Pro Angler, Matt Greenblatt To Start New Trend?

by kelli berry

It was the first day of the Dixie Duel on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama, and the time difference from here and home had us at the dock much earlier than we planned. There was a beautiful sunrise just in front of me, and I reveled in the light breeze drifting across the water and through my hair.     

     As Drew and I walked down the dock, I was kind of glad that we had extra time. I love a lake anytime, but especially at sunrise, and being there, seeing it, breathing it never gets old.  Hand in hand we strolled, my hubby and me, giving and receiving many “Good mornings” from the B.A.S.S. staff, marshals, and even the pros themselves who were busy preparing their gear for the day. 

     I love to talk to people, and sometimes I can’t help blurting out whatever’s on my mind, but I’ll admit I cannot talk fishing with these guys like my husband can, so if I want to know an answer to a fishing question, I ask Drew.  If he doesn’t know, he’ll ask the pro for me.  Walking past pro after pro, I was looking for something to jumpstart my creativity, looking for my next story.  And that’s when I saw it.    

     It was a cowboy hat.

     Now, I’m from the south, so cowboy hats are not an uncommon sight, but what intrigued me was that it was on the head of an Elite B.A.S.S. pro angler sitting in a boat, and I had never seen the two combined.  I was wondering just how I could invade this guy’s space and ask about the hat without interrupting his game-day routine and mindset. 

     As we started getting closer to him, something else caught my attention.  Lying all over the front deck of his Ranger boat, were a lot of orange “sticks”.  I’m not opposed to orange, unless it is football season and it’s “gator orange”, but the girl in me was liking this pretty shiny orange and the way the sun shone off of the bright color.    

     Luck was with me because Drew stopped right in front of this pro and started talking to him about the “sticks”, so I stuck my nose, or rather, ear in.  I learned they were actually Carrot Stix rods, and one of Matt’s sponsors.  It was evident that my husband knew what they were, and as I listened politely, I read the name on the angler’s boat–Matt Greenblatt. 

     While Drew continued the fish talk with Matt, I walked over to the boat tied next to his, whose owner, Nate Wellman, I knew from West Point.  I had talked at great length with Nate after the Pride of Georgia and knew that he was a fun, down-to-earth guy, and I felt comfortable enough to bug him while he prepped for the day. I also learned from the banter between these two pros that they were good friends.

     Still, I had not spoken to Matt, nor had I looked him directly in the face yet, so I traded jabs with Wellman for a few minutes, and then I looked back over toward Greenblatt about the time he looked up.  That’s when I saw another interesting “thing”, only this time I marched right over.

     “Where’d you get your eye blacks?” I interrupted.  Not “Hey” or “How are you”, or anything remotely related to fishing, just that one question.  I had missed them before because they were either hidden by his sunglasses or his hat—maybe both, but I asked him for a better look.

     I live and breathe college football, so I had seen eye blacks plenty of times, in other sports, too, but this was the first time I had ever seen an angler, pro or amateur, wearing them.  Now I was curious.

     He smiled up at me from his boat and then stood so I could get a better look.

     One read “Carrot Stix” in orange, the other “River2Sea” in red and silver, another of his sponsors.  I learned he had just gotten the eye blacks in the mail only days earlier, and this was the first time he would be using them.

     I told him I would definitely catch up with him at the end of the day to see how they worked for him and get any comments that the other pros threw at him.

     After he weighed his day’s catch, I pulled him off to the side and started my nosey poking.

     “Well?” I started. “How’d they work?”

     “Pretty good,” he said. “They just take getting used to, but overall pretty good. I’m happy with them.”

     “Did any of the guys rag you about them? Give you a hard time or anything?” I asked.

     “No, they loved them!” he said excitedly. “I told them I was going to start a new trend.”

     Next, I wanted to know about the hat, so I eased into that by asking where he was from.  I had noticed a touch of a northern accent that morning and was a little surprised when he told me he lived in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

     Of course, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, so I kidded, “Oh, no you’re not a Gator are you?”  

     “No. I’m Penn State!” he clarified.  I informed him of my allegiance to my Dawgs and we talked some football—football I can talk with anyone and without help.

     “Is the cowboy hat your trademark?” I asked, tapping it with my finger.

     He explained that he had worn it at a previous tournament and had decided to “keep it”.

     It was a sweltering day, and I asked him what he did to stay hydrated while he fished and if he ever ate out there on days like this.

     “The only thing I usually eat is cold pineapple…cut it up, throw it on ice, and it’s good the whole day. The legendary Gary Yamamoto turned me onto it years ago,” he told me.

     The way he said “legendary” with such admiration and respect, I asked if Mr. Yamamoto was his fishing hero.

     “Most definitely,” he said with a big smile.

     “When you’re out here, and you look around you, do you still have the ‘awe factor’?”

     He answered immediately, “Are you kidding me? Look who I’m fishing with! These guys are the best of the best.”

     I then asked, “If you could spend one day just fishing with one of these guys who would it be?”

     “VanDam, no doubt. He’s amazing, and I know I could learn a lot from just watching him.”

    I discovered that his favorite thing to do when he’s not fishing is traveling—and fishing, fishing, fishing!

    By the end of the Dixie Duel, I was happy to have added a new buddy to my faves list.  That list of mine gets longer every time I talk to one of these pros.  Amazing athletes, but more amazing are the men behind the sport.    

See ya at the dock!

**Author’s note:  Matt corrected me that he was NOT single.