Angler of the Week: Scott Ashmore
Major League Fishing wants you to get to know your favorite anglers! That’s why we’re putting together a new angler profile every week in 2018. Check our site regularly for the latest and send us YOUR questions for the anglers.
This week we’re featuring an MLF Pro who’s also a father and a businessman: Scott Ashmore.
Right now, Ashmore is getting ready to head to Florida to compete in an FLW tournament. Of course, that competition will be drastically different than the MLF events that are on his calendar for later this year. In other bass fishing tournaments, anglers can practice and study the lake before they compete. In Major League Fishing, that’s strictly prohibited.
“I love it,” said Ashmore. “I like it better… I can go use my natural gut instincts to catch a fish, and to me, that’s what it’s all about.”
Ashmore says he likes MLF’s “no imformation” rule because anglers are forced to rely on skill, not the internet.
“You know in this day and age, it’s kind of changed to where there’s a lot of information out there,” Ashmore explained, “There’s electronics that are 10 million times better than they used to be. But a lot of these guys in the fishing world, they hire people and go practice, and talk to people, and all that kind of stuff, versus being thrown out there live and having to figure it out without any help.”
There are six MLF Pros who live in Oklahoma, and Ashmore is one of them. In fact, he has lived in the Tulsa area for most of his life. He graduated from Jenks High School, and then he went to Oklahoma State University. Today, he’s living just a stone’s throw away from the MLF Headquarters in Broken Arrow, and he loves it.
“We’re surrounded by a lot of lakes that are within an hour away,” said Ashmore.
He says he’s been fishing since he was young, and he practically grew up on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake. Ashmore says he used to watch bass fishing tournaments on TV and dream about competing in them.
Today, Ashmore competes on the FLW tour and has several big-name sponsors. Milwaukee Tools is his title sponsor, and he’s also sponsored by Ferguson and St. Croix Rods. Ashmore says he’s proud of his relationship with St. Croix (also a sponsor of Major League Fishing) because they have the largest selection of rods in the country, and they’re made in Park Falls, Wisconsin.
Ashmore says he loves fishing with the Legend Tournament Bass rods, and the Legend X Series. But if you’re a weekend angler or an ameteur, Ashmore says a rod from the Mojo Bass Serieswould be a great fit.
“I actually use them,” said Ashmore, “They’re one of my favorite rods that St. Croix makes.”
If you want to fish like this MLF Pro, you’ll also need the right bait. Ashmore is part-owner of a bait company, Inseine Fishing. He says he uses the baits during tournaments, and his favorite lures are frogs.
This year, Ashmore’s game could be stronger than ever. Ashmore suffers from tendonitis, which has made fishing painful for the last five years. Over the years, he’s had several surgeries on his elbow, and the latest one was in October. Now, Ashmore says he’s really looking forward to fishing without pain.
In addition to competitions, his schedule is packed with events for Milwaukee Tools and Ferguson, and he has several fishing trips planned. He has a new truck, a new boat, and soon, he’ll have a house to put them in.
“We are selling our house, and bought a new piece of property,” said Ashmore. “It happens to have a lake on it. I’m going to set the house right on the water.”
Ashmore says he’s looking forward to stocking his lake with large fish to catch, and bait fish for them to eat. He’ll be able to fish right in his own backyard, and he says his favorite person to go fishing with is his daughter, Whitney.
“We don’t get to go very often, but I always have a good time when we do,” he said.
Whitney is a student at OSU in Stillwater, and Ashmore says he doesn’t get to go fishing with her as much as he would like. But he’s in luck. He says Whitney is getting ready to move home to attend OSU in Tulsa. The brand new house and private lake may have had something to do with that decision!