we were in the boat, so that in case one of us would fall overboard, it would be easy to pull us back in.” Those trips would evolve into a regular weekend ritual. Rodman Reservoir was later replaced by Lake Kissimmee as their week- end destination, and the Lane family acquired a cabin on the water. Their grandfather even- tually purchased the cabin, and lived there four days a week. Those trips etched into their character the ever-present appreciation for the outdoors that they carry today. Bobby recounts, “We really enjoyed the outdoors and could not get enough of it. There was never a time when somebody would call and ask – ‘Hey, do you want to go bass fishing?’ – when I would turn them down. I always found time to go fishing.
Photo Courtesy of FLWOutdoors.com and Jennifer Simmons
Granddad Lane tossed one lure exclu- sively, a Devil’s Horse, so the Lane brothers experimented with tossing plastic worms and flipping other lures to become more versatile. They were not allowed to use live bait as other local fishermen regularly utilized. Although they were not necessar- ily competitive with each other, it was the drive to catch bass in greater numbers and of a heavier size that provided the motiva- tion to learn new and different techniques. Soon thereafter, they turned to tournaments to feed their competitive craving.
The Lane family, Arnie, Bobby, Chris, their father, and grandfather, started fish- ing local team tournaments all at the same time. They assembled teams in two sepa- rate boats, with their father and grand- father leading the respective duos. The three Lane brothers were 8 to 10 years of age at the time. By the ages of 15 and 16, they were competing in, and winning, local team tournaments on their own.
Sizing up the Competition
Even today, I try to fish as much as I can. My wife still gets on my case when I am in town for two weeks and I go fishing for three or four of those days. Fishing is something that we’ve all grown to love. And I know speaking personally that ever since I caught my first bass, I could never get enough of it. Every day that I can, I enjoy bass fishing, whether I am catching them or not. When my grandfather was alive, he really gave us an appreciation of the outdoors. That was my grass roots start right there.” Chris believes it was an insatiable ap- petite for fishing, and time on the water that created the building blocks for their bass fishing education. “We fished just about every chance we had. We used to wake up our mom, with the station wagon packed and ready to go, and have her take us down to the pond. And when we’d go to Granddad’s fish camp, he had everything all set to go. That is just what we did and loved to do. I can honestly say my very first love was bass fishing.”
March/April 2009 »
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