No More Mr. Nice Guy?

Larry Nixon is back at BASS, a development whose evolution was perhaps the worst-kept secret in the history of professional fishing. That’s saying something, because for a sport that supposedly thrives on closely-held information, most suck at holding it close to the vest. I spoke to Nixon just a few hours before it was made official, and then I wrote a thousand words about his return for the Bassmaster website, yet as with most things in life I still have more questions than answers. Here are a few of them, in no particular order.

When Will Nixon Make His First Classic Since 2006?

Notice that I said “when.” He’s going to make one or more at some point, whether it’s this year or the next, or the one after that – or all of them. Nixon is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever had the opportunity to interview. He always answers the phone (or texts back if he’s a deer stand) and makes me feel like I’m doing him a favor every time we talk. But underneath that genuinely nice exterior is someone who’s used to winning, and doesn’t like losing. More than any other angler of his generation, he’s remained consistently competitive. Clunn has won a couple of times in recent memory, but Nixon’s results are less up and down.

Will He Set a Soft Plastics Record?

Nixon credits the Senko and the shakey head – and later the dropshot – with saving his body and his career. He was known as a Texas Rigger back in the Megabucks Days when he produced one of the most famous jumping bass sequences of all time. Not only is he good at seining an area with soft plastics, dating back to his days of guiding on Toledo Bend, but he can win that way. It’s not that he can’t throw moving baits. He told me that most of his fish in the recent Rayburn Open came on a Chatterbait. Nevertheless, to win or even place at this level you have to play your own game. For him, that’s the soft plastics.

What Role Will Technology Play in His Success or Lack Thereof?

While some other veterans have failed to adopt, or been critical of, forward facing sonar, Nixon has ActiveTarget on his boat and is comfortable with it. At the same time, it’s a well-known fact that Nixon and David Fritts have 99.44% of the world’s remaining Lowrance 1240a flashers in their respective basements. My sense, reading between the lines, is that he’s both comfortable and uncomfortable with the more modern stuff. He knows how to use it, and will do so as needed, but would prefer to be doing something else. Again, he’s enough of a winner to know that to cash big checks at this level you have to be playing on your own ball field.

Will the Young’Uns Show Him Due Respect?

There was a time when the vets could pretty easily punk the newcomers, but the tide has turned, particularly on the Elites, where it has become a young man’s game and a young man’s world. It’s not that they’re unethical or abjectly disrespectful, but rather that they’re out for blood. Sure, Nixon was the first man to a million bucks in tournament winnings – back when a million was real money – but that’s water under the bridge. To put it in perspective, second-year pro Alex Redwine was three years old when Nixon was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame. As Eddie Murphy opined on cassette tape back when Nixon was still in his 40s, our world is one where the primary question is “What have you done for me lately?”

One of the greatest moments in semi-recent tournament history was when Rick Clunn won at the St. Johns back in ’16 (he won there again in ’19). Not only did much of the field hang around after they’d been eliminated, but Skeet Reese even carried Clunn’s bag to the stage. Nixon, like Clunn, deserves that sort of deference and respect.

Will His Body Let Him Down?

That’s the big question, and the one I hate asking, but he’s 72. He’s had aches and pains and surgeries before. Even though he said he’s in the best shape of his life and knows his limitations, one bad wave, one pulled muscle, and the year could be done. He’s a tough old coot, but he won’t heal as fast as a twenty-something.

How Long Will He Stay Around?

There’s still lots of treade on the tires and lots of want-to. He’s going to be fishing anyway, so as long as he’s not embarrassing himself, I have a feeling he’d just as soon take some of these young guys’ money.