I got to talk to Michael Delvisco today!!

I will make this LONG story short. I got a call from Mike today, we got hooked up through the foundation at Kosair Children's Hospital in an odd way that I will not go into. He is coming into town at the end of July and going to be hosting a charity tourney I will put out info on as soon as I am "allowed". My point though about him was how darn nice this guy was on the phone!!! He called me up at work and we were chatting about fishing for about a 1/2 hour or so, and he was telling me about his various endeavours and sponsors. He even offered some advice on a couple "physical" issues I have been having with fishing due to some injuries. He asked me what kinda shoes I wore on the boat, and to be honest I was hesitant to come clean that it is crocks, but I told him and I will be danged if the guy is not sponsored by them! He even said he would bring me a pair of his favorites when he comes into town. We continued talking about equipment and I mentioned all mine was from guys on this site, but I was having some problems with my shoulder later in the tourney days. He offered a few suggestions and asked if I would like to try some of the poles he is designing for the company that sponsors him!! I obviously said yes, but to boot he said he would throw in some of his newly designed reels too. What a day man!!
I guess the part of all this the suprised me the most is that as high up as I put the "Pro's" in my eyes, they really are no different then many of the people on this site. They are willing to help people out, chat about fishing, and are just plain nice guys too. I don't know why this suprised me so much, but I guess I kind of expected some "attitude" or "ego" from them and I got no such impression from him at all. I just thought I would share the conversation, and not to brag about meeting him or the free stuff, but moreover the misconception I had in viewing pro fishmen like I would all other professional athlete's, and I was dead wrong on that. Guess you all know who I will be rooting for next time I see him in a tourney though :) BTW, the event will be in late summer and will feature a few female and male pro's out on the water, but more importantly the monies made will go to help the Kosair Children's Hospital. So if you hear about it before I post it, please come out and spend a fun day supporting a good cause with us!!

Rob

PS. I was pretty excited to get to talk to him if you couldn't tell :D

Hey,
Congratulations. I will watch for info. But, not to sound bad, who is Michael Delvisco? I never heard of him. Which circuit is he a "pro"?

He was an instructor at the Bass Fishing Academy for 7 years, made a TON of bass fishing instructional videos, and really doesn't do many tourney's. He is more on the other side of the fishing profession. You can look him up on BASS and you will see how few he has actually "competed" in since 1985, theres like 35 total in that timeframe. Suprised me too that you could make a living WITHOUT fishing tourney's as a "pro", but that's great if you can I guess.

Rob

[QUOTE=MarkW;330105]Hey,
Congratulations. I will watch for info. But, not to sound bad, who is Michael Delvisco? I never heard of him. Which circuit is he a "pro"?[/QUOTE]

He fishes the ABA pro circuit. I think I have seen him at a BASS open or two. But never anything big like BASS Elite or FLW Tour.

Rob,
You are right about Mike, but he's trying to make living at what he loves. Mike is one of those rare entreprenurial guys who is very articulate. Perfect for videos and BassU. Plus, it's pretty tough to justify fishing all the tournaments with the costs vs. payouts ratio unless you make a lot of cuts or just have money to burn.

Sponsors love this guy because he can break down very complicated concepts and articulate them to/from a fisherman's perspective. He can help us understand the how/when/why to use a brand or product. As with most good fishermen, he is very cerebral.
my 2¢

Mike is a class act...next time you talk to him tell him I said hello. I have worked with him a number of times doing seminars and he always does a stand up job.