JACK WOLLITZ Mansky slowly gets hooked on major league fishing
It all came together for Dan Mansky 21 years ago when he caught a 5-pound largemouth bass at Evans Lake.
Now 31, Mansky has built a bass fishing r & eacute;sum & eacute; that includes many years at the club level, the requisite expansion of experience in professional fishing's minor leagues, and a season-and-a-half stint in the major league.
Mansky was one of the top vote-getters in our recent poll to determine the top anglers in the Mahoning Valley. His focus is on the competitive side of the sport, a seed that was planted at age 10 while fishing with his father, John, when that lunker ate his spinnerbait in a backwater area of Evans Lake.
"We stopped there before my baseball game," he said. "I was always winging a spinnerbait around while dad fished for crappies and walleyes. I caught that 5-pounder, and I was hooked. I guess you could say that was the defining moment for me as a bass angler."
He and his father fished frequently at ponds and the local reservoirs. "Dad is a diehard walleye and crappie guy," he said. "But the ponds had lots of bass, and I really enjoyed fishing for them."
At age 17, Mansky joined Mohawk Valley Bass Club. Though he was competing against anglers with more years of bass fishing experience that his age, he immediately established himself as a threat to win anytime his boat was on the water.
Success
He also fished team events on the local lakes and cashed a number of checks. The allure of competition and big paydays appealed to the point where Mansky set his sights on the FLW Everstart (now Stren Series) events in the northeastern states.
As he earned several top-10 finishes against top-level anglers, he grew confident that his skills would serve him well on the premier FLW Tour. He scraped up tens of thousands of dollars for entry fees and the expenses of six months of life on the road from Florida to Texas to Vermont and went for the gold in 2004.
A victory on the FLW Tour is worth $100,000 to $200,000. Even 50th place brings a $10,000 check. But when you are competing against 199 of the world's best bass anglers, everybody is a legitimate contender for the big bucks. And gremlins like dead batteries and blown lower units KO'd several of his better opportunities to finish in the money.
He persevered, however, and finished the season with hopes he could build on his rookie year's experience. But by the midpoint of the 2005 season, the money was pretty much gone, and he faced the harsh reality that it was time to regroup.
His 2006 season focuses back on local competition. He'll stay sharp in this area's tournaments and head back to the FLW Tour in 2007 with a veteran's perspective.
"I'm grateful for good sponsorship support from Vic's Sport Center [bass boat dealer in Kent] and Sonshine Medical [a custom wheelchair company in Tallmadge]," he said.
Advice to youths
His advice for young anglers who have a competitive spirit? "Learn as much as you can. Take it all in. Join a bass club. If you do well locally, then you can step it up to the bigger tournaments."
Mansky's favorite local waters include Berlin and Mosquito, as well as Presque Isle Bay.
"I'm a shallow-water, jig-flipping guy," he said. "Those lakes fit my style perfectly. Plus, I love Presque Isle Bay in the spring when the smallies are on the jerkbait bite on the 5- to 7-foot breaks."
He's catching lots of fish this spring and already has a victory under his belt, further fueling the fire to return to the major leagues.
"It's killing me thinking about those guys having fun out on the tour while I'm back here working and fishing. I just don't want to give that up and look back 20 years from now and say I wish I'd stuck with it."
jwwollitz@aol.com