Daily Limit: Wins put Straders’ doubts to rest

The Straders embrace on the B.A.S.S. stage after their Kentucky Lake victory.

After two wins, Wesley Strader and wife, Stephanie, aren’t sweating their move to B.A.S.S. any more. His victories in the third Elite event and in last weekend’s Open washed away any doubts.

The Straders had concerns the move to B.A.S.S. might not be the right one. It’s hard to pull up roots grown over two decades on the FLW Tour and move away from the friends who’ve become family.

“I struggled with the decision to move to B.A.S.S.,” Stephanie said. “We had been there 20 years. I felt like I had built a family there.”

While there were questions still hanging in the air, the Straders discovered their family became even larger when he won the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia on May 7. He went back-to-back Saturday, holding the trophy for the Bass Pro Shops Eastern Open on Lake Norman only five days after his blue one. 

“I think the good Lord answered our questions,” said Wesley, who reported he’s received tons of messages from friends and competitors of both circuits. “I didn’t realize we had so many people following along, and I want to personally thank everyone.”

While Stephanie has been busy trying to answer every well-wisher on all the varied social media, the two took to Facebook Live after the Ellite win for a coverall thank you. On their drive to Lake Norman, the Straders mentioned many names and addressed a lot of things.

Things like winners with shiny new trophies sometimes have to put on muck boots and get dirty. After a meal with a friend who came up to surprise them, the Straders drove four hours home to Spring City, Tenn., for a good night’s sleep. Good thing because the morning brought a water leak, and Wesley was out at 8 a.m. with post-hole diggers working to fix it.

A day earlier he had been boots deep in a shootout with Skeet Reese, one of big names in B.A.S.S. Wesley received a lot of exposure on Bassmaster LIVE with bonus coverage on Sunday as he was making a run and with the main camera on Monday as he went out with the lead.

Through it all, his sense of humor showed out. His first punchline when contacted was a tad off color for a family website (ask him or me when you see us), but he threw in several other zingers during their live broadcast and over the phone.

One of his best came when Stephanie was talking about how difficult it was to watch him fish on a tension-filled final day. She was doing well to hold it together until his cousin, Angel, called, started crying and almost got her going.

“I said you’ve got to stop that stuff right now. I wanted to be able to express myself. When you’re bawling and crying, you can’t talk. Nobody can understand you,” she said, knowing a trip on stage might be forthcoming. “I kept these sunglasses on all day. I didn’t want anybody seeing my mascara running down my face.”

“That’s why I kept mine on, too,” Wesley chimed in.

Ba-dum-cha.

Strader celebrates his victory with a hoot and a holler.

Both did get choked up on stage — and both kept on their shades. One moment for Wesley came right after emcee Dave Mercer gave him a grand welcome to the Elites and its history books.

“I never changed jobs, I just changed companies. Ever since I’ve been 6 years old …” he said before pausing to gather himself. “I love fishing at 46 as much as I do at 6.”

Stephanie soon joined him on stage and, after being maybe the first wife to lift one of the 40-pound trophies over her head, her voice quavered as she told Mercer how proud she was of her husband.

“This man works harder than anybody I know. He’s driven, he’s ambitious, he don’t quit,” she said. “I admire him. I love him …  It’s not about winning for the family, I wanted it for him.”

Go watch that video, see her emotion and try not to tear up.

Back in their truck, they spoke of how their gamble paid off, and rather quickly at that. Stephanie, who took over as business manager of Team Strader about three years ago, said the decision to leave was a real struggle for her.

“She’s not struggling anymore,” he said.

Third time’s a charm

Evidently, they had previous discussions about the big transition because last year was the third time he qualified for the Elites. A successful Northern Open circuit with a runner-up among three top 25 finishes had them contemplating the move. And they pulled the trigger.

“We just thought the business made more sense to be at B.A.S.S.,” said Wesley, who like every pro and amateur angler dreams of winning a Classic. “The exposure you get at B.A.S.S. is great. That’s not to disparage FLW. B.A.S.S. has been around longer, and it does a great job at promoting its anglers.”

About a month ago Wesley received a sign that validated his “gut feeling” to make the switch. He was among the Elites asked to help B.A.S.S. announce that the 2019 Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods would be held in Knoxville on Fort Loudoun Lake. That’s just one dam up from Strader’s hometown on Watts Bar Lake, where he has two BFL wins.

The Kentucky Lake victory gives him three titles on Tennessee River lakes, so having a Classic on the same river has him licking his chops. Now he just needs to qualify, and he’s well on his way, sitting 23rd in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.

Having a Classic on a familiar fishery is a definite advantage, not that he needs any. The Straders came over to B.A.S.S. with varied worries, but, as he showed, his fishing was not among them.

“Not at all. I go at this with a whole different attitude than a lot of other guys,” he said. “I don’t think of it that I’m fishing against Keith Combs, or (Kevin) VanDam, or black and yellow Skeet Reese. I think of it as I’m trying to outsmart a fish. At the end of the day, it’s about you against the fish.”

Strader does a little fist pump after bringing in a fish late on Day 4.

Wesley said he doesn’t even have a target weight on any given day. He said recently he’s seen anglers get caught up in feeling they needed to bring in a huge bag to win, and he just doesn’t think that’s the way to go.

“Do not focus on trying to catch a big stringer,” he said. “Just focus on catching a limit and go from there. You don’t know what everybody else is doing. I can’t see what Skeet’s doing. I can’t see what Kelley Jaye is doing.

“In my mind, I’m saying, ‘Just get you a solid limit. If you catch big ones to begin with, that’s fine, but you know the better bites are going to come later today.’ People get so concerned with winning. It’s their demise at the start of the tournament. They get so focused, ‘I got to do this to win.’ When you should be focused on the 50 cut first, then the 12 cut next. Then you can focus on winning.”

On LIVE, Strader built a spinnerbait and was questioned why he didn’t have several already made and tied on. He answered by saying he builds any lure for the water in front of him and doesn’t have to carry 100 different ones. Fishing the moment was key this past week, he said, and that meant going through a variety of lures.

“It was just picking the right bait up for the right conditions, or the right situation, not getting really focused in on one bait,” he said, adding he’s seen it of late, including the Classic when Jason Christie came up one fish short of a title. “In my heart I begged him to just slow down, pick up a Shakey Head. That’s in my mind the whole time.”

Coming full circle

Wesley said his career really began on Kentucky Lake, and his win was one of those coming-full-circle deals. Way back in 1997, he saved up enough to fish one FLW event and chose Kentucky Lake to put his money down. David Fritts won, but he took 11th and earned enough to pay the deposit to fish the entire next season on the tour.

“It’s kind of ironic this is where it all started,” he said. “It’s surreal.”

Strader fished the FLW from 1997 to 2017, earning more than $1.5 million with 17 cup appearances, the two BFL titles and one major tour win in 21 seasons. He noted it took him about four years before he won his big title on Lake Ouachita, so he thinks he’s ahead of the curve at B.A.S.S.

“I’m doing good. I’m like only three events in, I got one,” he said. “I know how this is, though. These things are not easy to come by. You cherish every one you get.”

But this one really eased the Straders’ minds on the move. It was hard to leave family. Stephanie said she was in the middle of a Facebook Live this week when FLW tournament director Bill Taylor tapped her on the shoulder.

“I gave him a big, old hug,” she said. “Bill and Barbara are like Mom and Dad. I don’t want anybody to think we ever left with any ill will. We’ve not forgotten our FLW family. All the support from them (this week) was overwhelming.”

Wesley chimed in not with a funny thought, but a heartfelt and appreciative one:

“FLW has made me the angler that I am.”