Some thoughts on two great men.

Yelas Rides Again

I hope with his recent FLW Angler of the Year (AOY) win, Jay Yelas gets the respect he deserves – which in my opinion, he rarely does. He's one of the best fishermen this sport has ever seen. Period.

His 2002-03 string of title wins will always go down as one of the best performances in bass fishing history. I've said that before, but in case it hasn't registered with you yet, here it is again: FLW AOY and a Bassmaster Classic win in 2002, and Bassmaster AOY in 2003. No one else has done exactly that, and hardly anyone else has won three consecutive titles, let alone over both leagues.

Then, after that run, Yelas stops fishing BASS tournaments – on principle. Amazing. I love that because someone standing up for what they feel is right rarely happens anymore.

But by quitting BASS he risks his career – yet he ends up okay, and then deciphers the FLW format to come out at the top of the points (and in the Top 10 in the world) this year.

Had you given up on Yelas? Maybe written him off, even in your mind? If so, you might not want to do it again. They don't make many like him.

Of course, I'd love to see him (and Nixon, Davis, Dudley, Herren, etc.) fishing against VanDam, Hackney, Reese, Ike, Brauer, etc. again one day, but – well, you know.

My Friend Tim

I really don't know how to begin this other than to say that Tim Tucker was a friend, and today I feel particularly lucky that he was. But I was hardly alone. Tim knew everyone in bass fishing and everyone knew him. He had a lot of friends.

Beyond a friend, he also was one of my heroes, and I'm glad I told him that more than once. I'll always remember meeting him at the 1992 BASS Masters Classic. I was nervous as hell. He was very gracious and friendly, and always has been.

As things have changed in the sport, we've had disagreements, but what friends don't? We both had points of view and argued them with each other. That's healthy. Neither of us harbored serious hard feelings – which is important to note. Tim was a rarity in this sport, a sport where many people make a concerted effort to take every piece of information as personally as possible, apparently so they can hold grudges for years. Tim was one of a few people who didn't do that with me, which was great.

I'd also like to pay homage to Tim as a pioneer. I know I'm not the only one who had him in my pantheon of heroes, in no small part because he was THE writer in the sport of bass fishing.

In fact, you can draw a straight line from Bob Cobb, to Tim, to BassFan and all other current bass fishing media. That's a sizable contribution to our world – and to be clear, that's not an evolution. I'm just honored that we at BassFan could be in the same line.

This is a woefully inadequate tribute to a great man, a greatly influential man, but it's all I can find to say right now. Honestly, the news of Tim's death is too new. I'm actually having trouble believing it.

I've got a lot kicking around upstairs – memories, funny stories – but it either won't translate too well to the written word, or I can't make it do that just now.

I miss you, Tim.