SHRYOCK HEADED TO THE ELITE SERIES

Story by Matt Pangrac - Photos courtesy of B.A.S.S. Communications

Newcomerstown, OH - Over the past decade, tournament bass fishing has seen the emergence of a new breed of young anglers who have grown up watching tournaments unfold on television and spent countless hours researching bodies of water and tournament results on the internet. While few will argue that research and thorough preparation can drastically reduce the learning curve, the common axiom has been that there’s no substitute for time on the water and experience.

That theory was obliterated this past March when the last bass hit the scales at the second Bassmaster Southern Open of the year on Lake Norman. Up until that point, B.A.S.S.’ revamped “win and you’re in” qualifying structure for 2012 Bassmaster Classic hadn’t thrown any real curveballs. Elite Series superstar Gerald Swindle snatched the first golden ticket to the 2012 Classic with a win at the first Southern Open on the Kissimmee Chain in January, and former Elite Series angler and veteran Missouri pro Mark Tucker punched his ticket to the Red River with a win in the first Central Open of the year on a stingy Lake Lewisville in February.

It wasn’t until Lake Norman, when 26-year-old Fletcher Shryock boated nearly 50-pounds of bass and hoisted the trophy in only the second Bassmaster Open tournament of his life, that the 2012 Classic has its first true “wildcard” contender.

What followed was a barrage of press coverage documenting Shryock’s journey from professional motocross to Tuesday night jackpot tournaments in Ohio to Bassmaster Open victory. Even if he didn’t have years of tournament experience under his belt, Shryock’s desire to compete was palpable.

As the year progressed, it became apparent that Shryock was not only competing but also contending. He finished up the Southern Opens with an 11th place finish on Douglas Lake and then opted to fish the Northern Opens to gain some more experience. 

He recorded a 52nd place finish at the first Northern Open of the year on the James River and then secured a 21st place finish at the end of August on Lake Erie in the second Northern Open. Shryock entered the final Northern Open of the season at Oneida in New York sitting in the Top 15 in the point standings with what he considered a “chance” of making the Top 10.

Shryock finished 9th at Oneida and not only cracked the Top 10 in the point standings but finished in the Top 5, earning an invite to fish the 2012 Elite Series. It’s an invitation that he plans to accept. Forget spending just a week in the limelight at the Classic; Shryock will be running with some of the top anglers in the world during the duration of the 2012 season.

Trial by Fire
With a limited amount of tournament experience and literally no tournament experience at the Bassmaster Open level prior to 2011, Shryock said that he understands why fellow anglers were somewhat dumbfounded at his immediate success against large fields packed with experience and talent.

“So many people keep asking me how I did it and I think that in the beginning, the majority of them just thought that it was luck,” admitted Shryock. “I kind of even told myself that I might have just been fortunate (to win), and in reality I was because winning isn’t an easy thing to do. It’s one of those deals where if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

What’s almost even more impressive than Shryock's Open victory was the fact that for the duration of the 2011 season, he was able to back it up with solid finishes on a variety of waters from Douglas Lake to Oneida Lake knowing that other anglers were taking note of where he finished.

“After I won at Norman, it was such a shocker,” he explained. “The biggest thing that bothered me throughout the year about winning an Open and qualifying for the Classic early in the season was the fact that I had to prove myself all year. If I had gone to Douglas (the final Southern Open of the year) and had a 161st place finish like I had in Florida, people would have laughed at me. I would have just shown up at the Classic with my head down.”

Shryock partially credits his high finishes throughout the Northern Open season to a mixture of inexperience and hard work. “I’m still so new to it all that I think I’m maybe even a little naive and dumb to the pressure of everything that’s going on,” he said. “Since all these things have been happening, it’s been the biggest rush ever.

“I think that I have a good head on my shoulders and I try to make good decisions,” he continued. “It’s not so much the fact that I have an open mind because in all reality, I simply don’t have any past history to go on. I remember overhearing someone talk about how they pulled up on a specific point and caught 22-pounds of bass in a tournament 10 years ago. I think that there are times when your history can hurt you.”

Shryock said that his ability to cover water also helped him in 2011. “I fish really fast. In practice, I don’t eat, and I fish from sun up until sun down. It’s go, go, go. I’m pretty diverse when it comes to techniques and I like to flip and pitch but I’m not a master at anything.

Research and Recall
Perhaps the most intriguing part about Shryock’s success in 2011 is the fact that he has hard proof that his intense off-the-water research played possibly the biggest factor in his success.

“When I was at Oneida, I could quote the entire script from the last Elite Series tournament when Chad Griffin won,” he explained. “There were little things in the back of my mind that really helped me there.

“On the second day, I was flipping a Sweet Beaver but the fish kept pulling off. I started thinking back to Greg Hackney flipping that little tube in the Elite Series tournament. I had a little 3” Jackall Cover Craw that I like to use back home and looked a lot like a tube. I put that little dude on and one smoked it on the second flip. I caught 10 fish in the last 45 minutes and that’s what allowed me to make the cut,” said Shryock. “It’s just little things like that. You might overlook one little bit of information but if you pick up on it here and there, it can pay off.”

In preparation for the 2012 Classic, he has already started his research. “I was up last night until 3:00AM watching tournaments from the Red River. Any information that you can find on the Red River right now, I’ve researched it. I will have every quote from every video and every article imbedded in my brain before I ever get on the River for the Classic.”

Elite Series Game Plan
“I’m definitely going to fish the Elites and I’m looking forward to it,” stated Shryock. “I think the biggest challenge in the Elites for me is going to be the lack of experience and having only two and a half days of practice.”

While he said that an extended practice period didn’t help him much on Norman or Oneida, multiple practice days on the water at several other venues were critical to his success.

“At Douglas, I went down there like three weeks before and spent three or four days and then I went back down there before the tournament. I had never caught a fish on a deep diving crankbait in my life and that’s what I caught all my fish on down there. At Oneida and Norman, I probably only needed two days of practice but on a lake like Douglas, I was lost at first. The short practice is going to put some pressure on me.

Even before qualifying for the Elites through the Northern Opens, Shryock said that he was shocked at the amount of support and interaction shown to him by current Elite Series pros. “Brandon Palaniuk and (Mike) Iaconelli have been especially cool to me,” he said. “When I was at ICAST this year, a lot of the Elite Series guys would come up and talk to me. It blew my mind when Skeet Reese just walked up and introduced himself. For the most part, they’ve all been really great.

"I said it on stage at Oneida and I still think that it’s true now that I will never have another year in my life that will top this one. The only thing that could top this past year would be to win the Classic trophy," he concluded.