(In observance of Columbus Day, BassFan will not publish a main news story on Monday.)

In terms of competitive experience, the amount of time Fletcher Shryock has spent straddling a motorcycle dwarfs what he's spent casting for bass from the front deck of a boat. But he's hoping that pro fishing can take him to a level he was unable to reach in motocross.

"What it comes down to in racing is I just wasn't good enough,"

said the 25-year-old Ohioan, who'll be a rookie on the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2012. "It didn't matter what kind of diet I was on, how much I trained (physically) or how much practicing I did, I just couldn't get to where I wanted to be. There were guys who wouldn't eat right, wouldn't train and wouldn't practice, but they were still flat-out better than I was.

"But since I picked up a rod, everything has just happened. I didn't try to force it to happen, but so far things have just gone so much easier. I've talked to guys who've fished for years and just struggled and struggled, and that's the way I was at racing. At the end of the day, God just didn't have plans for me to be a (successful) pro dirt-bike racer."

Open to Interpretation

Shryock has been a serious tournament fisherman only since the spring of 2009. His progress has been nothing short of staggering – he fished two Bassmaster Open circuits this year, proving he could win on one and displaying rock-solid consistency on the other.

His campaign got off to a miserable start with a 161st-place finish at the Kissimmee Chain in Florida in the first Southern Open. But he won the next time out at Norman to secure a 2012 Bassmaster Classic berth and finished 11th in the circuit finale at Douglas.

His success in those two tournaments prompted him to sign up for the Northern Opens, and he finished 5th in the points to earn an Elite Series invitation. He cut his placement by more than half with each successive event, going from a 52nd at the James River to a 21st at Erie to a 9th at Oneida.

"It ended up being a dream season," he said. "I think I proved to myself and maybe some other people that Norman wasn't a complete fluke."

He fished on pure instinct for most of the year, and somehow it all worked out.

"The one thing I don't have is experience, but maybe that actually helped me because I just didn't know any better. I just went by what the fish told me – if they didn't bite one thing, I picked up something else."

Healthy Dose of Fear

Shryock is under no illusion that his quick run of success at the triple-A level will automatically translate to high finishes on the Elite Series.

"I know it's going to be tough and the fear of failure has already got my adrenalin going," he said. "I'll do anything to keep from failing. I'm confident, but there's still that other side of the fence where I have the fear that I won't have what it takes.

"Another thing I won't have is the networks. Most of those guys have either been to all the lakes (on the schedule) or they know people there. I'm going to show up and whatever looks good, hey, let's try that."

The fear that he feels is a different type than what he experienced on the motocross track, and he thinks that difference could have a sort of calming effect.

"When you take a chance in fishing, you might not catch any fish. When you take a big gamble in racing, you might end up paralyzed or dead. I look back at some of the things I did on the track and I'm like, 'What were you thinking?' One of the things I used to hope was that I'd make it big-time before I got paralyzed and I tried so hard to make it, but it never worked.

"I put that same intensity into fishing, but at least I can be pretty sure I'm not going to die from it."

He said his background has actually made him a pretty conservative boat driver, which should put some prospective Elite Series marshals at ease.

"I play it pretty safe – I'm kind of gun-shy after all those years on the bike. I've been in so many wrecks, and I can picture what it would be like to wreck a boat. That keeps me on the safe side."

Notable

> Shryock runs a successful business that involves extracting precious metals from catalytic converters and said he might end up funding most of his first Elite season out of his own pocket . "I think I might be able to get farther ahead if I just put my head down and work and make money rather than taking the time to run off and try to pursue sponsors," he said.

> He feels fortunate that his worst motocross wreck resulted in "only" two broken arms. "My last injury came in April 2009 when I blew my shoulder out, and that was the last time I rode a bike – the dream ended there. That shoulder's still jacked up and it pops out of the socket and causes pain in my neck and down my back, but it hasn't affected my fishing yet."