By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Bowling would seem to be a pretty safe activity for a professional angler to partake in during his time away from the water. However, a trip to the lanes in late April resulted in a serious injury for veteran two-tour pro Mike McClelland.

Just prior to the start of the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Lake Travis in Texas, McClelland went on an excursion to a local bowling center with fellow competitors Brett Hite and David Walker, along with McClelland's wife, Stacy, and Hite's wife, Courtney. In the final frame of their last game, McClelland took a tumble down the lane and incurred a broken ankle.

As a bowler, McClelland isn't a rank beginner. Since moving from his native Arkansas to Blue Eye, Mo., on the shore of Table Rock Lake, he and Stacy have been rather frequent visitors to the lanes at Johnny Morris' Big Cedar Lodge. His injury, though, occurred due to an ill-advised move.

"I thought I heard somebody say our time was up and the game was over, so I took the bowling shoes off and put my tennis shoes on," he said. "Then Walker hollered that I still had one more frame, so I just went ahead and bowled.

"The problem was that I didn't slide like I would have in bowling shoes; I just kind of stuck and my ankle rotated inward and I went down. I was out in the oil (put down by the bowling center to reduce friction on the lanes) and when I put my hands down, I knew there was no way I was going to get up. I got one foot in the gutter and just sort of crawled my way back. I'm glad that nobody took a video of it."

He says he doesn't remember his score at the time, but it wasn't a good evening for him in that department, either.

"My wife was kicking my tail and that usually doesn't happen. I hadn't bowled a strike all night."

Had to Boot Up

The incident necessitated a trip to the emergency room, where McClelland was fitted with a walking boot. He fished the Travis derby with the boot, plus three more BPT tournaments and two Pro Circuit events. This week's Pro Circuit regular-season finale at the St. Lawrence River will be his first outing without it in more than three months.

He actually fared well at Travis, posting an 11th-place finish. The RITE-HITE Turret trolling-motor mount to which his Garmin Livescope transducer was attached allowed him to remotely steer the scope with the motor in the anchor position. He used it with deadly precision on points, where he enticed fish with small swimbaits.

He had a much tougher time in the next three BPT events, though, finishing no better than 61st, and he's 67th in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race with two tournaments left. He's produced far better results on the Pro Circuit, with placements of 28th and 14th in the last two to climb to 14th in the points, which just about assures him a spot in next month's TITLE Championship.

Confidence High

McClelland expects to log another strong finish this week at the St. Lawrence. He was 62nd at that venue a month ago with the BPT visited, but conditions have changed. The last time he competed in a five-fish limit tournament there, he was 5th in a Bassmaster Elite Series stop in August 2018.

"This isn't going to be a big-numbers game like the BPT event was; the fish are more scattered right now and this is more my deal. You're going to have to fish around and be very specific to get a good bite.

"The last time I was here I learned a lot about the depth range I need to be fishing and the type of structure I need to be looking for. I've had two good days of practice and I'm confident that I can catch them pretty good."

And as for bowling? He said he'll be knocking down pins again before too long, but hopefully staying upright while doing it.

"Honestly, my wife and I have always enjoyed bowling. It's not something I'm going to take out of my life; I'm just going to be a little more careful about it.

"It's probably going to be more of an off-season thing than during the season. I think that'll be my new policy."