A fitting honor

Gilman savors long-awaited Angler of the Year title

The 2009 tournament season saw Clark Wendlandt capture his third Angler of the Year title on the FLW Tour. Tom Mann Jr. dominated the FLW Series Eastern Division, and Zach Thompson fended off Brent Ehrler to take top honors in the West. All had unforgettable seasons, but none were on par with walleye pro Chris Gilman’s.

Gilman’s AOY campaign came as no surprise, but it was remarkable nonetheless. In an ever-changing sport, the Chisago City, Minn., pro is the pinnacle of both excellence and consistency. Including the year-end championships, Gilman had nine top-10 finishes in his last 15 FLW Walleye Tour events. His AOY finishes the last three years are first, fourth and second. In such a dynamic venture, those are truly mind-boggling figures.

But the stats don’t tell the whole story. Inside his angler profile is a humble, hard-working family man who mentors a young walleye stick.

“When he won Angler of the Year, the first thing he said to me was, `Teddy, I wish you would have won,'” said friend and travel partner Ted Takasaki. “He was almost apologetic. I said, `No, Chris, you absolutely deserved to win.'”

Takasaki is quite the competitor himself. Among other accolades, Takasaki holds the all-time heaviest five-fish stringer (53 pounds) in Professional Walleye Trail history. In 1998 he claimed the PWT Championship, and this past May he took home his first FLW Walleye Tour win on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn.

Attitude is everything

Takasaki has known Gilman for nearly 20 years, and the two have fished together in one form or another since then. Takasaki calls Gilman the most competitive, focused and detailed angler he knows. But what sets him apart is his positive attitude.

“We can have the most terrible prefish, literally catching nothing at all, and Chris is telling everyone in our group that we’ve got the fish right where we want them. Everyone is kind of looking around wondering what he is talking about. But Chris convinces himself and carries that confidence over.

“I remember one time we were staying at his house during practice for the Mercury National Walleye Tournament. I think it was 1991, and Chris was still living in Wisconsin at the time. We did fairly decent that first day and were chatting on the way to the lake the next morning. Out of nowhere, a deer comes flying out of the woods and smokes the side of his truck. Chris looked over at me and said, `Man, that’s a great sign; we’re going to win the tournament.’ And we did.”

Most people don’t look at accidents as good fortune, but that’s a vivid example of how Gilman’s mind works.

“I think Ted’s probably right, but I’ve never really thought about it before,” said Gilman. “I’ve really, really had a passion for walleye fishing as long as I can remember. I grew up on a lake, Mildred Lake in Rhinelander, Wis., that didn’t have walleyes. But, you always want what you can’t have. So getting to go walleye fishing was really, really special. When I was a kid, I would trap my own minnows; I’d scour the shoreline looking for lures snagged in the trees. I guess my passion for walleye fishing is where I get my positive attitude.”

As a youngster, a successful day of walleye fishing consisted of catching a single keeper. If Gilman caught two during a weekend, he was absolutely ecstatic. In a sense, he became accustomed to struggling during his formative years.

“Now when we have a bad day of prefishing, that’s just another day,” Gilman added. “It doesn’t bother me at all. I’m used to tough fishing. When there’s a really, really tough bite, I think that’s an advantage. I love those tournaments. For me, just being positive in general is a competitive advantage. I like fishing in the elements too. I thrive when it’s cold, windy and miserable. I know a lot of the guys in the tournament are thinking about getting back to a warm hotel room. They’re mentally done before the tournament even starts.”

Mr. Versatility

Some competitive walleye anglers get by on talent alone. Gilman isn’t one of those anglers. He’s certainly talented, but he works his tail off, and his preparation is second to none.

“There are some phenomenal walleye anglers that do very little preparation. I don’t want to name names, but they just go out there and whack them. I’m not one of those guys. Me, I’m not relaxed until everything is ready for the next day. It sounds weird, but working on things helps me relax. It keeps my mind away from the pressure.”

Takasaki agreed: “He’s so detail-orientated. If there are rigs to be tied, but we’re catching them on jigs, he’ll stay and tie 20 rigs – even if we probably won’t use them. If there is a certain type of crankbait that is working and I need five of them, Chris needs 10 of them. If there is even the slightest chance he’ll jig, he’ll have eight jigging rods ready. He takes preparation to the point of excess.

“And the thing with Chris is that he’s good at everything. He’s a troller, he’s a jigger, a rigger – and he loves to cast cranks. He can do anything at any time, and he’s not afraid to mix it up and have different things going. And he’ll have confidence in all of them.”

Like all the good ones, Gilman is a sponge for knowledge. As a member of the Rapala pro staff, he gets to test new products like the Trigger X soft baits and Suffix Performance Fuse before they hit the market. But a great deal of his knowledge comes from dialogue.

“Perry Good might be the smartest guy I’ve ever talked to,” said Gilman. “I used to engage with him just to pick his brain. His natural instincts are incredible. All the guys I fish with – Ted, Pat Byle, John Campbell – they are all probably smarter than I am. But I think I prepare harder. I’m pretty lucky. I’ve got some great friends that prefish with me. We have a lot of fun working together.”

Erie debacle still stings

At the 2008 Walleye Tour opener on Lake Erie, Gilman experienced the kind of mishap that can ruin an angler’s psyche. On day one he sacked 34 pounds, 5 ounces and was solidly in the top 10. On day two he caught a limit weighing 40-14, which launched him into second place. On day three he caught another impressive five-fish limit. But it never made it to the scale.

Gilman accidentally kept six fish in his livewell. According to the rules, his entire day-three catch had to be disqualified. Gilman estimates his limit weighed 38 pounds – one of the better catches of the day. If not for the miscue, he would have had an excellent shot at victory.

“It still hurts, mainly from a financial standpoint,” said the 44-year-old. “Looking back, it cost me Angler of the Year and $150,000 (tournament and Ranger Cup earnings). Winning AOY this past year took the trophy pain away, but the financial side of it still stings. It was all my fault, but I wish the penalty would have been throwing out my biggest fish. My mom had passed away just before the tournament. There were times on the water where it felt like (winning the tournament) was meant to be. In hindsight, I may have been a little distracted. It was a bad time in my life. Keeping six was an honest mistake, and it cost me big time.”

“At the time, he was devastated,” Takasaki recalled. “There was no consoling him. It was basically like hitting him over the head with a hammer. But, amazingly, two weeks later he was back to being himself. He took all his energy and focused it on the next tournament.”

After the Erie infraction, Gilman took fifth at the Lake Sharpe qualifier, eighth at Cass Lake, 30th on Bays de Noc and fifth at the championship.

“When you can’t get something back, the worst thing you can do is pout about it. You just grin and bear it. If there is one thing this sport teaches you, it’s to be a good loser. Over the years, you learn to roll with the punches.”

Gilman the mentor

When he’s not chasing walleyes, Gilman is in pursuit of the next sale. As a manufacturer’s representative for North Country Marketing Ltd., he sells outdoor and shooting products for companies like Browning and Winchester. His co-workers say he is just as focused in business as he is on the water.

“He knows his product, he’s got a great work ethic, and he’s a compelling guy,” said Dusty Minke, a co-worker at North Country.

Minke is an up-and-coming tournament angler who calls Gilman his mentor. The two have been fishing together for over five years. During that time, Minke has successfully emulated Gilman both on and off the water.

“I met him through my mom, who also works at North Country,” said Minke, who finished third at the 2009 FLW Walleye League Finals. “He actually came to my high school graduation with a box full of lures. He helped me get my first job at Northland Fishing Tackle, then at Gander Mountain and finally at North Country. You could say I’ve followed in his footsteps.

“You’d be shocked at how much you can learn fishing with those guys. I would usually join them the weekend before the tournament to prefish. I’d usually get three days on the water, and then I’d come back. I can vividly remember the drive back from Bull Shoals in 2005. It was a long trip, but the whole experience was gratifying because we put something together in a really tough bite. Gilman has really showed me the ropes.”

“I don’t know if I’m a mentor, but I try to help people whenever possible,” Gilman said. “Dusty has more passion for the sport than almost anyone. He is a true student of the game. I see a lot of myself, when I was younger, in him. He’s good now, and he’s going to be a star. He’s way ahead of where I was at his age.”

AOY reflection

Gilman clinched his coveted AOY award July 18. Since then, he took ninth at the championship held on the Missouri River. But as soon as he returned home from Bismarck, his other facets of life took over.

“It’s funny. I get so busy with work and family (father of three) that there hasn’t been much time to think about it. Now that things are starting to wind down between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s a great time to reflect.

“It was a tremendous accomplishment; I’m proud of it. I had worked so hard at it for 21 years. The things you work hardest at in life are the things you appreciate the most. It was six months ago, but it doesn’t seem like it.”

“I got to see the trophy at his home,” added Minke. “After the last couple years, it was a big deal – a real big deal. He’s modest about it, but believe me, it was a big deal. You could tell it in his voice. He’s been set on winning that one for a while.”