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By: Derek "Duke" Jenkel

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to Shelbyville , IL angler John Wright, for those of you who may not be familiar with Illinois fisherman, John has been a competitor in bass tournaments around the state since 1977.  It was that year at the age of 25 he competed in his first event. 

It would be fair to compare that tournament to the first drop of rain prior to a torrential downpour.  Since that time John has competed in hundreds tournaments across the state, and across the nation.  His tournament successes read like a who’s who of competitive fishing.  In 1980 John competed in one of the first tournament divisions put on by a company called Operation Bass, you may now know them as FLW Outdoors.  In the very first year, and the year to follow John qualified for the Operation Bass Classic, to be later renamed as the All-American.  While discussing John’s tournament successes, it’s hard not to be in awe, he has 12 Redman / BFL regular season victories and in 1998 he won the Everstart tournament on Kentucky Lake .  He has also qualified for 28 Redman / BFL Regionals, 5 All-Americans, the Bassmaster Top 100 tour, he won the 1999 BFL Illini Division angler of the year and has also fished the FLW Tour. During this onslaught of tournament success, John has compiled 25 top ten finishes in FLW outdoors tournaments, generating $76,877 dollars in winnings, and that’s just with FLW alone.  In 2005 he and his buddy tournament partner also won the Illini Team Trail championship, which awards the winners with a new rig.

The list of accomplishments is extensive, for sure. So when I asked John how he breaks down water prior to a tournament, here’s what he said “When I get to a lake or river, I rarely arrive with many pre-conceived notions”.  “I like to look at the conditions of the lake, and apply that to seasonal patterns and personal experience.”  “If the situations dictate a shallow bite, I’ll start out covering the water with a spinner bait and a tube, if the bite looks to be deep, I start with a big crankbait and a ¾ oz spinnerbait. That’s not to say after fishing lake 6 times in 4 years, I may not have some basic ideas, I try not to put myself in a position where I rely on a single bait or technique”.  Based on the results of his fishing career listed above, it’s apparent that versatility is one of his strong suits. 

After describing what how he approaches tournament water, John went on to describe what he felt were his strengths and weaknesses.  “I definitely like to fish off-shore, I would have to say one of my strengths is off-shore structure fishing”.  “And if I had to define a weakness, it would be when fish are in a transition period after the spawn, when they use that 3-8 foot range, if there isn’t a lot of cover, you know grass or wood, I sometimes have trouble catching them during this period”.  

Like all good fisherman, every one has a go to bait, when given the opportunity, John mentioned that when the off-shore fishing is on, he throws a home-made jig, made by fellow BFL competitor Dale Greene of Mt. Vernon, IL. 

So how did an angler like John get started, at the age of five years old, his mother took him fishing, which she continued to do as he grew older, including one occasion where he and his mother took a trip to the Gulf of Mexico .  All of these trips and their experience came together in 1977 when John Wright started his tournament career, a career that’s far from over, but easily recognized as full of accomplishments.  If you happen to fish the Illini Division of the BFL or the Illini Team Trail, take time to say hi to John, you’ll not be disappointed. In case you can’t find him, look for a tall guy in the weigh-in line with a big sack of fish, chances are it’ll be him.