Andrew Upshaw is 5-7, weighs 155 pounds and was an all-conference tight end in high school at Hemphill, Texas. That should tell you something about his determination to succeed. Because his team ran the ball “24-7,” as he puts it, the only way he was going to get any playing time was to become a lineman or a back. There was no shortage of backs, so Upshaw learned how to block. He became so good at it that he won accolades despite his lack of size.
Talk to Upshaw now and it’s apparent that he has the same sort of drive when it comes to bass fishing. Not only does he want to be a pro, but he wants to be the next guy to capture both a Bassmaster Classic title and a Forrest Wood Cup crown. He’ll get his first chance in 2012. Having won a college qualifier last summer that granted the winner a berth in the Classic, the Texan will head for Shreveport and the Red River in late February. In April, because he and Stephen F. Austin University partner Ryan Watkins won the National Guard FLW College South Region tournament, Upshaw will get a shot at a berth in the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top college anglers from the five regions compete on South Carolina’s Lake Murray and the top boater and co-angler from that event will advance to the Cup.
“It’s pretty exciting to think about,” says the 25-year-old Texan, who graduated with a degree in marketing last August. “Most definitely, I would like to qualify for both the Classic and the Forrest Wood Cup in the same year. That would really set the bar high for other college fishermen and it also would prove that the best college guys have what it takes to compete at any level.”
The fashion in which Upshaw and Watkins won the South Regional ranks them among the pre-tournament favorites in the national championship. They blew out the field at Lake Somerville, winning by a margin of almost 10 pounds. Along the way, they set the collegiate record for heaviest single-day stringer (26-6).
Whether or not he reaches the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Lanier next August, Upshaw has already gotten a big boost to his career. He just signed on with Strike Pro as a pro staffer, and he’ll fish the six Walmart FLW Tour Majors next year as a boater (Editor's note: Upshaw is one of the first National Guard FLW College Fishing alums to fish the Tour as a pro; read more here). He’ll also compete in a couple of Opens, including the one on the Detroit River in August and at Sam Rayburn in October. Although Upshaw appears to be younger than he is, when he’s in a boat he seems to be a lot older. He earned his fishing spurs on Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend, and tournament trailblazer Tommy Martin and Rice Krispies Treats pro Jim Tutt were among his mentors. It’s no surprise, then, that he describes himself as a power fisherman who feels most comfortable when he’s got a cranking rod or a flipping stick in his hand.
“Spinnerbait, football jig, swimbait, tube – I’m pretty well accustomed to using whatever it takes to get a bite, but I’d have to say that fishing crankbaits on ledges is the thing that I have the most confidence in,” says Upshaw.
Confidence is one thing the young Texan has plenty of. He’ll need it when he goes up against the best pros in the land.
“It starts with becoming a full-time professional bass fisherman,” he says. “I want to be win Angler of the Year, I want to win a Classic, I want to win a Forrest Wood Cup. I’m extremely competitive. It’s not enough just to participate, it’s not to earn a nice check; I want to win. If I get to the point where I lose that motivation, I’ll go do something else.”
May he never lose his hunger to succeed, though Upshaw doubtless will hit some rough spots, and discover that most places just don’t fish the same as the lakes close to his home. Young fishermen are very good at milking Plan A, when everything goes according to script. But what often separates them from the Brent Ehrlers and Bryan Thrifts of the sport is that they’re not so good at Plan B, C, D and so on. Plan A is wonderful when it works, but where many aspiring pros falter is not being able to respond well when they find that somebody else beat them to their best spot, or conditions changed, or the fish moved. In such instances, experience becomes at least as important as skill.
Be that as it may, Upshaw is going to give it a shot. As he proved on high school football fields, determination and preparation can make an ordinary man capable of extraordinary things.
