Regardless of whether you feel that Federation anglers (a.k.a., "amateurs") – and, for that matter, Open anglers – should fish in what is billed as a professional championship (the Bassmaster Classic), I hope you'll agree with me that Bryan Kerchal is a hero to all bass-fishing fans. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that he's one of our sport's legends.
Think quick: what are the legends of professional bass fishing? The ones that came to me first were Ray Scott's "brainstorm in a rain storm" that created B.A.S.S., Rick Clunn's amazing four Classic victories, including the big come-from-behind ones that still have people in awe, and Bryan Kerchal's victory at the 1994 Classic, 10 years ago.
Kerchal did something that every fan of every sport dreams about doing. Every baseball fan fantasizes about playing in the World Series and hitting the series-winning homer or pitching the perfect game. Everyone who's ever played high school football dreams about a career that would have ended with locking horns in the Super Bowl and raising the Lombardi trophy over their heads. And every BassFan dreams about raising that Classic trophy up to the sky while everyone, from family and friends to Clunn and Brauer, looks on.
Bryan Kerchal did that. He actually did it. He took a one in a million chance, and over 3 days – not a lucky halftime shot from half court, but 3 solid days – did something with it. He proved that he was the champ. He made hundreds of thousands of anglers' dreams a reality, and gave all of them something to shoot for.
Soon thereafter, as we all know, he died, an unfortunate fact that still gets many folks in this industry choked up when they think about it.
Then
Since this is the 10th anniversary of Bryan's win, I called his father Ray to ask about what the Federation (Bryan's route to the Classic) and the Classic win meant to his son. Here's what he said.
"The Federation was extremely important to Bryan. He didn't become aware of it until he was 20 years old. He joined a club when he was 20, and that club helped him solidify all that practice he'd been doing on the lake alone for years, ever since he read about Rick Clunn winning his (third) Classic back in 1984.
"As he got older, he realized that (being in a Federation-affiliated club) helped him become a man, to mature, to develop his values. He thought it was so important. He was strongly interested in taking kids fishing and giving kids the opportunity to fish because it develops things like confidence and a sense of peacefulness. It was something that got us into working with kids (through the Bryan V. Kerchal Memorial Fund).
"The club allowed him the opportunity to do pursue what he wanted to do. He wanted to be able to earn a living fishing, and the Federation was what opened the door for him to do that. When he spoke at the Classic, after winning the Classic, it flabbergasted everybody. It was a sincere appreciation for Ray (Scott) for founding B.A.S.S. and for giving him the opportunity (to fish), and of course for his sponsors, and for the Federation for providing a wonderful opportunity to allow him to pursue a career he couldn't otherwise have pursued.
"Bryan went to the Classic to catch fish. That was his joy, regardless of what place he was in: Did I catch my limit, did I do my best. When he got to the (1994) Classic, he caught a limit the first day and he caught a limit the second day. The third day he was very sick. He had a bad stomach virus – most people don't know that. The doctors thought it might be dehydration and nerves, but it wasn't.
"When he was outside waiting to weigh in (his winning limit), Rick Clunn came up to him and said, 'It's not that important whether you win or lose. You've done a great job, and that's what's important.' Bryan said to him, 'The only problem I have is I don't know if this is too soon or not.' At Bryan's service, Rick said that's when he realized there was an older soul in (Bryan). Somehow (Bryan) grasped something that only people like Rick Clunn could grasp.
"(Bryan) wasn't (worrying about whether he'd) win or lose, it was, 'Is it too soon for me to win.' He did want to win the Classic, but I think in his mind it was within the next 20 years.
"After the second day, when he had two limits, he'd achieved everything he went there for. And as a bonus, he was leading the Classic. On the third day he had a limit again, and was the only one to have limit all 3 days.
"(Bryan's) Classic (win) was important for a couple of reasons, all of which he understood. One was that it did have an impact on the attitude of Federation fishermen. It actually was one of the main selling points when Canada was starting their own Federation – they used Bryan's win. The other impact is that it enabled us to start kids fishing camps and a kid's fishing championship (this year taken over by BASS). That win also made it much easier for he and Suzanne (Bryan's former fiancée) to make their future decisions – where they were going to move, and when."
Now
Ray said Bryan was going to fish the Bassmaster Top 150s for a year from his Connecticut home base, and then he and Suzanne were going to move to the South.
I wish it happened that way. But at least we're left with what I trust will always be one of the most enduring legacies of the sport: the fact and legend of Bryan's win.
As a final note, in my view Ray and Ronnie Kerchal – Bryan's parents – are amazing people, and maybe don't get thanked enough for it. Because of the legacy their son left to the bass fishing world, they continually relive the great achievement and abrupt death of their son. Everyone wants to know about Bryan, and Ray and Ronnie love to talk about him, but they still – 10 years later – get choked up doing it. And who can blame them.
All those ways to heal that you read or hear about, or that some of you might have experienced, of moving on, putting the past behind you, letting time heal your wounds – it doesn't seem like Ray and Ronnie have done those things, mostly for our benefit. They know what Bryan means to the bass fishing world, and they continue to put themselves aside to keep that meaning, that dream, alive for everyone.
So from one bass fisherman, thanks Ray and Ronnie. Thanks for Bryan, the legend and the dream.
Notable
> A similar thanks should go to Suzanne Dignon, Bryan's former fiancée with whom the Kerchal family is still close.
> You may not know that Bryan was one of the best people you'd ever meet. I met him at the two Classics he fished, in 1993 and 1994. Both times it was just a brief hello, but you could tell right away what a nice, humble, soft-spoken guy he was. My only memories of him, aside from him being up on stage with Ray Scott, were that immediate feeling that he was a good guy, and the smile and look in his eyes, which showed that he was just happy to be there – happy in the most sincere way possible. What a great champ he was.
Jay Kumar is BassFan's CEO.
