Guy Eaker Keeps His Classic Dream Alive

Guy Eaker has a dream.

It’s not just any fisherman’s dream, either. The 65-year-old North Carolina pro has a burning desire to become the oldest angler ever to qualify for the CITGO Bassmaster Classic.

“That would be something,” said Eaker, one of the sport’s true gentlemen. “That would tell these youngsters that guys like me aren’t necessarily over the hill because of our age.

“I really think I’m fishing as well as I ever have. The good Lord’s blessed me, and I feel good.”

With a pair of top-six finishes on the CITGO Bassmaster Tour, he seemed poised for Pittsburgh and set to strike a blow for fishing’s senior citizen set. Then the unthinkable happened. When the Tour came to his home lake (Norman), where he’s reigned for decades, the wheels came off for Eaker.

After finishing 99th at Norman, he continued to crash and burn by placing 136th in the season finale at Table Rock Lake.

But the dream didn’t die with his late-season collapse. Eaker managed to grab one of the final qualifying spots on the CITGO Bassmaster Elite 50 Tour. After a respectable 24th-place showing in the season-opener on Alabama’s Smith Lake, he’s in good position to make a run at one of the 10 Elite 50 slots in the Classic.

Eaker has enjoyed a long and successful career in professional fishing. His résumé includes a BASS tournament victory, $463,000 in earnings and appearances in 10 Classics, but his last Classic appearance was in 1992.

In recent years, he’s had to overcome significant injuries that impacted his fishing. In 2001, the removal of a non-cancerous tumor in his throat killed one side of his voice box and required extensive rehabilitation. In 2003, Eaker was helping another angler lift his boat onto a trailer when he pulled both hamstrings and rotator cuffs. “I had to pitch underhanded for two tournaments because I was in so much pain,” he said, “and I made a check in both of them!”

To maintain his health, Eaker takes some routine steps.

“When I’m home, I exercise and walk a lot,” he said, “and we just don’t eat a lot of fried stuff. I really think that makes a difference in the way I feel and the way I do. I haven’t sat down in a boat in 30 years. I stood up two solid weeks at times this year on the Tour. If I get my rest I can compete. No problem.”

A renowned spinnerbait expert, Eaker credits his reemergence this season to a change in his fishing philosophy.

“I sort of changed my style of fishing,” he said. “I fished a tube a lot this year, and it seemed like I caught some quality fish on a tube when I really needed them. I feel like when I come to a place where I need to pitch a tube, I’m catching them. I’ll pick up a spinnerbait or crankbait and fish my other places. Then, when I come up on a special place and pitch my tube – boom! – I usually catch one.

“I had never really fished a tube much, except on beds. As far as fishing a tube or a jig, it seemed like a jig would always work better for me, but I decided to switch to a tube because I kept thinking about (Denny) Brauer when he won the (1998) Classic, and he couldn’t get a bite on a jig, but he went back to the same places and fished them with a tube and won the Classic. That told me that at times they’ll bite a tube when they won’t hit a jig.

“It seems like a Berkley Power Tube in black with red flake works everywhere I’ve been. That’s really the only color I’ve thrown.”

What’s the saying about old dogs and new tricks?

“I tell you, old dogs sometimes try to learn those new tricks if they have enough patience,” Eaker said. “I made myself be more patient. Instead of fishing wide open, I backed off a little bit and fished a little slower, and it seemed like I’ve been getting better bites.”
 

From BASS