Entry 76-2

Mark Davis - Do Or Die

One Year Shot

Editor's Note: Thirty-nine-year-old Mark Davis, who has fished in 12 Bassmasters Classics, won the title of Angler of the Year three times and won the Bassmasters Classic in 1995. Davis has had 34 top 10 finishes and ranked third on the BASS circuit in 2003. Thirteenth in all-time career winnings on the BASS circuit, having won more than $800,000 fishing, Davis is a quiet, gentle man who competes fiercely once a tournament starts.

Question: What were you thinking at age 21 when you became a fulltime bass pro?

Davis: I believed I probably had a one-year chance at making it on the pro tour. I had one sponsor, Bass Cat. The company paid my entry fees and my expenses. All I had to do was buy a new pickup truck to pull my new boat. So, in the fall of 1986, I went to my first BASS tournament on the Hudson River. I didn't make a check that first event, but from that first tournament, I learned that I really could compete on this level and should be able to make a check. For the next 11 events, I never failed to make a check. Too, I almost won a couple of tournaments and qualified for a couple of Bassmasters Classics. I was well on my way to being a professional fisherman.

In 1988, I married Tilly, and she didn't know anything about fishing. She was from Michigan and I was from Arkansas, and her folks had just moved to Arkansas when they retired. She worked as a waitress at the restaurant at the marina where I had my guide service. When I first met Tilly, I was getting ready to fish my first Bassmasters Classic. She didn't really know what the Classic was. To be honest, she didn't really know what a bass tournament was. She just knew I earned my living as a fishing guide.

I told Tilly that when I came back from the Bassmasters Classic I'd like to take her out on a date. When Tilly asked me, "What's a Classic?" I tried to explain it to her. However, she still really didn't have an idea what professional bass fishing was all about. So, when I returned from the Classic in the summer of 1987, we started dating. Tilly and I dated for about nine months before I asked her to marry me. Once she said yes, we planned our wedding for the fall of 1988. I made the Classic again that year, and I wanted Tilly to go with me. But BASS had a rule that you couldn't bring your girlfriend to the Classic. You had to be married to the woman you brought to the Classic. So, we moved our wedding date from October to July to get married before the Classic, and then she could go to the Classic with me.

In 1988, Tilly and I went to our first Classic together. Tilly asked me, "What do I need to wear at the Classic? How do the ladies at the Classic dress, and what kind of clothes do I need?" Since I'd only been to one Classic, and I was a bachelor then, I didn't pay any attention to what the women wore. I told her that her clothes didn't really matter, because the ladies just wore regular clothes. When we arrived at the Classic, and Tilly saw that the other ladies were dressed nicer than she was, I was in hot water. The only way I was going to get out of hot water was to let Tilly go to downtown Richmond and buy the kind of clothes she thought she needed to wear at the Classic. The Bassmasters Classic that year was our honeymoon.
 

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