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No. 9 - Gary Klein
Hometown: Weatherford, Texas
Born: Oroville, California
Birthday: 10/11/1957
Family: (Wife) Jana; (Children) Lakota, Sierra
Hobbies: Primitive outdoors skills
Favorite Food: Spaghetti and meatballs
Favorite Music: Country
Favorite Book/Movie: "The Magic of the Mind" (book) by U.S. Anderson. "It's been the most inspirational read for me as an angler."
Why He Fishes: "I fish because I truly enjoy being in the outdoors, and I compete because there are no limits. I feel I can become as good as I allow myself to become, and we are rewarded for our successes."
Hometown: Weatherford, Texas
Born: Oroville, California
Birthday: 10/11/1957
Family: (Wife) Jana; (Children) Lakota, Sierra
Hobbies: Primitive outdoors skills
Favorite Food: Spaghetti and meatballs
Favorite Music: Country
Favorite Book/Movie: "The Magic of the Mind" (book) by U.S. Anderson. "It's been the most inspirational read for me as an angler."
Why He Fishes: "I fish because I truly enjoy being in the outdoors, and I compete because there are no limits. I feel I can become as good as I allow myself to become, and we are rewarded for our successes."
Career Stats
Scorecard:
BMCs fished: 22
FLW Championships fished: 6
BASS Titles: 8
BASS Times in money: 174
BASS Total Entries: 256
BASS Total Weight: 6,829-7
BASS Career Winnings: $1,262,844.00
Former Job: Manager of Bidwell Canyon Marina on Lake Oroville
Turned Pro: 1979
Career Earnings: Over $1.77 Million
Titles/Honors:
BASS AOY 1989
BASS AOY 1993
Notables:
His biggest legacy: 22 BMCs fished without a win … A little known fact is that Klein fished the inaugural event of the 1981-82 BASS season and then took a two-year hiatus, returning for the 1983-84 season. He did so to start Tournament Lures with its namesake "Weapon" flipping jig. In the process, Klein missed two BMC opportunities while he was certainly on a career role …
His 1979 "rookie" year is memorable, winning the Arizona Invitational, his second tournament (he placed 10th in his first tournament, the Florida Invitational, held one month prior to the win). That year he missed the BASS AOY title to Roland Martin by less than 2 pounds and ranked fourth in that BMC.
Timeline:
1974: Fishes first tournament as a non-boater, placing 37th out of 180 entrants. His prize: 24 spinnerbaits
1979: Fishes first BASS event, the Florida Invitational in February (10th place)
1979: Wins first BASS event, the Arizona Invitational in March
1979: Fishes first BMC and finishes 4th
1981: Fishes Texas Invitational in November and then returns to California to start "Tournament Lures, Inc."
1983: Returns to 1983-84 trail and qualifies for BMC
1985: Wins second BASS title
1988: Wins third BASS title
1989: Wins fourth BASS title
1989: Wins AOY
1990: Wins fifth BASS title
1993: Wins sixth BASS title
1993: Wins AOY
1996: Wins seventh BASS title
2003: Wins eighth BASS title
Defining Moment:
A "defining moments" article in the 1990 Bassmaster Classic Report quotes Klein as follows:
" … ask Klein to select the most pivotal tournament turning point of his career, and his mind returns to December 1985 and Georgia's Lake Lanier, where he beat out local favorite Mickey Bruce by 2 ounces.
'The neatest stringer of my career was three bass that weighed only 5-2. That's what I caught on the final day of the tournament … On the last night of the tournament I had a dream that I had it won. It was just like everything was going to fall into place, and I was going to catch enough fish the next day to win … I went from 1979 to 1985 without winning, and the results of that little stringer gave me a tremendous confidence boost.'"
Obviously, another "defining moment" has yet to be defined: A BMC win … although he came close during the infamous "shots fired" BMC.
Claim To Fame:
The "California Kid" emerged as young hot shot early on in what at the time was a sport dominated by anglers in their 30s and beyond … most significantly, Klein used his West Coast flipping prowess to establish himself as a pro when the technique first emerged into the mainstream after the tournament he won in 1979 on Lake Powell.
Mentor: Dee Thomas
Strengths:
Flipping; offshore deep structure.
Nuggets:
Klein first began fishing western pro tournaments at the age of 15, and when he first tried it fulltime in 1973 he promptly went broke … he'd quit his job as a marina manager and then went back to it until 1979 when he gave tournament fishing a second go … He nearly went broke the second time, too, and in fact, was down to his last $20-not even enough to completely fill up his bass boat with gas-when he won the 1979 BASS Arizona Invitational.
Before that win, he'd drifted throughout the South fishing small tournaments, sleeping in his van and eating one meal a day … he was saved with the 10th place finish at the Florida Invitational, which gave him enough cash to drive to Page, Arizona, where he won the Arizona tournament.
Before he left California for the fateful journey to Florida and then back west to Arizona, Klein decided to leverage his strengths: "When I left California, I knew that in order to succeed, I had to keep a flipping stick in my hand. I never prefished anything. All I carried with me were five flipping sticks."
Klein got off to a somewhat cloudy start with the media. In his first BMC he landed on stage with the five leaders at the day one press conference (he was day one leader). When asked who he thought would win he replied "Me!" "At that point I got more negative ink because I wasn't politically correct. I learned a lesson. I'd never worked with the media before then."
Klein drifted to Texas in the early 1980s and his traveling partners included Rick Clunn and Randy Fite … he stayed at Clunn's house and helped with his guide business on Lake Conroe
When he switched to Ranger Boats in the early 1980s he traveled with Basil Bacon. He spent most of his time in the east and rarely went back to California, fishing literally every tournament he could in addition to BASS (20-30 each year)
Met eventual wife Jana at what at the time was called the AFTMA Show…
After the wedding, Gary and Jana moved to Montgomery, Texas, near the Clunns, before they eventually moved closer to Jana's parents …
When close friend Clunn began following New Age mental strategies and other intellectual mind practices, Klein and Clunn were both scrutinized by their peers …
Influential People:
Dee Thomas: "I met Dee when I was 15 and he took me under his wing." Ironically, Klein also quoted in a 1979 issue of Bassmaster: "I'm going to get you," meaning that he'd eventually dominate the tournament scene dominated by Thomas and other West Coast pros.
Mike Folkstead: "He taught me how to read electronics."
Rick Clunn: "For teaching me how to be a thinker."
Complete BASS statistics
BMCs fished: 22
FLW Championships fished: 6
BASS Titles: 8
BASS Times in money: 174
BASS Total Entries: 256
BASS Total Weight: 6,829-7
BASS Career Winnings: $1,262,844.00
Former Job: Manager of Bidwell Canyon Marina on Lake Oroville
Turned Pro: 1979
Career Earnings: Over $1.77 Million
Titles/Honors:
Notables:
Timeline:
1974: Fishes first tournament as a non-boater, placing 37th out of 180 entrants. His prize: 24 spinnerbaits
1979: Fishes first BASS event, the Florida Invitational in February (10th place)
1979: Wins first BASS event, the Arizona Invitational in March
1979: Fishes first BMC and finishes 4th
1981: Fishes Texas Invitational in November and then returns to California to start "Tournament Lures, Inc."
1983: Returns to 1983-84 trail and qualifies for BMC
1985: Wins second BASS title
1988: Wins third BASS title
1989: Wins fourth BASS title
1989: Wins AOY
1990: Wins fifth BASS title
1993: Wins sixth BASS title
1993: Wins AOY
1996: Wins seventh BASS title
2003: Wins eighth BASS title
Defining Moment:
A "defining moments" article in the 1990 Bassmaster Classic Report quotes Klein as follows:
" … ask Klein to select the most pivotal tournament turning point of his career, and his mind returns to December 1985 and Georgia's Lake Lanier, where he beat out local favorite Mickey Bruce by 2 ounces.
'The neatest stringer of my career was three bass that weighed only 5-2. That's what I caught on the final day of the tournament … On the last night of the tournament I had a dream that I had it won. It was just like everything was going to fall into place, and I was going to catch enough fish the next day to win … I went from 1979 to 1985 without winning, and the results of that little stringer gave me a tremendous confidence boost.'"
Obviously, another "defining moment" has yet to be defined: A BMC win … although he came close during the infamous "shots fired" BMC.
Claim To Fame:
The "California Kid" emerged as young hot shot early on in what at the time was a sport dominated by anglers in their 30s and beyond … most significantly, Klein used his West Coast flipping prowess to establish himself as a pro when the technique first emerged into the mainstream after the tournament he won in 1979 on Lake Powell.
Mentor: Dee Thomas
Strengths:
Flipping; offshore deep structure.
Nuggets:
Influential People:
Dee Thomas: "I met Dee when I was 15 and he took me under his wing." Ironically, Klein also quoted in a 1979 issue of Bassmaster: "I'm going to get you," meaning that he'd eventually dominate the tournament scene dominated by Thomas and other West Coast pros.
Mike Folkstead: "He taught me how to read electronics."
Rick Clunn: "For teaching me how to be a thinker."
Complete BASS statistics
