(Editor's Note: This is part 1 of a 2-part story on Missouri Bassmaster pro Mark Tucker.)
The State Farm-BassFan World Rankings aren't an easy beast to predict. Since they function within a 2-year cycle of competition, movements sometimes turn squirrelly as new finishes lop off past performances.
The true merit of the World Rankings, of course, is this 2-year cycle, and equal consideration of both
the Bassmaster and FLW tours. A scan of the current Top 10 includes few surprises. But alongside the world-famous faces of Kevin VanDam, Skeet Reese, Greg Hackney, Marty Stone and more, there lies the rock-solid Mark Tucker, quietly perched at No. 8 in the world.
He started the year ranked 101st, and his climb has been a mighty one. If he retains his Top 25 ranking – which is likely – he'll secure a berth in the Cabela's Top Gun Championship to be held this August.
2-Year Review
How did Tucker climb so high so fast? The tale starts in 2003, when after a series of near-bottom finishes, he experienced boat problems and opted out of the two California events. He therefore didn't earn any points in the Western events and ended the year 138th in the Bassmaster Tour points.
The ramifications were immense. First, those miserable 2003 finishes hurt his world ranking, and two, since he finished so low in the Tour points, he was effectively out of the E50s the next 2 years. (Editor's Note: BASS announced the E50 series after Tucker decided to forego the California events.)
But he followed up his 2003 disaster with a solid 2004, when he finished 36th in the Tour points and fished the Bassmaster Classic. As 2005 arrived, new events replaced barrel-bottom finishes from 2003 and his world ranking soared.
Yes, he started slow at the Toho Bassmaster season opener, but quickly found his gear and started climbing. Here's his finishes this season:
> Toho: 91st
> Harris Chain: 42nd
> Guntersville: 42nd
> Clarks Hill: 10th
> Norman: 19th
> Table Rock: 38th
His lone win-threat was at Clarks Hill, but as he told BassFan, consistency is his goal – not flash and flair. Better to finish 50th or better each time than 1st one week, 101st the next.
The theory plays out in his ascent. Steady performances, strung across the span of a years, create the stuff careers are made of.
Wallet Fishing
"It could have been better," Tucker said of his 2005 season. "With all the money that comes out of my pockets, it's hard to gamble. If you pay all your own entry fees like I do, you just have to go out there and catch one at a time – and make sure you can catch enough to get a check and make it back to the Classic.
"That was kind of my goal this year – inch along and be patient. Try to catch what you can catch and don't gamble on anything."
The need for a conservative approach was even more important this year, he said, because two Classics were on the line. He easily made both those Classics.
"I knew if I had the opportunity to make both Classics, it would hopefully pay off in the long run. So I fished very conservatively. With only 2 1/2 days of practice, you hate to run around.
"If you've got a little financial status, you can kind of gamble a little. But when you know you have to make a check to keep the points and make your money back, you have to stick with what you found and not go running around."
He knows that might never net him a victory. "Kind of gambling and running down the lake and fishing – that's how you win a lot of times. You go with it, pull up to a spot and catch a 5-poudner. You're not so worried about catching enough to keep you in the game. But I can't afford to do that."
Don't Lay Off
In FLW competition, it's common for leaders to lay off their fish, since weights are zeroed after day 2. Bassmaster Tour events, on the other hand, are decided by 4-day total weight. There are still issues of fish management to consider, but overall, saving fish is much less common.
Tucker said that this year he tried to save fish once, at Clarks Hill, and it cost him. "I try to look ahead a little bit, but the main thing is, you need to try to catch as much as you can the first 2 days. I try not to save too much. You've got too many variables that can happen.
"Like at Clarks Hill. I was catching them good, and the second day I really started figuring out what they were doing. On the third day we had 45 mph winds and I couldn't even fish them."
He lost his bite, finished 10th and missed the Top 6 cut. "You have to be careful of what you're saving," he said. "At Clarks Hill, those places I laid off of the second day, I thought I had a chance to win it so I left them.
"I should have went and fished a little more seriously the second day and tried for a 5-poudner. That mistake cost me a little, but at least I got a good check."
Notable
> When asked why he missed the 2003 California events, Tucker said: "The year we went to California, I had boat problems, and that was a big issue. It's the reason I'm with BassCat right now. Things didn't work out. They (the previous boat sponsor) wouldn't give me a loaner boat, and my boat was in no shape to go to California. I decided not to go, then later they (BASS) came up with the 3-year E50 deal."
> He was sort of a "one jig pony" this season. After Toho and Harris Chain, he tied on one type of jig and fished it, pretty much exclusively, throughout the final four events. More on that in part 2.
– End of part 1 (of 2) –
