By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
Raised in San Diego, Calif., Stephen Patek grew up in the land of the giants.
His childhood home was a short drive from three of the premier bass lakes in Southern California – Lower Otay Lake, where the record largemouth is 18.75 pounds; El Capitan Reservoir, where a 15.31 is the best bass ever caught; and Lake Hodges, where a 20.25-pounder caught in the 1980s still tops the charts.
As a kid, Patek (pronounced Pah-tek) joined the Southland Bass Club. He competed in his first tournament when he was 12 and took his first win as a 14-year-old. He and his father also competed in team events along the way. It was a great place to learn the ins and outs of bass fishing.
“They are all small lakes and there are a lot of good fishermen in San Diego, so you have to get good real quick or else,” he said.
A couple years ago, he decided to leave the San Diego area and move to the middle of the country, from where he could pursue his dream of becoming a top-level tournament bass angler. Soon after leaving the West Coast, though, he realized how good he had it fishing-wise where he grew up.
“I probably took it for granted,” he said. “I didn’t realize how tough it is at other lakes around the country. For them to be that small and have that big of fish, it’s just crazy. It’s all about the trout stocking program.”
He left the Golden State with a 10-08 as his personal best and moved to Dallas, Texas, where double-digit bass are pretty common, too. His move to Texas was prompted by his decision to compete on the FLW Tour in 2015. Prior to last season, he’d not competed in a BFL or FLW Series tournament – he was largely an unknown on the pro scene.
The 29-year-old took his lumps as a rookie, but has bounced back nicely this year. Through four events, he’s 35th in points and in the hunt for a Forrest Wood Cup berth (the Top 35 are guaranteed invites), thanks to a 9th-place finish at Pickwick Lake two weeks ago.
“This year, I’m fishing a little different than I did last year,” he said. “I’m fishing with more confidence. Last year, there was a bit of an awe factor. It messed with my confidence knowing I had to fish against guys I’d watched on TV for years.”
Here We Go!
Patek was as true a rookie as rookies get last year on the FLW Tour. He’d never been to any of the lakes on the schedule before. He didn’t have a traveling partner or someone to share information with. Everything was new to him.
“It was a little overwhelming in the beginning,” he said. “I’d never seen any of the lakes, I didn’t know anybody on Tour. I know it seems crazy going in basically on my own, but I preferred it that way.
“I’d always looked up to Rick Clunn and that’s how he did it. He’d rather be by himself and not get caught up in the dock talk.”
It was a 3 1/2-month long learning experience. He posted a pair of triple-digit finishes, two more in the 90s, one in the 70s and cashed one check with a 54th-place effort at Lake Chickamauga.
“The biggest adjustment was just being on my own,” he said. “A lot of guys have travel partners and they share everything. One guy will start at one end of the lake and the other guy will start on the other end and they’ll meet in the middle. I can’t really do that. I’ll drive around and see the whole lake and pick an area that looks like home and just dissect that area. That’s helped me this year, but last year, I tried to fish too much water.”
Fast Learner
Despite his struggles a year ago, Patek is more comfortable this season. He’s used to the travel and has a practice strategy that works for him.
“This year, I have more confidence,” he said. “I truly believe I’m good enough to compete with these guys, so I’m trying to stay with that mentality.”
He kicked off the year with a 33rd at Lake Okeechobee, a solid showing on a lake that is known to handcuff even the most experienced and seasoned pros from time to time.
“It wasn’t an easy practice,” he said. “I just looked for clean water and found an area on the last day of practice. I usually fish pretty fast in practice, but nothing was happening. Out of frustration, basically, I made myself slow down and rigged a Senko on a dead stick. On my second cast, I caught a 9-pounder, so I spent my whole tournament there.”
The next stop at Lake Hartwell was a dud. His 144th-place finish was his worst placement and he chalked it up to not knowing how to adjust on a herring lake when the fish transition into their spawning ritual.
He rebounded with a 30th at Beaver Lake and followed that up with his first Top-10 at Pickwick.
A Big Boost
“Going into it, I wasn’t sure how it would go,” Patek said. “I like ledge-fishing, but I knew they weren’t going to be quite out there yet. I hadn’t been there before so I didn’t know where to look for those transition spots.”
He caught some fish shallow, but nothing of significant size. He idled around looking at the ledges, but didn’t find any schools worth casting on. On the second day of practice, he pulled into the mouth of Hog Hollow and started fishing around three big rock piles – “just obvious stuff,” he said.
He caught a 6-pounder off the first pile and his dad, practicing with him as a Tour co-angler, caught a 5-pounder shortly thereafter.
“We left that alone and looked for similar stuff, but didn’t find a whole lot,” he said.
He wound up fishing a long bar with some hydrilla on it during the tournament. Shad were spawning in the grass and the bass were concentrated nearby.
“It was a 2-mile stretch with sweet spots on it,” he said. “The high spots with hydrilla were key. I just fished that whole stretch all tournament long.”
He caught an 8-pounder on day 3 as part of his four-fish stringer, but he wasn’t sure if he’d caught enough to move into the Top 10. When the weigh-in finished up, he still wasn’t sure. He was tied for 10th with three-time Angler of the Year Andy Morgan.
“I didn’t even know how the tiebreakers worked,” he said. “Andy came up and explained the scenario and congratulated me. I’d never even talked to him before. I think he was bummed he wasn’t fishing, but he was nice to me about it.”
Down the Stretch
Patek has two more tournaments to solidify his spot in the Cup and he’s hoping to carry the momentum from the last two events into Kentucky Lake in early June and Lake Champlain 3 weeks later.
He’s not been to either lake, but likes the fact that he’ll be able to fish how he wants to at both venues.
“It’ll take being consistently good at these next two,” he said. “I feel really good about Kentucky Lake. I’ve never been to Champlain, but I’ve fished smallmouth fisheries before. I don’t know if I’ll go down to Ticonderoga. I’ll probably stay north where the smallmouth are.
“I just have to fish the way I’ve been fishing and not think about it too much. It’d mean the world to me to make the Forrest Wood Cup.”
