Angler spreads word on Missouri

The tournament bass fisherman promotes all aspects of outdoor recreation.
By BRENT FRAZEE
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
LAKE OZARK, Mo. -- When Scott Pauley traveled to Japan as part of a trade delegation several years ago, he knew he had a good product to pitch.
Talk about industry, exports and crops, and you'll get some polite interest, he'll tell you. But talk about bass fishing, as Pauley did, and you'll lure a following.
"We knew the Japanese were crazy about bass fishing," said Pauley, 48, who is the outdoor marketing specialist for the Missouri Division of Tourism. "That's why I was part of this delegation -- to promote Missouri bass fishing and to show tour operators what we had.
"But even I was amazed at the response we got. When they heard that I was an American bass pro, they treated me like I was a celebrity."
The experience started when Pauley was asked by his host and translator if there was anything he wanted to do in Japan in his spare time. That led to a whirlwind shopping spree in a fishing tackle shop -- an experience that led to bigger and better things.
"When the guy at the tackle shop found out that I was a tournament fisherman, he got excited and started making telephone calls," Pauley said. "Pretty soon, I'm traveling the country, meeting with fishing magazine editors, lure manufacturers and government dignitaries who love to fish.
"My translator told me that I opened many doors for him. He was getting to meet people he never would have had access to if it hadn't been for my fishing."
Well aware of Missouri
Pauley didn't have to totally start from scratch when it came to promoting Missouri bass fishing. To his surprise, the Japanese already knew about lakes such as Table Rock and Lake of the Ozarks and the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield.
Oh, and they were familiar with one other facet of lake life in Missouri.
"When I said I was from Missouri, one guy came up to me and said, 'Ah, Party Cove,' " Pauley said with a laugh. "How in the world he knew about Party Cove, I'll never know."
Pauley and others considered the trip a success after they were able to persuade some Japanese to visit Missouri to go bass fishing. But the international promotion didn't end there.
Pauley became Missouri's fishing ambassador, traveling to Great Britain to promote Missouri's trout fishing and to a Miami trade show to appeal to residents of Latin American countries.
That international promotion slowed when 9/11 had an effect on travel. But Pauley still travels the United States promoting the Missouri outdoors, giving talks, meeting with outdoors writers and making appearances at sports shows. And he hasn't ruled out the possibility that he will resume international promotion some time in the future.
"We're finding that people in other countries have a great interest in the outdoors," said Pauley, who lives in Columbia. "With all Missouri has in the way of fishing, hunting and other recreation, we think we offer travel possibilities."
That's what Pauley had in mind when he approached the Missouri Division of Tourism for sponsorship in the early 1990s.
Offered to be spokesman
He saw the way other states were using innovative ways to promote tourist draws. So he offered his services as a spokesman for the many forms of outdoor recreation Missouri offers.
He figured he had an "in." He already was employed by the Missouri Highway Patrol, where he now serves as a sergeant. And he had plenty of knowledge about the outdoors, fishing in tournaments for years.
The Division of Tourism agreed to sponsor Pauley, and he has been on the go in his spare time ever since, promoting the Missouri outdoors.
He was at Lake of the Ozarks last week, guiding outdoors writers during an event sponsored by the Tri-County Lodging Association and the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor Bureau. And he quickly was reminded that Missouri offers plenty to promote.
The bass were hitting -- and Pauley and the fishermen he was guiding were catching them.
"On the tournament circuit, I've traveled to a lot of different states," he said. "But Missouri compares very well with most of them, both in terms of the bass populations and facilities at the lake."
But for Pauley, it's more than just bass fishing. As Missouri's outdoors ambassador, he can talk endlessly about what the state has to offer.
"With our beautiful float streams, our hiking trails and our [bicycling[ places like the Katy Trail, we have a diverse range of outdoors opportunities," he said. "It's not just the fishing and hunting.
"If people like the outdoors, they have to visit Missouri."