Two professionals from Arkansas are part of a bid to make bass fishing a medal event at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Fred Roumbanis of Dover and Mark Rose of West Memphis are in a group of nine anglers that will fish Oct. 2-8 in a gold medal exhibition event in South Africa against anglers from 17 nations, including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Spain.
Charlie Evans, the longtime tournament director and emcee of the Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Tour and a former FLW vice president, organized the team that includes himself, Roumbanis, Rose, David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Ala., David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., James Watson of Aurora, Mo., and Lionel Botha.
It's a formidable group. Martin won the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Ouachita and was the 2015 FLW Angler of the Year. Dudley won the 2003 Forrest Wood Cup and Angler of the year in 2012. Fritts is one of only a few anglers to win the Bassmaster Classic and the Forrest Wood Cup. Rose has won eight tournaments.
Botha, who recently moved to the U.S. from South Africa, was captain of the South Africa team for four years.
Roumbanis, whose motto could be "Go East, young man," is a native Californian who moved to Oklahoma, and then recently to Arkansas. He said that Evans, who has long been working to secure an Olympic stage for fishing, extended the invitation.
"It has always been kind of a dream of fishing being an Olympic sport," Roumbanis said.
The timing would certainly be good. Japan is fanatical about bass fishing, and its bass fishing industry is arguably the most innovative.
There is a lot of airtime to fill during the Olympics, and much of it is just that, filler. Outside of the premier events, it's an uncompelling product.
People I've talked to said the International Olympic Committee wants to know if bass fishing will attract a new or different viewer demographic and if fishing can hold viewers.
To that end, Scott Martin's production crew will video and package the South Africa event.
For a time in the 1990s and early 2000s, South Africa and Zimbabwe were major players in bass fishing. Zimbabwe produced some top-notch competitors like Gerry Jooste, a five-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier.
"These guys from South Africa can fish," Roumbanis said. "I hope our team is aware of that. It won't be easy, especially on their home turf."
As with any place, the South Africans have a distinct style of fishing.
"They do a lot of finesse fishing," Roumbanis said. "It's like taking our Arkansas River-style fishing and adding finesse to it."
The championship will take place on the Vaal River, downstream, curiously, from one of the country's best fishing lakes.
"Above the dam is supposed to be loaded with giant largemouths," Roumbanis said.
It's also like fishing in wilderness.
"It's not full of boat docks. There's not launch ramps and stuff like that," Roumbanis said. "These places are out in the middle of nowhere."
South African anglers apparently like to drive their boats a little faster than Americans. The standard outboard motor on an American tournament rig is 250 horsepower. A South African rig is almost twice as powerful.
"In South Africa we fished in a full-size bass boat with a 400-horse Yamaha Verado on it," Roumbanis said. "I've never been in a boat that fast in my life. And they've got their own brands of boats. It was insane, and my guy picked me up in a Porsche Cayenne towing it. They've got some money over there."
There are no launch ramps in South African lakes and rivers, Roumbanis said. You just back down pea gravel banks, and you'd best keep your wits about you because there are things that will eat you.
"Where we launched there were crocodiles out and hippos on the other side," Roumbanis said. "It's surreal.
"Hippos are the scary ones," he continued. "They go underwater and sprint on the bottom. They pop back up and they're 50 yards closer. If they go underwater again, you have to get out of there."
Crocodiles lurk close to the bank waiting for an easy meal, like an angler sloshing around trying to winch his boat onto a trailer.
"A week or two before we were there, a guy got eaten by a crocodile where we launched our boat," Roumbanis said.
Sports on 08/31/2017