Our Featured Angler for November is Touring Pro Art Ferguson

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

In February of 2003, I had the good fortune to spend the first practice day of the Bassmaster Tour event on Toledo Bend Reservoir with Art Ferguson (and his border collie, Astro). While we caught some quality fish on the lower end of the lake that day, it was evident that Art was undergoing a semi-slump, and was frustrated with his recent performance.

Art Ferguson is no Johnny-come-lately to the world of big-time fishing. He fished his first B.A.S.S. event at the age of 16, and qualified for his first Bassmasters Classic through the Federation trail in 1990. Almost a decade later, he qualified for the Classic twice more, once through the pro tour and also through the Federation once again. Additionally, he won a Bassmaster Tour event on Lake Wheeler, beating the best anglers in the world. In the interim, in addition to fishing a wide variety of pro events, he continued to guide out of Roland Martin’s Marina on Lake Okeechobee in the colder months, and on Lake St. Clair in his home state of Michigan during the warmer months.

In addition to guiding and fishing tournaments, Art established a stable of high quality sponsors; he doesn’t only represent them at sportshows and seminars. To the contrary, he often plays an integral role in product development. Two good examples of this are the signature series of fishing rods he developed for Warrior Rods, and the "Work of Art" plastics color that is now a mainstay of the Mizmo Lures line of tube baits.

Despite all of these outward trappings of success, at the time I fished with him, Ferguson was at what he considered to be something of a low point. He had fished beneath his standards for much of the year, and was in danger of not qualifying for the 2004 tour. Furthermore, the expenses of traveling the country to fish tournaments were becoming increasingly onerous. Art was living in Florida at the time and perhaps as a result of the combination of these factors, he elected to skip the two year-end tour events in California. He regrouped and guided the rest of the winter/spring on Okeechobee making some sure money.

By late summer, Ferguson was back at it again, fishing the B.A.S.S. Northern Opens and the Everstart Northern Division. In contrast to the year gone by, he came out on fire, finishing in the top 5 in nearly every event he fished, and winning the Open on Lake Oneida in New York. He brought home a bunch of big checks, a couple of boat certificates, and a restored confidence in his abilities. Additionally, he was the top finisher for the season in the Northern Opens, earning an automatic berth in the 2004 Bassmasters Classic, as well as a spot in the Everstart Championship. Clearly, he is on a roll.

Eager to find out how he got his tournament events back on track, I recently caught up with Art to discuss the slump, his resurgence, and his thoughts in general. Coincidentally, I happened to call him as he was driving back to his hotel after the first day of the Everstart Championship on Old Hickory Lake near Nashville. He was leading the tournament with a catch of over 12 lbs., with his closest competitor approximately 2 pounds behind, and the cut weight a mere 5 lbs.

How did you do today?
I’m leading the tournament. Four bass for twelve pounds, three ounces. Second place is 10-07, I think, Clark Wendlandt.

You seem to have turned things around pretty well from when we fished together at Toledo Bend last Spring. What do you attribute that to?
All I know is that it’s the grace of God. I’ve really gotten to a place where I’m really focusing. That has been the key, I’m just really paying attention to the little things. My confidence level is way up. I just feel like everything I’m doing is right. Every cast I’m making now I have an incredible feeling.

Since you have Federation roots, is there a difference for a professional breaking out of a slump versus a once a week Federation angler?
I remember the same thing from fishing state and local tournaments where you’d have bad times, and really couldn’t get in a rhythm. It really can happen a lot more on your home water. Going to a safe water, when you’re on your home water, and you get out of a groove, that kind of slump can go on for quite a while. You lose confidence in what you’re doing, start thinking everyone else is better than you, you just can’t stay at the same level as when you’re doing well. That’s what happened to me in B.A.S.S., and like you said, it was coming out of my mouth, and I couldn’t put anything together.

The tournament I’m at now at Old Hickory – in the past, I’ve been asked what my worst lake is and do you know what I said? Old Hickory. I don’t like this lake. But I came here with the attitude that I was going to conquer that, that I was not going to let that bother me. I could have thought about why I don’t like this lake, I could have dwelled on that stuff, but instead I realized that I should think differently, and put that to the side, and go fish.

If you were to get in another slump at some point, what would you do along those lines to get out of it?
That’s a hard question, because….well, I really don’t know if I have an answer to that.

Well, then let me flip the question around. Now that you’ve had a string of successes, what do you do to perpetuate that?
I don’t know if I can answer that. You know, back in 1999 and 2000, I had a fifteen or eighteen month period where at that point in time I just gave my life over to Christ and it felt like I couldn’t do anything wrong. I had about seventeen tournaments that I fished in that period of time, and I think I made money in fourteen of them. I made two Classics in a row. I made the Classic through the Federation in 1999, and that was part of that whole deal. I went to the Federation Championship on the Red River and had a great tournament, and then went right into the Classic, had a decent tournament at the Classic, and that was all a rhythm.

When it ended, I got to a place where I think I just thought I could do anything, and actually, I found out I can’t, because it’s not me doing it. I’m just out there doing the best I can. I got to a point where I got a little on the prideful side, and "I can’t be beat" kind of thing, and then getting beat time after time after time again, I was pretty humbled. So I have no answer…well, my answer is just stay humble, don’t let it go to your head, and just try to keep on going.

Do you feel that there’s any element of good fortune in terms of scheduling this year? Obviously, Old Hickory is not similar to the smallmouth lakes near your home in Michigan, but a lot of your success this year has come on lakes that are smallmouth waters.
Yeah, my success has come at the Everstarts and the Open level. It’s not the FLW and the Tour, but there are some great fishermen I’m fishing against. I looked at the top 20 here, and you’ve got Clark Wendlandt right behind me, Tony Christian’s been having a good season, Gerald Beck , Wesley Strader, Dion Hibdon, Dan Morehead. It’s not like there’s poor fishermen here, but you’re still not competing against the big leagues. I’m not trying to discredit what’s going on. I’m very thankful for what’s going on.

I’ve done well because they’ve been northern divisions, and I just got on a roll. It’s paying off here today on Old Hickory. Scheduling certainly plays a role, knowing the waters. I certainly have much more understanding of natural bodies of water, like the Great Lakes, and Lake Vermillion where we went, and Onieda Lake. I understand natural bodies of water much more than I do reservoirs or rivers.

Obviously you’ve had a number of very high finishes recently, but in that Oneida tournament you were able to put it all together and win. Do you get a different sort of confidence as a result of winning a tournament, as opposed to a 2^nd or 3^rd place finish?
That’s funny you say that, because Mark Zona, who led the points for the Northern Division of the Everstart, he had three 2^nd places this year on the Everstart Tour. I called him up one day, and just kind of said jokingly, I said "Mark, it’s a whole lot nicer to win." He knew I was just kidding with him.

As far as the confidence level you get from winning, that’s kind of where that pride and cockiness comes in if you don’t be careful. I’m just really thankful, it’s hard to put words to it when you get into a rhythm like that. You can ask any sports person, Tiger Woods to Jeff Gordon in NASCAR, where he wins 5 out of 6 races. It’s hard to describe what’s going on, it’s just a focus thing.

We’ve talked about smallmouth being one of the keys to your year, but you also had a great finish in the Northern Open on the Potomac. Obviously, there’s no tidal water in Michigan. What did you do to succeed there, and in particular to beat out a lot of very good local anglers?
Well, again, it was another tournament, just like here, and just like a lot of places I’ve been, where I stayed very open-minded. I’m trying not to get into Art Ferguson’s rut of what I like to do. I’m trying to use what I like to do and apply it to the body of water that I’m on. At the Potomac River what I did was I kept myself open. I’ve been there enough times now that I know where there are 15 or 20 decent areas of fishing, and I decided to try to keep expanding stuff and try to find new stuff and I did. That was the key there, I kept on working. Actually, before I found my key areas, I was catching them pretty good without those key areas. To answer that question, I’ve kept an open mind, and I wasn’t satisfied with what I’m finding, and I finally found a real good area. I thought actually that I was going to win the tournament there, but I still had a good tournament.

Having already qualified for next year’s Classic, does that affect the way you fish the rest of your tournaments this year?
Flat out, no questions asked, yes.

I’ve learned over these years – I’ve been fishing tournaments since 1979 and started fishing full-time in 1990 – it’s not about the money, but it sure is a lot less stressful when there’s a little more financial security. I learned that from a very young age just starting off where I had nothing, and there’d be tournaments where I was so broke. After I qualified for the Bassmasters Classic in 1990 through the Federation, that’s when that little bit of cockiness came in, and I thought I could compete with the big boys and make all sorts of money in this sport. I went out, and I went broke in two and a half years. I didn’t have financial backing, the good sponsors that I have now. In that situation, you just can’t do what you have to do. I couldn’t go to the other end of the lake because I was afraid I would have enough money to check it out.

For now, as far as the Classic goes, just the financial success I’ve had recently, has freed me up. I have the attitude that I’m going to have a good time, I’m going to find as much fish as I can. There’s actually no pressure. This morning we had an hour and a half fog delay. It didn’t even phase me.

A lot of guys I talk to through e-mail, and meet on the road, and guide, they think they’re ready to go on the road and fish full-time. Personally, I always try to tell people that, number one, I think back early on in my career, fishing was an addiction to me. It kind of controlled me. And that’s the question I always try to ask, I tell them to step back, and make sure this is a passion and not an addiction. The reason I ask that is because of the financial side, you’ve got to be prepared mentally, and you’ve got to be prepared financially for possibly some bad times starting off and maybe during your career, you just never know.

I keep going back to the financial thing, and sidestepping. You asked me about the Classic, does that make me fish differently. When you are on top of the game like this, right now, it’s a lot easier to fish, no doubt about it. Now what it’s making me do, someone just asked me that this morning at the dock in the fog, now that you’ve made the Classic are you just going to go for the win every time. And my answer to that was yes. I don’t have to live off points, I don’t have to worry about trying to hang in there, although I’d like to do well in points. It’s going to let me take some bigger risks..

Thanks for your time, Art, and hope you have a good catch again tomorrow.
Thanks. I came in to weigh-in, and I was in the last flight and I thought I’d probably be in the top 20, right around there. I come into the scales and I hear people on the dock saying "That’s the biggest sack I’ve seen all day." I turned around to one guy and said "What?!!!" Everstart and FLW tournaments have top 20 lists on a computerized screen, constantly updating. The guy in front of me weighed in 10 and I’m thinking I’m gonna be leading this thing.

I’ve kind of got to watch what I do. You’ve got to make the cut, and then they take you to zero again. Five pounds is the cut, so if I catch a fish or two tomorrow, I’ll probably pull out of my area and go practice fish.

Art Ferguson is sponsored by Marathon Oil, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Jerome Duncan Ford, Mizmo Bait Co., Kars Nuts, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Terminator Lures, Owner Hooks, Lowrance Electronics, and Lifeline Youth and Family Services "Fish with the Pros".

For more information about Art’s tournament results, or to book a guide trip on Lake St. Clair (summer months) or Lake Okeechobee (winter months), check out his website, www.artoffishing.com

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