Bolstered by co-angler success, Burnett anxious to battle pro field in 2002
After registering five top-25 finishes, three top-20 appearances, two top-10 showings and one top-five performance during this year’s FLW Tour, it is hardly surprising that Wesley Burnett of Hot Springs, Ark., out-dueled the rest of the competition to capture the 2001 Co-Angler-of-the-Year title.
However, as Burnett capped off a stellar regular season, using a ninth-place finish at the June 20-23 FLW Tour event on Lake St. Clair to snatch the angler-of-the-year title away from John Bruce (second place with 1,013 points) of Buford, Ga., and Todd Lee (third place with 968 points) of Jasper, Ala., he did more than just win an award. For Burnett, the victory symbolized the long climb from relative obscurity to a place among the nation’s elite anglers.
“It feels really good,” said Burnett, who amassed an impressive 1,084 points out of a possible 1,200 to take home the year-end title. “I feel like I’ve accomplish a whole lot this year. I knew that I had to get to a point in my life where I dedicated everything to fishing. And now it’s starting to pay off. I’m glad I was able to concentrate and accomplish my goal. I couldn’t have asked for a better year.”
To be sure, Burnett’s journey has not been an easy one. In his quest for the title, Burnett faced a number of formidable opponents including Chris Rand of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a perennial powerhouse in the Co-angler Division. Rand, who was in second place in the overall point standings heading into the Lake St. Clair tournament, was equally intent on winning the title.
“I didn’t feel confident about (winning) the co-angler-of-the-year title coming into (St. Clair) because Chris Rand is such a top-notch fisherman,” said Burnett. “I had my work cut out for me.”
Rand, a two-time event winner on the FLW Tour, had trailed Burnett by only 21 points coming into Lake St. Clair, the last event of the regular season. However, when Rand only managed a 128th-place showing, he graciously conceded defeat.
“I’ve got to say, my heart’s feeling a little heavy right now,” said Rand, shortly after weighing in his final fish of the tournament. “But I take my hat off to Wesley Burnett. He did a good job. I’ve been chasing him all year.”
While Burnett’s surge to the top of his division was meteoric, having never fished on the FLW Tour until this year, there were definitely indications as early as the 2000 season that Burnett’s career was poised for something special.
Co-angler with conviction
Less than two years ago, the name Wesley Burnett barely would have registered on the radar screen in the highly competitive world of professional bass fishing. However, after wallowing in relative anonymity for much of his fishing career, Burnett exploded onto the scene during the 2000 EverStart Series, regularly pouncing on the co-angler competition throughout the year. In fact, in the very first EverStart Central Division tournament last year at Sam Rayburn, Texas, Burnett blew away the competition on the final day to capture first prize and a check for $6,000. Two tournaments later, Burnett powered his way to a noteworthy sixth-place finish on Kentucky Lake, securing a $1,900 payout.
For Burnett, a dream season was unfolding. But little did he know, the best was yet to come.
Using a combination of patience, perseverance and skill, Burnett engineered a dominating performance at the 2000 EverStart Invitational Challenge to capture the prestigious Co-angler Division championship at Cypress Gardens last September – a feat which earned him a $10,000 check and propelled him to third place overall in the final season rankings.
At the time, Burnett could hardly contain his enthusiasm.
“Winning it all this year was like a dream come true,” Burnett said shortly after capturing the award. “I never thought it would come out like this. This past year, I was blessed beyond belief.”
While Burnett’s professional career finally appeared to be on the upswing, it was clear that both his goals and dreams were a long time in the making.
Fishing in his blood
Born in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, in 1969, Burnett was introduced to fishing at a very early age.
“I probably caught my first fish when I was 4 years old,” said Burnett. “Basically, I’ve been fishing all of my life.”
However, despite his early enthusiasm for the sport, Burnett quickly learned an important lesson: A professional fisherman is not born overnight.
“I started to realize as I grew older that fishing is just like any other career,” he said. “You can’t just jump in on top. You have to work hard and move from the next level to the next level. And you have to have a lot of patience.”
Luckily, patience is one thing that Burnett possessed in abundance. Despite his relative lack of success on the tournament trail in the early years, Burnett forged ahead, traveling around from tournament to tournament in pursuit of his dream. However, that meant logging long miles on the road and not being sure where his next paycheck would come from. In short, it meant many years of patience and sacrifice.
In an effort to subsidize his budding fishing career, Burnett eventually took a job in construction. His primary vocation was installing dry wall.
“I did that for about six years and it was a lot of hard work,” he said. “But I knew that I needed money to keep on fishing. My hope was that someday it would all pay off.”
Patience finally has its rewards
In 1989, Burnett packed his bags and moved to Arkansas. But while his fishing career continued to progress slowly, by 1992 he had scored one of his greatest catches of all time.
“That’s the year I married my wife, Rebecca,” he said. “She’s been behind me ever since. She’s committed 110 percent to our relationship and my career. And you can’t ask for more than that.”
With the encouragement of his new bride, Burnett started hitting the tournament circuit harder than ever. But again, there were only mixed results.
“I started fishing the Angler’s Choice pro-ams, but I didn’t really see a lot of potential there,” he said. “Then I began fishing a couple of Red Man (now known as Wal-Mart BFL) tournaments. They were a lot of fun and I started to do well. But the finals used to be on Sundays and I didn’t want to miss church.”
Then, just as Burnett was beginning to get discouraged, he received a call from an Operation Bass official requesting his attendance at the 1999 EverStart Invitational Challenge.
“I was really excited,” he said. “I felt that out of all of the tournament trails I fished, the EverStart Series was the one of the few that was really going somewhere.”
So, in late October of 1999, Burnett loaded up his car, readied his gear and headed to Beaver Lake, Ark., to test his mettle against some of the best anglers in the nation. The results were encouraging.
“I finished in 34th place,” he said. “And although I finished four places out of the money, my confidence really started to grow. But most important, I was able to use that performance as motivation for the entire 2000 season.”
However, Burnett knew that motivation alone wouldn’t bring him to an elite level. So, he sought some assistance.
“I decided to travel with and pre-fish with a pro before every tournament this year,” he said. “And that really helped me out a lot.”
Breakthrough year
Whether it was his renewed sense of confidence, the assistance of helpful pros, or just plain hard work, Burnett finally started to realize his potential in 2000. With two first-place finishes on the EverStart Series in the Co-angler Division, including a dominating first-place performance at the 2000 EverStart Challenge, Burnett appeared to have the dedication and experience to successfully compete against the nation’s elite anglers in 2001. But in adherence to his philosophy of taking everything one step at a time, Burnett turned down an automatic berth to fish in the Pro Division on the FLW Tour, ultimately deciding that it was necessary to further hone his skills before making such a big leap.
“I had a lot of feedback after winning the 2000 EverStart Invitational Challenge and most of the pros advised me to stay on the co-angler side for another year,” said Burnett, who ultimately registered as a co-angler for the 2001 FLW Tour. “They told me to get a little bit more experience and knowledge and then think about jumping to the pro side in 2002.”
Although Burnett renewed his commitment to fishing another year on the EverStart circuit, he said that he couldn’t wait to get his first taste of the FLW Tour, even if it was only from the vantage point of a co-angler.
“In my opinion, the FLW Tour is the best and biggest thing going,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want to fish with the best?”
Burnett witnesses a dream season unfold for second-consecutive year
After achieving priority entry status on the FLW Tour, Burnett immediately went to work against the upper echelon of professional bass anglers for the very first time. However, things didn’t go as smoothly as Burnett would have hoped during his debut performance. During the opening round of FLW competition on Lake Okeechobee last January, Burnett hit a giant speed bump. Not only did he fail to record a five-fish limit, Burnett failed to catch a single fish.
“I said to myself, `Oh Lordy, I’ve done got with the big boys now. I’m in trouble,'” Burnett recalled.
However, Burnett quickly rebounded. Relying on years of experience, Burnett overcame a dismal day-one performance with a respectable 23rd-place showing by the time the final weigh in was completed. From there, the Arkansas native excelled. In the next tournament on the Pascagoula River, Burnett finished in 16th place. He followed that up with a fourth-place showing at Lake Martin in March, a 46th-place finish at Beaver Lake (his only performance outside the top 25 all year) in April and a 24th-place performance on the Red River in May. His ninth-place finish at Lake St. Clair sealed the co-angler-of-the-year title.
With the grueling regular season finally behind him, Burnett finally allowed himself the time to soak up his accomplishments and wax nostalgic on his rookie season on the FLW Tour.
“It’s been like a dream come true all over again,” said Burnett.
Although he has the prestigious 2001 FLW Co-angler-of-the-Year title firmly in hand, Burnett says he doesn’t have any time to sit back and rest on his laurels. With the FLW Championship less than two months away, Burnett said he is dedicating every available resource to winning the biggest event of the year.
“My goal right now is to go out and win the championship,” he said. “That would be icing on the cake.”
However, in the long run, there is something even more important to the Arkansas native than winning the co-angler championship.
“I want to fish in the Pro Division of the FLW Tour next year really badly,” said Burnett. “That’s something I’ve been dreaming about for a very long time. I really want to compete against the best of the best.”
Although Burnett has been granted his wish to fish in the Pro Division of the FLW Tour next year, after receiving an automatic berth for winning the co-angler-of-the-year crown, Burnett said some important stumbling blocks remain to his participation. Because the entry fees in the Pro Division are higher than those of the Co-Angler Division and because the Arkansas native doesn’t have any high-profile sponsorships to help defray costs at this point, Burnett isn’t sure if he can afford to change divisions. But as usual, Burnett is working on a plan to deal with his current dilemma.
“My plan is to go out and win the championship so I can pay for the entry fees myself,” said Burnett, almost defiantly.
And what if he doesn’t accomplish his goal of winning the championship?
“If I don’t win the championship I’ll probably go back and fish the Co-Angler Division on the FLW Tour for another year. That way, I could go for my second-consecutive angler-of-the-year title,” said Burnett. “That would definitely give me something to shoot for. I don’t think anyone has ever accomplished that before.”
At least, not yet.