Our featured Anglers for September are Region 7's Tim and Karen Harvin

by Pete Robbins
(Who is Pete Robbins & what else has he written?)

Tim was raised in Arkansas, and has been fishing most of his life, although very little of his early experience was with bass. "I grew up on Kelly Lake," he says, and "fished the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, mostly for catfish. That and hunting, that’s what we did." Tim left Arkansas to join the Navy, which brought him to Virginia, where he met Karen, a registered nurse who was raised in Virginia Beach. She also had fished previously, "on and off," she says, "mostly bobber fishing off the bank." In 1993 Tim left the Navy and married Karen. They recently celebrated their 9^th wedding anniversary.

The couple’s path to tournament fishing was gradual, but the pair showed immediate aptitude. They started fishing out of a canoe in the lake behind Karen’s sister’s house….where Karen promptly landed her first bass, a five pounder, on a spinnerbait. Eventually, they moved up to a 2-man bassboat, and then their current rig, Bass Tracker Pro Team 165. That enabled them to fish some of the other lakes in the area, as well as the Northwest River.

At the Northwest River, the couple met current Region 7 director Wayne Hayes, who over time encouraged them to join his club. At first, the couple was slightly apprehensive. Tim thought maybe his wife would not be welcomed. Karen also admits that she was a bit nervous, but ultimately their mutual desire to improve their fishing skills led them to cast aside those concerns, which proved to be unfounded. Karen says she was "well accepted….there hasn’t been a problem with anyone in the Federation."

All of Karen’s non-fishing female friends have been huge supporters of her passion for bass fishing, but she is occasionally frustrated when they don’t understand how much work and preparation go into the sport.

In their first year fishing the Federation, Karen and Tim qualified for the Six Man Tournament, no small feat in a club that includes 2-time Virginia Mr. BASS Wayne Hayes and no fewer than four other past state team members among its ranks. It’s a "tight-knit group" states fellow club member Danny Knight, who is also one of Tim’s co-workers at Oceans East tackle shop. They have also managed to win several tournaments.

Both spouses use virtually the same words when describing why they work so well together. "We complement each other," Karen says. Separately, Tim states "we really work well together." For example, Tim says that he loves to pitch a worm or a jig, and also uses a spinnerbait effectively. His wife, he says, is tremendous with a topwater bait, in particular a Rico, and she catches a lot of the team’s fish that way.

Their on-the-water decision making process is also a team effort. "Both of us contribute," Tim says, "and I can’t backseat her because I have to go home with her." He notes that "womens’ instincts are better than ours. She’ll tell me to fish a certain bank and nine out of ten times she’ll be right."

Tim attributes Karen’s quick progression and high level of fishing instinct to the fact that she listens well. Danny Knight notes that while club members "tutored them, they’re both real good studies, they listen real well." Knight also states that he calls Karen "’Big Red’ because she has fire-red hair." Perhaps thinking better of that statement, he is quick to add that "she is the one who catches all the fish."

The couple has taken to heart the adage that there’s no substitute for time on the water. Not only do they fish every weekend, but also frequently fish Wednesday night tournaments. Karen says they fished every all the way through last winter, something they had not previously done. Even when the river was iced over, they showed up at the ramp, and tried to launch. Their advice to other couples is "just get out there and do it."

In the next year, the Harvins are going to move up to a larger boat. They’ll share the driving duties. Even though they don’t yet know what brand or size of boat they’ll get, both separately assured me that the boat will be a dual console….always thinking about their partner. In terms of fishing achievements, once again they unknowingly parroted each other’s response in separate interviews, each telling me that they want to qualify for the Mr. BASS tournament.

Look for Karen and Tim to continue to participate heavily in Federation events. Karen is quick to note that "it’s nice belonging to a large group, particularly one that is involved in teaching kids." Region 7 direction Wayne Hayes states that "they’re the type of members every organization needs…dedicated and they volunteer." On the fishing front, there’s no doubt that they’ll continue to grow and succeed. So when you’re heading down the lake, and you see a bass boat with a man flipping a jig and a woman throwing a rico, with one large tackle box between them, you’ll know who it is, and you should be jealous that your wife doesn’t bring home high-dollar Japanese topwaters, can’t drive a bassboat, and can’t tell you the difference between a Carolina rig and a Texas rig, let alone catch fish on either of them.

Copyright 2002 Peter Robbins All Rights Reserved
robbins@vabass.com

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