basspro05

My name is Chris Self, I live in Shawnee,KS, I am 19 years old, and have persued a professional fishing career since 11 years of age. Accomplishments: At the age of 15 I entered an essay contest for the state of Kansas, and won the Governer's Hooked on Fishing not on drugs essay contest. I was given the chance to fish on Coffey County Lake for the Governer's Classic Fishing Tournament, in the Governer's boat. This is a well known annual tournament, in which I competed against Brent Chapman and Jimmy Houston, and many other anglers. Our team placed 4th with a few nice smallmouth bass. After that I did not pursue any tournament fishing for two years, I went back to the basics and tried to master as many of the fundamentals as I could, keying on new techniques, and learning to fish virtually every method. Last year at the age of 17, I felt I was ready for a few tournaments. I fished as a non-boater in 5 MSTA tournaments on Smithville Lake, the best I finished was 16th. I had a horrible year on Smithville Lake, but I feel it has just made me stronger from learning from my mistakes. I also fished a couple of tournaments in the Lawrence Outdoors Club, and my partner and I won the September event on Lake Perry. In March of 2005, I purchased my first bass boat at the age of 18 with my own money. I fished the Burtons Bait and Tackle thursday night buddy tournaments and took 12th in points out of around 35 boats. I also fished the Mid-States Tournament Association Pro-Am circuit as an amateur. I placed 22nd in the first tournament, 6th in the second tournament, 17th in the third tournament, and took 1st place in the last two regular season tournaments. I was crowned the amateur points champion for the MSTA. This year was an outstanding year in which I actually made more money fishing than I spent on fishing. I am currently working towards earning my bachelors degree in Business Administration while taking courses in public speaking and accounting. I know that this profession is more of a business than most people think, that is why I am getting my degree. I think I would be a great asset to a company, because I am very knowledgeable about the sport of fishing, and I am very supportive of the growth of the sport. I would be more than happy to do seminars, boats shows, practically anything, to help out someone who has the confidence to support my dream. I just need to catch one break, and I am sure I can make it, I have devoted the past 8 years to fishing, and hopefully many more will come.

I am new to the forum and would just like to say hello, I live in Kansas, and I am planning on fishing several tournament trails this year, I look forward to talking to all of you