Hang around the fishing world long enough and you’re going to run into some world-class talkers. Heaven help you if they’re your partner on the stressful day of a big tournament. The best you can do is turn away, put up your hood and try to focus as they babble about everything from their cats to video games to fried chicken gizzards. I’ve had more than my share of them and it’s a struggle every time.

Of course, there are also plenty of them who make into the pro ranks – even the highest echelons of the game. There are several pros and industry folks who make me shudder when I see their name on the caller ID.

You. Simply. Cannot. Get. Them. Off. The. Phone.

Jason Christie is not among them. It’s not that he’s not willing to talk or reasonably articulate, but rather that the reigning Classic champ does not waste a lot of words. There are no catch phrases or extra emphasis, just the facts, ma’am. Maybe that’s a big part of why he’s had such a great career, because if you look at it, at least in the two decades I’ve written about the sport, none of the Olympian talkers have claimed the top prize. I’m not going to name names, in order to protect the otherwise harmless, but bear with me and you’ll see the trend.

Before Christie, there was Hank Cherry – twice – and he’s no one’s idea of a chatterbox. Clunn, four times, and each time his words were chosen judiciously. Same with VanDam, who provides pithy and colorful interviews, but doesn’t extend them beyond what’s strictly necessary. You could say something similar for Yelas and Nixon, and of course, when it comes to silence Cliff Pace is almost at a Marshawn-Lynch-at-the-Super-Bowl level.

We’ve had a few more talkative anglers among the recent winners: Ike, Randy Howell, Skeet and Alton Jones come to mind, but none of them is going to talk your ear off or burn up all of your phone minutes (are phone minutes still a thing?).

My take on this? If you want to win a Classic, listen more and talk less. Just be sure to make the press conference long and meaningful enough to help me get my story.