many times have you wondered what one of the pros would be doing while you’re on the water practicing for a tournament? If you’re like most of us, probably pretty often, and it was that question that prompted me to absolutely leap at the chance to hop in the back of BASS Elite Se- ries Pro Steve Kennedy’s boat while he was practicing for a recent tourna- ment. A tour-level pro since 2002, Ken- nedy became a dominant force in pro- fessional fishing almost from the moment he left a successful career as a mechanical en- gineer. He is also something of an enigma in the tournament business because he has followed a career path with minimal sponsorships. At times, he actively avoids publicity, instead relying solely on his incredible fishing talent to pay the bills. Kennedy comes from a fishing family. His father Van is a tournament legend in the south, and accomplished one of the most difficult tasks in fishing by qualifying for the 1982 Bassmaster
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Spring 2013