November 22, 2024
It was merely after 8 p.m. Central time on Saturday, Nov. 17, and Matt Pangrac and Matt Stefan look exhausted and defeated as they sit all through a desk from each other inside a podcast studio in Shawnee, Okla. Separated by a monetary establishment of flat-screen screens that Pangrac makes use of to provide and host the long-running Bass Converse Keep fishing podcast, every are sporting black hoodies and matching basic black and yellow In-Fisherman ballcaps.
Pangrac moreover donned a pair of headphones so he could hear when the intro music began to fade out. Stefan, within the meantime, stares blankly on the tabletop.
As a result of the intro jingle trailed out, Pangrac thanked his viewers for tuning in on a fall Saturday night time realizing that they’d fairly a number of college soccer video video games or a mixed martial arts pay-per-view they might presumably be watching in its place. He then peeled the headset off and transitioned to the subject of the night time’s livestream—to summarize the duo’s quest over the sooner 4 days to catch as many trophy-sized fish as they could for submission to the In-Fisherman Grasp Angler contest.
“Pretty frankly, Matt Stefan, it has felt like an absolute bender,” Pangrac said as he peered over at his co-host and fishing affiliate on this mission.
Business
“Dude, I can not inform you ways exhausting this has been,” Stefan added. “We have fished tournaments for per week straight, photo voltaic as a lot as photo voltaic down, and work on no sleep. I don’t understand why I am so drained. It’s been nonstop for us.”
It truly was as a result of the pair logged roughly 1,350 freeway miles to fish eight completely totally different lakes between west Texas and northeast Oklahoma all through a four-day stretch. It’s estimated they spent 60 hours fishing all through that time. All throughout the pursuit of fish they in some other case wouldn’t normally chase. They documented the entire journey for his or her social media channels with every day recap films each night time.
Every Pangrac and Stefan are diehard anglers with Midwest roots. A Chicago native who now lives in Junction Metropolis, Wis., Stefan is educated bass angler who has competed on the FLW Tour, Cope with Warehouse Invitationals and Primary League Fishing’s Bass Skilled Tour. Pangrac, moreover an Illinois native who calls Oklahoma residence, has lined skilled bass fishing for almost 20 years and has competed throughout the Bassmaster Opens since 2020. Most each factor they’ve achieved or been associated to throughout the sport of fishing has wanted to do with bass fishing.
Business
So, this Grasp Angler quest was somewhat little bit of a departure for every of them. This was an issue they launched upon themselves, and they also appeared to have the benefit of every grueling minute of it.
“What I appreciated about it is I forgot all about bass,” Stefan said all through the podcast recapping the journey. “Bass is what our careers are made out of, nevertheless we have now been patterning hybrids or white bass or crappie and intentionally concentrating on them and that was one factor for me. Concentrating on one factor other than bass really reminded me how quite a bit I actually like this sport. I can’t say that enough.”
Whereas their passion for bass fishing runs deep, the frequent thread tying Stefan and Pangrac collectively is their curiosity in multispecies angling, which was sparked and fostered by learning In-Fisherman journal and watching the In-Fisherman TV as soon as they’ve been youthful.
“We every adopted the In-Fisherman Grasp Angler awards yearly and waited for the Grasp Angler model to come back again out so we could look at our private catches to those throughout the journal,” Pangrac said.
The Grasp Angler program has been In-Fisherman’s long-running, no-entry fee, big-fish contest that acknowledges trophy catches all through 27 freshwater species courses. The competitors divides North America into six areas with minimal dimension requirements for each species in these areas. Entrants whose catches are approved acquire a Grasp Angler patch along with a chevron patch for the species entered. In addition to, the angler(s) who submit the most important fish in a given species class for that yr acquire a Grasp Angler certificates acceptable for framing. A summary of each yr’s submissions is then printed throughout the journal.
However it certainly wasn’t the recognition awards Stefan and Pangrac have been after. With hunters in a number of states throughout the woods chasing trophy whitetail correct now, the pair went on a trophy quest of their very personal and documented all of it for his or her social media channels. Primarily based totally on the areas they targeted in Oklahoma and Texas, their focus was on largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, white bass and crappie (black or white).
Pangrac said the pair’s preliminary plan was to place apart 10 days to zig-zag the nation in an effort to catch a Grasp Angler-worthy fish in all 27 species courses. After considering the logistics of said plan, they deemed it unrealistic and settled on a four-day stretch to see what they could accomplish.
Day 1 was spent at a moist Grand Lake the place they targeted hybrid stripers and white bass. Pangrac boated a 25-inch hybrid, a dandy fish by any measure nevertheless nonetheless 1 inch shy of the Grasp Angler dimension threshold for Space 2. Stefan, within the meantime, landed a white bass that measured 17 ¼ inches, which fell 3/4-inch shy of that species dimension threshold. Between the two, they caught a minimal of 10 hybrids that taped out at 24 inches or additional, nevertheless none cracked the 26-inch mark.
The following day, they set off to a lake in Texas acknowledged for large largemouth. With a 24-inch dimension threshold as a result of the purpose, it might take an unlimited to realize Grasp Angler standing. Stefan nearly acquired it achieved as he triggered the one chew of the day nevertheless had the fish come off on its technique to the boat. Every males insist the fish would have been Grasp Angler supplies.
Day 3 of the hunt observed them launch at three completely totally different lakes in Oklahoma concentrating on largemouth and crappie nevertheless neither caught one thing approaching Grasp Angler dimension.
By the final word day, they regrouped and centered solely on catching a 15-inch crappie, the Space 2 threshold. Battling 20-mph winds all day, every Pangrac and Stefan observed their exhausting work repay as each landed a 15 ¼-inch white crappie, with Stefan’s approaching his closing strong of the day properly after dusk.
“Our optimism was extraordinarily extreme after the first day since we have now been so close to catching two Grasp Angler species (hybrid and white bass), nevertheless after the second day, we realized that it was a superb opportunity that we wouldn’t check a single species off the guidelines,” Pangrac said. “The third day was actually depressing as we in no way obtained right here close to a Grasp Angler fish. We’ve been at our lowest stage after we caught our first Grasp Angler crappie with one hour left within the full drawback and the exhilaration and pleasure was the reason all of us fish. The reality that Matt was able to catch one as properly on the ultimate strong was merely icing on the cake.”
After some reflection, they every obtained right here to the conclusion that whereas the issue they put themselves by way of was grueling and intense, it gave them a newfound appreciation for multispecies fishing—and to allow them to’t wait to plan the next journey.
“I overestimated how (easy) this drawback may be. I truly did,” Stefan said. “Making an attempt to catch a trophy class fish is hard. In our case, we had 4 days, and we wanted to handle the circumstances we have now been served, and they also weren’t finest fishing circumstances. Not that I’m making excuses, nevertheless the water temps have been nonetheless heaps higher than what we have now been anticipating. We had a number of days the place the wind blew 20-plus miles an hour. We had full moon circumstances and bluebird skies. Merely not finest fishing circumstances.”
“I similar to the issue, though,” Pangrac added. “We’re every occasion fisherman nevertheless we share a love for multispecies fishing. I’ve in no way fished for one more species with a goal in ideas other than bass. It is so quite a bit pleasing.”
“I actually like the issue,” Stefan declared.
Compensate for the entire dialog on the hyperlinks beneath. It’s a load of top of the range fishing leisure for optimistic!
Thrilling Preliminary Content material materials
Distinctive Hyperlink for Thomas Allen interview when the idea was created: BTL – BASS TALK LIVE WITH IN-FISHERMAN’S THOMAS ALLEN
Matt Stefan Preview: The Grasp Angler Award Drawback Begins Now! Episode 1
BTL Preview: BTL AT NIGHT – MATT STEFAN IN-STUDIO
DAY ONE
Matt Stefan Day One: Grasp Angler Drawback. Day 1! On The Water Recap! Did We Catch Any?
BTL Day 1: BTL AT NIGHT – DAY ONE OF THE IN-FISHERMAN MASTER ANGLER CHALLENGE WITH MATT STEFAN
DAY TWO
Matt Stefan Day Two: Grasp Angler Drawback: Day 2: Thrilling Movement From One Of The Worlds Most interesting Massive Bass Lakes!
BTL Day 2: BTL – DAY TWO RECAP OF THE IN-FISHERMAN MASTER ANGLER CHALLENGE WITH MATT STEFAN
DAY THREE
Matt Stefan Day Three: Grasp Angler Drawback Day 3: This Is Getting Ridiculous!
DAY FOUR (AND CHALLENGE RECAP):
Matt Stefan Day 4: Grasp Angler Drawback: The Final Day!
BTL Days 3 and 4: BTL AT NIGHT – THE CONCLUSION OF THE IN-FISHERMAN MASTER ANGLER QUEST WITH MATT STEFAN
Video That May Curiosity You