Nice to have a good rep from kansas. I always though we were some of the best fisherman around.......anybody can go out and catch bass in texas or oklahoma or california.....we don't have that great of lakes so we have to work at it here, which makes us that much better.
Travis
Chapman Got His Start at Sportshow
Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)
Publication date: 2008-01-09
By Brent Frazee, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Jan. 9--Brent Chapman remembers the days of his youth, when he couldn't wait to attend the Kansas City Sportshow and learn how to fish from the pros.
This week, he will return to the show -- but in a different role.
He won't be sitting in the stands this time. He will be on stage.
Chapman, who lives at Lake Quivira, has become one of the top pros in bass fishing. He travels the country to fish in high-stakes tournaments, appears on national television shows and has achieved celebrity status in an ESPN-driven sport.
That puts him in front of the public, whether on the weigh-in stand in front of thousands at a Bassmaster national tournament or at a sports show somewhere.
But he always considers it special when he can return to his roots and the Kansas City Sportshow -- one of the places where his career was born.
"When I was growing up, I couldn't wait for the Sportshow to get here," said Chapman, 35, who will speak at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday at the Sportshow. "I would save my money all winter so that I could buy the latest lures.
"I remember how exciting it was to hear talks by some of my heroes -- pros like Guido Hibdon and Jimmy Houston. I would take notes, then I would go out and try some of the things they had talked about.
"It was a great way to learn, to get started. I look back on those days and realize how important they were in my career."
Indeed, Chapman became a student of the bass-fishing game at an early age.
From the moment he and his dad watched a weigh-in for a local bass tournament at Melvern Lake when Chapman was just 10, he was hooked.
He became obsessed with the pastime, reading Bassmaster magazine, watching fishing shows on television and attending sports shows featuring some of his idols.
When his family moved to Lake Quivira when he was 14, Chapman had a laboratory for his fishing experiments.
"I would read about a method or a lure in Bassmaster magazine or at a seminar and I would go to the lake to try it out," he said. "I was on the water constantly, experimenting with different things.
"I forced myself to learn new techniques. And I think that played a big part in where I am today.
"Today, you have to be versatile if you want to do well on the national level. You can't rely on just one strength.
"One week I might be flipping and pitching a jig to shallow cover with 30-pound test line. The next week I might be using a drop-shot rig on 6-pound test in 50 feet of water.
"You have to adjust."
Chapman has become a master at doing that.
He joined a bass club when he was only 14, and it wasn't long before he was taking honors in tournaments. He quickly climbed the ladder until he felt he was ready to turn pro.
In his 12 years as a professional fisherman, he has compiled an impressive resume. He won two major tournaments in 2005, has qualified eight times for the Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of bass fishing, and he consistently places high in Bassmaster Elite events.
But he enjoyed perhaps his most satisfying season in 2007. After failing to qualify for the Classic three consecutive years, Chapman earned a return trip to the championship event with an eighth-place finish in the regular-season points race.
Included in his performance were a season-ending third-place finish at Lake Toho in Florida and a fifth-place finish on the California Delta early in the season.
"It's huge to be back at the Classic," Chapman said of the Bassmaster championship event, which will be Feb. 22-24 at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina.
"In pro bass fishing, that's how you're judged -- whether or not you make the Classic.
"It bothered me that I hadn't qualified the past few years. But that makes it all the more special to be back."
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