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Mark Tyler Wins Arkansas River Bass Open

More than 15 years ago, Mark Tyler caught the largest fish ever weighed in at a Bassmaster event en route during a Western Invitational at the California Delta. The sport is much different than it was back then and Tyler's life has changed a great deal, as well. The California native/Oklahoma resident notched his second career B.A.S.S. victory last week when he topped the field at the Arkansas River Central Open out of Muskogee, Okla. He was considered one of the field's "local aces," just as he was at the Cal Delta in the final year of the previous century - even though those venues are separated by more than 1,700 miles. One other big difference: That monster fish he caught in '99, which weighed 14-09, was a few ounces heavier than his average bag at the Arkansas. The 41-year-old Tyler, a one-time "city kid" who grew up around California's East Bay, is now an Oklahoma cattle rancher. He hasn't fished professionally since bowing out of the Elite Series after the 2010 campaign and the Open was his first tournament of any sort this year. He made it abundantly clear that this victory will not be the taking-off point for another tour-level stint. He's perfectly content with the way things are. "Bass fishing got me here - I never would've come to Oklahoma if I hadn't been fishing for a living," he said. "Once I found myself living here and my fishing career had ended, at least as a full-time thing, I was fortunate that some of my neighbor's property was up for sale and I was able to come up with the resources to make a run at (ranching) and I've really dedicated myself completely to that over the past year. "I've enjoyed not traveling the country and beating myself to death and having a bunch of sponsorship obligations. All that was taking a heavier toll on my happiness than I'd realized. Life outside of professional bass fishing is pretty good - I know a lot of people want to fish for a living, but I'm a lot happier not doing it." He fished last week from a boat he'd borrowed from "a friend of a friend" and focused on areas that he'd pinpointed while practicing for the 2013 Open. He finished that derby in a 14-way tie or last place with zero weight after a barge prevented him from locking back through to the launch pool in time for check-in on day 1. There were no such logistical issues this year and although his bags decreased in size each day, he prevailed by 1-11 over runner-up Kenta Kimura after taking the lead on day 2. At least he now has his own bass boat once again (if he decides to keep it), as his prize package consisted of a new Skeeter/Yamaha rig and more than $6,100 in cash.

A great deal of practice on his adopted home water had never before paid off in the short term for Tyler. There was the lock disaster last year, and prior to that the flooding that caused the final event of his last Elite Series campaign to be shifted to Fort Gibson Lake just days before it was set to begin. A lot of the effort he'd put in on the Arkansas in previous years paid off last week, however. He had little choice other than to rely on those memories as his practice leading up to this event consisted of a mere 6 hours. "I went out on Monday (3 days prior to day 1) and I got there about 9 o'clock after checking for new calves and doing some other chores early in the morning," he said. "I spent a couple hours just getting familiar with the boat and making sure everything worked and that left 3 or 4 hours for fishing. I spent some of that making sure the navigation was the same and that there weren't any new sandbars that made the water depth 6 inches where it used to be 3 feet. "I tested a few areas and got a few bites on reaction baits and plastics. I had to leave by a little after 3 to do my afternoon rounds checking for the calves and on Tuesday and Wednesday I was just too busy to get back out."

Competition:

Tyler fished both the Webbers Falls Pool (where the launch took place) and the adjoining Kerr Pool. His 15 weigh-in fish were split almost evenly between them. He had a slow morning on day 1, going without a keeper for the first 2 hours in the rainy conditions. He though the setup was prime for reaction baits, but the fish apparently felt otherwise. He eventually switched to flipping and pitching plastics and caught a solid stringer that put him within a pound of early pace-setter Clayton Coppin. "Things definitely didn't start out as planned, but I just kept at it and eventually the bites started coming," he said. "The whole tournament was like that - it was pretty much a grind the whole time. I caught eight keepers the first day, seven the second day and six the last day. "I never knew when my next bite was going to come, how long it was going to take to get it or even if I was going to get it. I tried to stay focused on the process and stay confident that it was eventually going to work out." Plastics were the ticket again on day 2 when he took over the lead. The moving-bait action finally materialized on the final day. "You don't always know why things like that change, but you know they're going to change and you have to adapt. Maybe the fish were feeling a little pressured and they needed something moving faster to make them bite. "I started out with the crankbait in the morning and it just felt right, and I caught one pretty quick. When I went to the plastics I wasn't getting bit, but I had just enough confidence in the crankbait and the subtle clues were telling me I needed to stick with it. "It's (the fishes') environment and they know why they do what they do," he concluded. "It's our job to figure out whatever works - and to do it quickly."

Winning Pattern:

Tyler said he was on the move frequently. He fished mostly woody targets, but also worked weed points and anything else that provided any type of current break. He always had at least four rods rigged with plastics and switched between them often. "If I was confident a fish should be there, I'd attack each piece of cover from different angles," he said. "I wanted to exhaust every opportunity to give that fish something it wanted to bite." All of his fish came from water that was 4 feet deep or shallower, with most in the 1- to 3-foot range.

Winning Gear:

Tyler opted to withhold details of the equipment he used other than his rods (he still has a sponsorship deal with Denali). "That's not because I'm worried about people knowing what I was using, but because it does a disservice to all pro fishermen," he said. "If companies want their products mentioned, they have to pay. It should be given away for free." His plastic offerings included craw worms, traditional worms and Beaver-style baits. He went with dark colors (black or blue) in dirty water and greens and purples in clearer water. All were fished on 20-pound fluorocarbon line. "I tried to find what each individual fish wanted and I got bites on all of them."

Arkansas River Open Winning Pattern Bassfan 9/16/14 (John Johnson)

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