Bass Fishing Pro Melinda Mize: 1st Woman Classic Contender?
BEN LOMOND, Ark. - Standing five feet, four inches tall and weighing in at
just over 100 pounds, Arkansas' Melinda Mize doesn't look like the average
professional bass angler. She listens to hip-hop, isn't plagued by five
o'clock shadow and absolutely no one calls her Bubba.
Nevertheless, the 22-year-old angler has a dream. She wants to be the
first woman angler to qualify for the CITGO Bassmaster Tour and Bassmaster
Classic.
"I can't remember not fishing," Melinda smiled. "In the summers, my family
would just fish, play and sleep. It was never something I was pushed to
do. It was just something we did as a family."
Melinda is currently in the process of getting a degree in marketing,
which she hopes to use in her career as an angler. She plans to use her
degree to market herself to potential sponsors, earn their support and be
a good representative for their products.
"Having an education, and taking courses such as public speaking will help
me to better represent myself when I get sponsors," explained Melinda,
emphasizing that her biggest education has come from her parents on the
water.
"My parents taught me everything I know about life and fishing," explained
Melinda. "It's always a learning experience in the boat, and I've been
able to take something from each of them."
Her father is Tour pro, Jimmy Mize, a former Classic qualifier who
finished second at the recent Tour event on Clarks Hill Reservoir. Her
mother is Bassmaster Open competitor Lucy Mize. They've instilled in
Melinda both a desire to fish and a need to win.
Melinda began competing at a young age, fishing small tournaments in the
summers. She traveled with her parents to many tournaments, fishing at
every available opportunity. While attending a Central Open event at Table
Rock Lake in Missouri, Melinda won the 11 to 14 year-old CastingKids
competition.
"Winning the CastingKids event made me think a lot more about practicing,
hitting my targets and being more accurate with my presentations," Melinda
said.
Since then, Melinda has continuously challenged herself by fishing as a
non-boater in the Bassmaster Opens and on the Tour. She's competed in 14
BASS events, finishing in the top 50 twice, including a 22nd place at
Santee-Cooper in 2003.
Melinda admits that while time spent on the water with her family is
always fun, there's still healthy competition amongst them.
"There's definitely a family rivalry," she laughed. "We push each other to
perform better every time we go out on the water. It helps us to become
better anglers.
2005 brings a new set of challenges to Melinda, who will make her first
attempt as a boater in the Bassmaster Western Open Division. She'll be
traveling with her mother, who will also compete as a boater, making it
the first mother-daughter pair on the circuit.
"I'm a little nervous about competing against my mom," said Melinda. "She
used to call me ‘amateur'," she joked, "but she can't call me that now.
We're both really competitive, and it just drives us to perform better.
I'm looking forward to the friendly competition and hope that both of us
can make the cuts."
Born and raised in the South, Melinda is also looking forward to fishing
the unfamiliar waters of the west to learn new techniques and styles of
fishing.
"I'll be able to learn techniques out west that I hope to take with me to
lakes all over. I know it'll be tough, but I really want to make it in
this sport, and I want to be taken seriously," she said.
Her gender and diminutive size may lead some anglers and tournament fans
to think Melinda's not ready for the big-time, but they may have a
different view once they see her on the water.
"Melinda was my partner in a tournament a little while back," explained
1999 Bassmaster Classic champion Davy Hite. "It was a tough day out there
and real bad weather, but Melinda never missed a beat."
"It was great," said Melinda. "He treated me like he knew me his whole
life, and instructed me on new techniques and styles I had never fished
before. I learned a lot and I had a great time competing."
Four-time Bassmaster Classic Champion and 28-time Classic qualifier Rick
Clunn, another partner of Melinda's, stands by her passion for the sport
saying, "When I shared a day in the boat with Melinda, it was very tough,
but Melinda did real well.
"What impresses me with Melinda is her sense of awareness and
consciousness. She has a lot more than males in this regard."
"I think that many women are scared and intimidated to compete against
men," Melinda said, "but most of the guys I've fished with have been
extremely supportive. It's amazing how receptive they are to women
anglers. They want to see a woman do well in this sport."
Hite agreed, saying, "I've been noticing more and more women out in the
crowds at tournaments. They're there to watch, not just to be there with
their husbands.
"The TV exposure we're getting can only help present our sport to a more
diverse audience," Hite added, "and women will certainly be exposed to
fishing more so than in the past."
Clunn emphasized his support of Melinda's dream by saying, "I hope to see
a woman one day become a world champion. It can happen."
Despite the talents of anglers like Melinda and Lucy Mize, big success on
the BASS Tournament Trail has been the exclusive province of men. A woman
has never earned a berth on the Tour nor qualified for the Bassmaster
Classic.
"This is one of few sports where there's no physical disadvantage to being
a woman," Melinda emphasized. "It's just us against the fish.
"Every time I'm on the water, I challenge myself trying to outperform my
previous finishes. I have to remember that I'm human, and I'm not always
going to win. I just have to keep on fishing and not let it get me
down."
Melinda hopes and expects to see a rise in women anglers in the next few
years.
"I'm talking to a lot of girls and encouraging them to get involved in the
sport. When one makes it, I know that other women will follow."
Until that day, Melinda dreams of the Tour and a Classic berth.
"I'll be supportive of any woman who makes it, but I want to be the
first."
BEN LOMOND, Ark. - Standing five feet, four inches tall and weighing in at
just over 100 pounds, Arkansas' Melinda Mize doesn't look like the average
professional bass angler. She listens to hip-hop, isn't plagued by five
o'clock shadow and absolutely no one calls her Bubba.