by Julia (Juls) DavisJanuary 19, 2012
Joining us for our next Monday Night Fireside Chat on January 23, 2012 is one of our favorite Guest Hosts, Chase Parsons. Always informative, funny, and easy going, he is the perfect host (Not to mention he can type pretty fast too, which is always a good thing).
Chase (pictured here in an FLW Outdoors Photo) is from Brillion, WI and a phenomenal angler. As a seasoned Professional
Angler, Chase found his first victory in a major, while competing on the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour event at Lake Oahe, SD in August of 2011. Cashing a check for $52,000.00 had to be a thrilling experience for a new husband and father, so let’s find out what he thought of that experience, together in the chat, shall we?
Back in 2010, Chase did one of our “Twenty Questions” interviews, so instead of repeating that information, you can view his previous interview to find out about his history as a fisherman, hunter, and all around outdoorsman here: http://www.walleyecentral.com/articles/?a=2346
This year, I thought it would be best to just get right to the knitty-gritty of his 2012 season and expectations.
Please mark your calendars for Monday Night, 7pm Central Time, and join us in the Walleye Central Chatsite, where you can sit and chat with this extraordinary competitor.
Juls: Thanks for taking the time to do this Chase, it’s much appreciated. Please tell us who your sponsors are this year?
Chase: Sponsors are Nitro/Tracker Boats, Mercury Marine, Bass Pro Shops, Fin-Tech, Sebile Baits, Berkley, Fishouflage, Mustad, Lowrance, Oakley, Motorguide, Smooth Moves Seat Mounts, Otter Outdoors, Striker Ice Technical Wear.
Juls: Please tell us what your plans are for 2012 and, if there is anything special you want to talk about, please do!
Chase: My 2012 schedule will be very similar to 2011. I plan to fish all of the AIM and FLW Walleye Tour Events. I had a great time last year on both circuits and fishing tournaments is the most exciting part about my career.
Placing 2nd in Angler of the Year last year, to Tom Keenan on the FLW, just added more "fuel to the fire." Keenan better be on his game this year again, because I'm coming for his title!
Between tournaments, I'll be busy shooting several "The Next Bite" television shows, which air on NBC Sports, and also possibly a few Bass Pro Shops "Outdoor World" shows.
In my free time, I'm going to hang out with the family; wife Bridget and 7 month old son, Logan as much as possible, because without their support, I couldn't do this for a living. If 2012 is as good as 2011, I'll be a pretty lucky man.
Juls: Do your sponsors have any new products you would like to tell us about?
Chase: I'm happy to say all of my sponsors are on-board once again for the upcoming season. Without these companies supporting me, I wouldn't be fishing for a living. Otter Outdoors and Striker Ice Technical Wear are two new companies that I look forward to working with for many years to come. Each company builds top of the line products for the "ice" season, which will be a great fit for us, as Dad, Keith and myself are beginning to spend more time in that market now. We even went up to Lake Winnipeg to catch some of those giants through the ice last year, with Keith actually shooting a "The Next Bite" show, which I believe just aired a few weeks ago. It's an exciting time right now for us, as in the past we haven't taken the opportunity nearly as much, to get out on the ice.
Juls: What are your thoughts on the FLW for 2012? And, what do you think of the schedule, sites, the sponsors involved, and your expectations for each site.
Chase: I am looking forward to fishing all of the FLW Events in 2012, simply because I love fishing tournaments. I have to be honest and say that I feel the locations as far as tournament waters aren't nearly as good as 2011. Either way, someone is going to win each event!
Redwing (Mississippi): I think the FLW is getting pretty lucky with the winter weather in terms of this event. Being as early as it's scheduled; it could have been a pretty brutal event with a bad winter. However, the way it's looking, the bite probably will be pretty good but hopefully guys won't be on top of one another. It's one of those places where if you don't draw a low boat number, you might be pushed out of the winning spot.
Lake Erie: I always look forward to goimg to Erie and this is an event I expect to be better than last year. If we can get lucky and have better weather this year, guys should be more spread out and monster weights will come in again. Never a bad place for a tournament...
Lake Oahe: I'm probably a little bit partial to this one, since I was lucky enough to win this event last year, but I love fishing Oahe. I've always had good luck on that body of water and usually guys will be fishing a bunch of different techniques, in a bunch of different areas. I'll be willing to bet there will be a certain style "bass bait" in more boats, than in any walleye event ever in the past. :)
Escanaba: This is pretty local for me, being that I live close to Green Bay, but I think this event might be the biggest overall letdown of them all. I've placed well at this time of the year in tournaments of the past (PWT), but it's always a pretty tough place to fish in the August time frame. There will be plenty of zeros and one fish weights BUT a few guys will catch them good. The one thing I was looking forward to, was fishing an event out of Escanaba without the slot limit, but it looks like that'll be back on by the time we are there. Probably the toughest bite of any of the qualifiers which actually makes it the easiest to win...
Quad Cities/Championship: I've never fished there, so that makes it exciting! I love learning new waters. On the negative side, the people I've talked to that have, for the most part aren't excited for this event. Insanely late in the year, but from everything I've heard it had to be, otherwise the bite would've really been poor.
