Carl Svebek defied long odds to become one of the brightest lights on the FLW Tour
With the FLW Championship in Shreveport, La., less than two weeks away, Carl Svebek III couldn’t help but ponder his recent string of good fortune. With a lucrative bass fishing career in full bloom, a recent invitation to the prestigious ESPN Great Outdoor Games in his back pocket and claim to the sixth overall ranking on the 2000 FLW Tour firmly in his grasp, Svebek is clearly having the time of his life. And he knows it.
You can see it in his face.
You can hear it in his voice.
In fact, if there is someone on the FLW Tour who is having more fun right now than the gregarious Texas native, good luck finding him. Or her.
“Things just keep getting better and better,” said Svebek of his fishing career and life in general. “This is a dream come true. I just hope it keeps going.”
While life is good for Svebek and his family these days, the well-spoken and diminutive angler (Svebek only stands about 5 feet, 6 inches tall – a fact which provides an occasional source of good-natured ribbing from his fellow anglers) knows better than to rest on his laurels. For only a few short years ago, things were not going nearly so well for Svebek.
No, not well at all.
In fact, if it weren’t for a misplaced tournament entry fee, a helpful friend and some good old-fashioned luck, Svebek probably would not be fishing professionally today. And most certainly, his childhood dreams would be nothing more than a fleeting memory.
Childhood ambitions
Growing up in the area of Sam Rayburn, Texas, Svebek showed a surprising level of dedication to the sport of bass fishing as a small child. While many children were busy playing football and other competitive sports, Svebek was busy learning the ropes of bass fishing with his father.
“I started fishing at a real early age,” said Svebek. “My father got me started and by the time I was nine, I had joined my first bass club. By the time I was in my teens, I decided I wanted to fish competitively. But it was a lot different back then. There wasn’t the money and the recognition that there is now. I just did it because I loved to fish.”
By the age of 16, Svebek decided it was finally time to test his mettle with some real competition. Consequently, he entered the Red Man Tournament Trail.
“That’s when I got my real start in competitive fishing,” he recalled. “I only fished a few of the tournaments near my hometown on Sam Rayburn, but it was enough to get me hooked.”
Svebek’s skills improved from one tournament to the next. However, just when it appeared that nothing could sidetrack the young angler from a burgeoning professional fishing career, Svebek became distracted by his other true love – baseball.
Skilled on the diamond, Svebek quickly demonstrated to his high school teammates that he was much more than just an average player. But perhaps more important, his skills caught the eye of college recruiters throughout Texas. And by the end of his high school career, Svebek had parlayed his on-the-field prowess into a full-fledged baseball scholarship at Northwestern State in Louisiana.
Baseball was in and fishing was out. Or was it?
Baseball gives way to fishing and family
“After about my second year I realized that my baseball career wasn’t really going anywhere,” he said. “It wasn’t my true calling and I knew it. That’s when I really started to miss fishing.”
Despite his scholarship, Svebek packed up his bags after his second year of college and transferred to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. By most accounts, it was a change for the better.
“I was able to move back home and start earning a degree in education,” said Svebek. “Plus, I was able to go fishing again at Sam Rayburn. That’s when I realized fishing was in my blood.”
However, there was another very large perk that came with the change in scenery.
“I met my wife, Kelly, in college,” he said. “And right after graduation, we got married. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Kelly has been completely supportive of me through the good times as well as the bad.”
After graduating from college in December of 1990 and getting married in June of the following year, Svebek decided to take a job at a (prestigious oil company) based in Lufkin, Texas, to support his new family and his increasingly expanding fishing appetite.
“Even though I was working hard at my new job, everyday life revolved around fishing,” Svebek said. “I started fishing bass clubs again as well as small regional tournaments. I also started fishing the entire season of the Red Man Tournament Trail.”
Svebek’s love for competitive fishing was gradually growing into an obsession. Unfortunately, the young angler quickly learned what most veteran anglers already know – success on the competitive tournament trail does not come easy, it does not come overnight and it does not come without a price.
No free meals
“You want overnight stardom,” said Svebek of his early naivete regarding the rigors of a professional bass fishing career. “But unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. I began to learn that you had to work your way up through the ranks – just like in any company.”
While Svebek kept battling to keep his fishing dreams alive, he also started climbing the rungs of the corporate ladder. By 1994, he was asked by the company to help start up a new corporate branch in Jasper, Texas. Without much hesitation, he relocated his family to Jasper and began working on making the new branch a success.
“I started this office from scratch,” said Svebek. “About a year later, everything was going well. I had a good job and I was making good money. But I think deep down, I always knew I wanted to pursue a professional fishing career.”
With the help of a new friend who provided some financial backing, Svebek decided it was time to start fishing again – seriously. So he did what any dedicated young angler with lofty expectations would have done at the time – he decided to join the B.A.S.S. pro fishing circuit.
Although he improved his fishing skills during his first year, success wasn’t coming quickly enough for Svebek. It was then that he realized he wasn’t able to spend as much time fishing as he wanted to because of his job commitments.
“That’s when I met a guy named Don Collins,” Svebek said. “Don ran this local supermarket and he told me that he wanted to open a tackle shop inside of the grocery store. He told me he wanted me to run it and wanted to help support my fishing career.”
Although it wasn’t a dream job, it was a perfect fit for a man dreaming of fishing professionally. Svebek also knew that if he quit the oil company and took the new job, he would be taking a serious pay cut. However, he also knew that the tackle store would provide more flexibility to pursue his fishing career. It was a tough choice.
Decisions, decisions, decisions
“I decided to do it,” Svebek said. “It was a real risk and I knew it. I gave up a real good job at the oil company. And I just had my first little girl. I’d be lying if I told you it wasn’t scary. But I thought to myself, `You only live once.’ It was a tough decision but we decided to take the plunge.”
And take the plunge he did. Within months, Svebek was fishing tournaments all over the country.
“I kept getting better and better until finally, I qualified to fish the B.A.S.S. Top 100,” Svebek said. “I couldn’t believe it. I was so excited.”
Unfortunately for Svebek, that excitement would prove to be short-lived. While it was true that he had finally broken into one of the premier bass fishing circuits in the country, things quickly started to crumble.
Rude awakening
“It was the most humbling year of my life,” Svebek said. “Suddenly I was paying these big entry fees that I wasn’t accustomed to paying and I wasn’t fishing well. I really struggled. I think I had one sixth-place finish all year.”
With money quickly drying up while his fishing success plummeted, Svebek became very despondent.
“I remember that time in my life very vividly,” said Svebek. ” I was driving from tournament to tournament in this old, broken-down blue van. My family was living out of a trailer. A lot of times I didn’t know if I was even going to be able to pay the light bills.”
The more Svebek struggled on the fishing tour, the more the pressure continued to mount.
“I wanted to cry my eyes out,” Svebek admitted. “I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to take care of my family.”
By the fall of 1997 things had gotten so bad that Svebek finally decided to quit fishing to save his family. It was one of the most difficult choices he would ever have to make. But he knew it was the right choice.
“At that point, I figured that it wasn’t meant to be,” he said. “All of my fishing seemed like it was going downhill. So, I pretty much made up my mind to go back and start looking for a job.”
The big break
However, just as it seemed like his dreams of becoming a professional angler were going to be dashed on the rocky shores of uncertainty, fate smiled on Carl Svebek.
“A friend of mine called me up and told me about this EverStart tournament that was taking place on Sam Rayburn in March (1998),” Svebek said. “Basically, I told him I had quit fishing for good and was going back to look for a job. Then he reminded me that he had signed me up for the tournament a couple of months ago. He said the entry fee was already paid for and that I might as well show up.”
Svebek had completely forgotten. He had asked his friend to sign him up and loan him money for the tournament a few months prior. But with everything else going on his life, the tournament had completely slipped his mind.
“Well,” Svebek thought. “If I’ve already paid for the entry fee, I might as well go.”
The last hurrah
“I really had no intention of fishing that tournament, but I decided that it would be my last hurrah,” he said. “And obviously, winning the tournament never even crossed my mind. I didn’t think I had a prayer.”
It was then that the irony of all fishing ironies transpired – Svebek won the tournament.
“It was the turning point in my whole career,” Svebek said. “There I was standing on the stage in front of my hometown crowd holding the first-place trophy. It was a dream come true. People were yelling and cheering. I felt so overjoyed. I’ll never forget that feeling.”
Although the win served to boost Svebek’s spirits in more ways than he ever could have imagined, there was one other very important benefit.
“It qualified me for the FLW Tour,” Svebek said.
From there, Svebek’s career took off like a rocket. He finished in fourth-place in the FLW tournament on Beaver Lake and garnered prize money in three of the six FLW Tour events in 1999. When the 2000 FLW Tour season started, Svebek picked up right where he left off. He placed 19th at Okeechobee, 10th at Lake Murray, 3rd place in Beaver Lake and scored another 3rd place performance at an EverStart on Sam Rayburn. In addition, he was one of 10 anglers in the nation to receive an invitation to the inaugural ESPN Great Outdoor Games bass fishing competition last July.
In sum, Svebek had finally realized his dream.
“Things are great. I’m able to take care of my family and do what I love to do – and that’s fishing,” said Svebek. “You can’t ask for more than that.”
However, that does not mean that Svebek is taking anything for granted these days. He knows far too well that success can come and go with the blink of an eye. All it takes is one miss-cast.
“If anything, my passion for this sport has increased,” he said. “I know what it took to get here and I know I have to continue to work hard. I want to accomplish more and learn more. That’s the one thing about this sport – you learn something new every day.”
And is there anything else Svebek would like to accomplish?
“Sure, I’d love to win an FLW tournament outright,” he said. “And if everything goes right, someday I’d like to have my own fishing show. Boy, that would be something.”
It sure would.