Stizo
07-04-2001, 08:34 AM
I found this on fishingworld.com. Thanks Babe!! Well done. Bob deserves everything he can get.
Babe Winkelman Productions
When it comes to professional fishermen, Bob Propst is a throwback to another eraWinkelman Fishing Column
by Babe Winkleman
06/23/2001 .... Most of today's pro anglers look like models in a Bass Pro catalog. You won't find any dead worms stuck to these guys' bib overalls, no dirt under their fingernails. They're spit-shined and ready for action.
Then there's Bobby Propst, the rotund fishing guide many consider the greatest walleye fishermen who ever lived. If you've never heard of Propst, never seen his picture in a glossy four-color magazine ad, it's because he didn't have the poster-boy image necessary to capture a sponsor's attention.
In the champagne world of tournament fishing, Bob was a can of warm beer.
If other tournament pros were pressed khakis and safari shirts, Bob was a wrinkled pair of blue jeans and a faded tee shirt too small to cover his belly.
But-oh-how that man can catch walleyes. He was the first great tournament angler, the guy who taught many of today's top sticks everything they know. His early accomplishments on the tournament trail are the stuff of legends.
When I first met Bob he didn't even own a tackle box, he carried what he needed in a five-quart plastic pail. His rods and reels were mostly hand-me-downs left behind by clients he'd guided. Once, after getting a boat on consignment from a sponsor, he ripped out the pedestal seats and replaced them with lawn chairs, which he said were more comfortable.
Back in the 1970s Bob was a popular guide on Nebraska's Lake McConaughy, where his ability to catch big walleyes was well documented. He caught some 500 over 10 pounds during his career on the sprawling reservoir.
When South Dakota's Lake Oahe blossomed into a great walleye fishery, Bob migrated north. "The first time I met him," recalls Tony Dean of Pierre, SD, "he showed up at Karl's Bait Shop and asked how to get to the lake. He said he had a party to guide that morning. I laughed about that all day. Here's this frumpy-looking guy masquerading as a guide and he'd never even seen the lake."
Tony stopped laughing when Bob and his clients showed up at the bait shop later that afternoon with one of the heaviest stringers of walleyes anyone in those parts had ever seen. "He is without a doubt the most amazing walleye fisherman I've ever met," says Tony, who has been a close friend of Bob's ever since that first meeting.
Bob fished the first walleye tournaments ever held, usually borrowing the entry fee and expenses from clients who were lined up to be his partner. It usually proved to be a good investment as Bob rarely finished out of the money.
In one reservoir tournament, Bob caught more pounds of fish than the next nine teams combined. He had an uncanny knack for finding walleyes regardless of the conditions, even on bodies of water he'd never fished. It didn't matter who he picked up as a partner, he consistently cashed a nice check.
When the Manufacturer's Walleye Council tournament circuit was launched in the 1980s, Bob teamed up with Mike McClelland. At one of those early tournaments held on a Minnesota lake, the pair was nearly laughed off the dock. "Minnesota walleyes are too sophisticated to bite on all that hardware," said one after peeking at Bob's rigs. They weren't laughing for long. By summer's end, Bob and Mike were the runaway team-of-the-year winners earning 479 of a possible 500 points.
Unfortunately, arthritis and age caught up with Bob before he had a chance to cash in on today's lucrative tournament purses. No longer able to be competitive, he returned to being a fulltime guide on Lake Oahe. But not before he changed the face of walleye fishing.
Many of today's top pros credit Bob for giving them their start. "Before one of the first tournaments I entered I hired Bob as a guide," recalls Wisconsin's Gary Parsons, one of walleye fishing's biggest names. "He not only took me to his hot spots, he answered my questions all day. He continued to help me for years."
He helped everyone else, too, often to McClelland's chagrin. "People were always asking Bob where we'd caught our fish," Mike says, "and he would always tell them, even if the tournament wasn't over. It drove me crazy."
That's Bob-a round peg in a square hole. A hopelessly honest man in a sport where being a good lair is a necessity. An unassuming man whose love of fishing and willingness to help others enjoy the sport overshadowed any desire for fame and fortune.
And one of the best doggoned walleye fishermen who ever wet a line.
Babe Winkelman is a nationally known outdoorsman. Watch his award-winning "Good Fishing" television show on WGN-TV, the USA Network and the Outdoor Channel.
Babe Winkelman Productions
When it comes to professional fishermen, Bob Propst is a throwback to another eraWinkelman Fishing Column
by Babe Winkleman
06/23/2001 .... Most of today's pro anglers look like models in a Bass Pro catalog. You won't find any dead worms stuck to these guys' bib overalls, no dirt under their fingernails. They're spit-shined and ready for action.
Then there's Bobby Propst, the rotund fishing guide many consider the greatest walleye fishermen who ever lived. If you've never heard of Propst, never seen his picture in a glossy four-color magazine ad, it's because he didn't have the poster-boy image necessary to capture a sponsor's attention.
In the champagne world of tournament fishing, Bob was a can of warm beer.
If other tournament pros were pressed khakis and safari shirts, Bob was a wrinkled pair of blue jeans and a faded tee shirt too small to cover his belly.
But-oh-how that man can catch walleyes. He was the first great tournament angler, the guy who taught many of today's top sticks everything they know. His early accomplishments on the tournament trail are the stuff of legends.
When I first met Bob he didn't even own a tackle box, he carried what he needed in a five-quart plastic pail. His rods and reels were mostly hand-me-downs left behind by clients he'd guided. Once, after getting a boat on consignment from a sponsor, he ripped out the pedestal seats and replaced them with lawn chairs, which he said were more comfortable.
Back in the 1970s Bob was a popular guide on Nebraska's Lake McConaughy, where his ability to catch big walleyes was well documented. He caught some 500 over 10 pounds during his career on the sprawling reservoir.
When South Dakota's Lake Oahe blossomed into a great walleye fishery, Bob migrated north. "The first time I met him," recalls Tony Dean of Pierre, SD, "he showed up at Karl's Bait Shop and asked how to get to the lake. He said he had a party to guide that morning. I laughed about that all day. Here's this frumpy-looking guy masquerading as a guide and he'd never even seen the lake."
Tony stopped laughing when Bob and his clients showed up at the bait shop later that afternoon with one of the heaviest stringers of walleyes anyone in those parts had ever seen. "He is without a doubt the most amazing walleye fisherman I've ever met," says Tony, who has been a close friend of Bob's ever since that first meeting.
Bob fished the first walleye tournaments ever held, usually borrowing the entry fee and expenses from clients who were lined up to be his partner. It usually proved to be a good investment as Bob rarely finished out of the money.
In one reservoir tournament, Bob caught more pounds of fish than the next nine teams combined. He had an uncanny knack for finding walleyes regardless of the conditions, even on bodies of water he'd never fished. It didn't matter who he picked up as a partner, he consistently cashed a nice check.
When the Manufacturer's Walleye Council tournament circuit was launched in the 1980s, Bob teamed up with Mike McClelland. At one of those early tournaments held on a Minnesota lake, the pair was nearly laughed off the dock. "Minnesota walleyes are too sophisticated to bite on all that hardware," said one after peeking at Bob's rigs. They weren't laughing for long. By summer's end, Bob and Mike were the runaway team-of-the-year winners earning 479 of a possible 500 points.
Unfortunately, arthritis and age caught up with Bob before he had a chance to cash in on today's lucrative tournament purses. No longer able to be competitive, he returned to being a fulltime guide on Lake Oahe. But not before he changed the face of walleye fishing.
Many of today's top pros credit Bob for giving them their start. "Before one of the first tournaments I entered I hired Bob as a guide," recalls Wisconsin's Gary Parsons, one of walleye fishing's biggest names. "He not only took me to his hot spots, he answered my questions all day. He continued to help me for years."
He helped everyone else, too, often to McClelland's chagrin. "People were always asking Bob where we'd caught our fish," Mike says, "and he would always tell them, even if the tournament wasn't over. It drove me crazy."
That's Bob-a round peg in a square hole. A hopelessly honest man in a sport where being a good lair is a necessity. An unassuming man whose love of fishing and willingness to help others enjoy the sport overshadowed any desire for fame and fortune.
And one of the best doggoned walleye fishermen who ever wet a line.
Babe Winkelman is a nationally known outdoorsman. Watch his award-winning "Good Fishing" television show on WGN-TV, the USA Network and the Outdoor Channel.