One of the real perks of this job is rubbing elbows with the Tour pros. While I find myself included in many competitive circles in my own right, I love hearing the inside scoop from the best in the business. The level to which these guys take this sport fascinates me daily.
Many of you commented about the series I did on Michael Simonton, and the struggles he's endured in trying to establish himself on Tour. This week and next, we’re going to look into a polar opposite character in every sense of the word as we’re delving deep into one of bass fishing’s most unique characters: Ish Monroe.
I’ve always been a fan of Ish. Nowadays, I love the fact that he takes power fishing to the extreme no matter what body of water he’s on, certain of his domination at each event.
Back at the start of his career, I admired his confidence and enthusiasm for all things involved in bass tournament competition. He propelled himself into the sport’s top tier through tournament performance, an incredibly grueling schedule, and some of the best promoting and marketing in the business. He did it all in the face of long odds as a kid from California, throwing everything in the ring and going for it.
And, by the way, he did it as a black guy in a sport dominated by white fishermen, and often stereotyped as a playground for prejudiced southerners.
I called Ish to discuss the trials and tribulations of the best black athlete to play this game to date. I needed to know what special stumbling blocks and successes he faced, how he got to be Ish Monroe, and what makes him such a popular promoter. And I wanted to talk about how anyone could possibly fish three pro fishing tours all at once.
This week, we’ll pull out the race card. You’re going to be surprised at what Ish had to say – I know I was.
I remember when Ish first won at the national level and was quickly becoming a household name in bass fishing. My backward fishing buddies commented that they heard Ish was a phony, that he couldn’t fish his way out of a paper bag. Funny, I thought; he just beat all the best in the country.
Ish tells me that this type of thing has happened to him since the beginning.
"Back when I started, I was like 18, and I drew an amateur in a shared-weight event out west”, he explains. “I remember this guy saying how he ‘drew the black kid,' like he was disappointed. Well, I flip a 7-pounder in the boat on my third cast the next day, and all of a sudden that guy’s my buddy."
Ish mentioned that the race issue comes to the forefront all the time in fishing. To him, it’s no different than any other facet of society.
“It’s the same in life,” he says.
He said he just ignores it, adding that it’s the least of his worries in the world of pro fishing. The ugly side of ignorance does surface once in a while, though.
“I call it Driving While Black,” he said, making note of the backward mentality of being guilty before proven innocent.
“I’m driving through Georgia in a suburban with Tennessee plates, pulling a bass boat with Missouri plates, and I get pulled over. They get me out of the truck and do a complete search on me, the vehicle, and the entire boat with drug sniffing dogs.”
Ask yourself this: Has that ever happened to me, or any of my fishing buddies?
But, for Ish, it seems to roll right off of him.
“There’s ignorance in all walks of life,” he says. “Look at Fuzzy Zoeller and Tiger Woods."
To his knowledge, race has not hurt or helped him in the pursuit of sponsorships.
“I’ve never had a sponsor that has used that angle,” he said, “and I don’t use that angle to try to gain sponsorships. I don’t have to tell them I’m black. They can figure that out for themselves.”
He pointed out that his sponsors utilize his talents because he is a tireless promoter and works his rear end off. I couldn’t agree more.
Asked whether he believes he's ever been passed over for a promotional deal because of his skin color, he said, “I don’t want to believe that it’s happened, but I’m pretty sure it has. Just look at history and racism in general. You know it happens."
Sadly, I’m sure he’s right, but I bet those companies that once didn’t consider Ish are regretting that decision right now, as he continues to be one of the most recognizable anglers on tour.
In terms of his fan base, I asked if being black helps in that regard.
“I have lots of urban fans, but so does (Mike) Iaconelli and (Gerald) Swindle," he said.
Ish takes a minute to educate me on what it means to be a fan.
“A fan is someone who admires you and can relate to you. For me, that’s someone who likes hip-hop, my language and my lifestyle. But it’s the same fan base for guys like Swindle and Ike."
He pauses, likely waiting for my brain to catch up and make the realization, Wait a minute, those guys are white guys."
What he’s trying to say is that just because he’s black has nothing to do with his fan base being made up of fans with an urban feel. Those fans just relate to him, or the others mentioned, because of his lifestyle, not his color.
“It’s just like with Ike,” he said. “People didn’t get him when he first came out because of his intensity. At first, I didn’t like Ike either. But then I went fishing with him on his farm pond, and saw that his intensity for fishing was there regardless, and I became a fan.”
Others are fans, he says, because they can relate.
“A country boy is going to have country boy fans," he said.
Ish Monroe has won several times on both the FLW and BASS Tours. He’s earned well over $1 million bass fishing. He has excelled in becoming one of the best promoters in the industry. He's assembled one of the largest sponsor bases and has become one of the most recognizable figures in bass fishing. And he’s done it, in my opinion, often against overwhelming odds.
Pioneers may have paved his way, but Ish has separated himself from anything we’ve seen to date from black athletes in bass fishing. Again, he seems to care little of such details.
“Color doesn’t matter to me," he said. "It means nothing. We all bleed the same."
These were the first words ever spoken to me by Ish Monroe. And he meant it.
(Joe Balog is the often outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)
