In addition to contributing as a Senior Writer for B.A.S.S., Pete Robbins has a full-time job as an attorney in Washington, D.C., with an office just a block from the White House. Since shortly after returning from the Classic, though, he’s been working from home in Virginia due to COVID-19.
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You can tell which house belongs to Pete and his wife Hanna before you even enter thanks to this metal sculpture they bought at a Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Conroe in 2009.
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Pete brought his secure laptop home to work in their house full of fishing artifacts – including replicas and picture of fish they’ve caught, souvenirs from their world travels and various eBay purchases.
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Above the mantel is a replica of a tigerfish that Hanna caught on the Zambezi River in Zambia in 2016.
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To the right is a replica of Pete’s personal best largemouth, a 12-pounder caught in Texas on his birthday in 2012.
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Pete’s office is only about 10 feet by 10 feet, but it’s jam-packed with all sorts of fishing memorabilia.
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The first thing you see when you enter is a rug with a leaping largemouth bass.
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Their Australian Shepherd named Rooster likes to nap on it during the day. Here it looks like the bass is trying to eat him.
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One of the first things you see when you enter is a picture of Pete with that personal best largemouth. He caught it while fishing with former Elite Series pro Clark Reehm at Camelot Bell Ranch in Texas.
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Above the doorway is a “Dividing Line” sign – which could instead divide “work” and “nonwork” zones of the house.
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On the wall opposite the picture of his big bass, there’s a framed spinnerbait. Pete and Hanna gave these as one of the gifts to the groomsmen at their wedding.
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Pete didn’t attend the 2000 Bassmaster Classic, but Hanna is from Chicago, so they bought this poster on eBay and are still trying to decide where to hang it.
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Even the bookshelf is loaded up with all sorts of fishing pictures and patches.
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Pete reads constantly, and he has quite a few books by and about various current and former Elite Series pros.
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One of his favorite books is The Series, about the inaugural Elite Series season of 2006, by Steve Bowman and Doug Cox.
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Robbins appeared in six B.A.S.S. events as a co-angler, and he displays a patch from one in which he finished 18th.
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He also fished in the Elites’ first visit to Falcon in 2008, and he caught this 8-pound, 12-ounce bass out of the back of Marty Stone’s boat.
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On top of his computer there are all sorts of knick knacks, including pins from various Classics, a B.A.S.S. lighter, souvenirs from Alaska and Brazil, and a map chip.
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In addition to saving all of his issues of Bassmaster, Pete has a lot of international publications, including this one from South Africa.
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Here’s a Japanese lure catalog he picked up in Tokyo. He can’t read much of it, but the pictures make him want to spend money.
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The small table along the front wall of the office has more fish pictures and other paraphernalia.
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That includes his first baitcasting reel, purchased circa 1983.
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Here's a pile of media credentials gathered over the years.
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To the side of that table is a poster advertising a Bass Cat tournament in Japan, headlined by former Elite pro Kota Kiriyama. Pete has owned five Bass Cat boats since 1999.
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Pete used to print out and file all of his publications. That eventually became overwhelming, and he stopped around 2011.
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On top of the shelf with his binders, there are two ketchup bottles given to media by Heinz at the 2005 Classic in Pittsburgh. Probably not a good idea to use them on your burgers 15 years later.
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On the bottom of the built-in shelves there are a bunch of lures, including some expensive swimbaits, and various items autographed by top pros and lure designers.
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Another wall-mounted cabinet has various lures with special meaning.
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This display includes a special jig made of tree bark prepared by an Amazon guide. It outfished traditional hair jigs by a wide margin.
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Another wall-mounted shelf has more toys and memorabilia, including this still-wrapped set of 1992-93 bass pro trading cards ...
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... as well as various lures he’s been gifted by friends and colleagues.
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One memorable lure he bought in Tokyo is the “Tubo Rig” (aka “shrimp in a cup”) which used to be one of Shinichi Fukae’s secret weapons.
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Pete’s file cabinet has even more pictures plus the windshield from retired Elite pro Kevin Short’s 2013 tournament boat.
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In front of the windshield there’s a picture of Pete with two-time B.A.S.S. winner and five-time Classic qualifier Lonnie Stanley.
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There’s also a pic of Pete and Hanna with Kevin and Kerry Short, taken in Escanaba, Mich.
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Don’t tell the boss, but Pete occasionally checks Bassmaster.com during the day.
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Pete and Hanna recently started a blog at www.halfpastfirstcast.com to document their travels. The cover shot is from a February 2020 trip to Guatemala, before all of this madness hit us all so hard.
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Rooster is not used to having so much human contact during the day. This work-from-home situation has completely messed up his nap schedule.
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