We've all come up through the same stuff." It's probably Horton who rationalized the recent rise of Alabama tour anglers the best: "The Birmingham area has about as stiff of competition as you'll see anywhere, and it's the same thing around here in Huntsville in the north. If you can compete within the state of Alabama, you can definitely compete at the national level." Notable > So who's the next hot angler to come out of Alabama? Horton thinks it could be Jamie Horton. "He's no relation to me. He qualified for the (Bassmaster) Classic through the Federation a couple of years ago. I don't know if he has any aspirations to turn pro, but he certainly could." > A number of tour pros have moved to Alabama in recent years to take advantage of the fishing there. Aaron Martens is one example. So is Kota Kiriyama. > Randy Howell is another Alabama angler, although he's a transplant and further into his career than the anglers referenced in this story. Notable for Howell is he won the first-ever Bassmaster Elite 50 (Dardanelle).