Winter 2022
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had to make a decision. Honestly, he couldn’t keep doing what he was doing and make it as a professional angler. The travel, logistics and inability to learn had taken their toll.
So, he either had to give that up and stay out West fishing the Toyota Series or move east. Ultimately, he chose to push his chips in and move.
“I said if I was going to really keep doing this, we had to move,” says Howe. “So, we bought some property near Watts Bar in Tennessee, and we’re moving there in 2022.”
It obviously makes many aspects of being a professional angler much easier, from the travel to now being able to practice any time he wants on lakes similar to what he’ll fish in tournaments. Plus, he’s fortunate his business is fully up and running, and he can manage it from the east – a financial component he says is huge for anyone looking to make the jump.
Yet, the move doesn’t
come without risk, as
multiple western anglers
have tried this same step
and still failed, such as
Kevin Hawk, who moved
to Georgia to practice for
the Cup on Lake Lanier
(which he won) and
stayed out there, only to
eventually fade out of the
sport.
Hence why anglers
like Joe Uribe Jr., one of
the most accomplished
western anglers, have
decided to forgo both
decisions and just stay
out west and fish locally.
Yet, that’s not stopping Howe, or Phillip Dutra, who won Angler of the Year in this year’s Toyota Series Western Division and plans on moving to Alabama to fish the Pro Circuit in 2022. Of course, the 2021 Toyota Series Western Division AOY, Tai Au, is trying the first approach of residing here and fishing out east.
And that’s the hardest part about the decision – there’s no right or wrong decision. But for any top-talent western angler or aspiring one, understand this decision is coming. •
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