Matt Pangrac vividly recalls legendary pro Hank Parker presenting him with the oversized check for $5,000 inside the packed arena. Later that afternoon Pangrac signed autographs, wore a tuxedo for the first time and was given the VIP treatment at a black tie dinner.
That was in 1998 when Pangrac, at the time 13 years old, won the national championship in his age division of Bassmaster CastingKids.
The casting competition was created to get kids involved in fishing. Thousands of youth between the ages of 7 and 14 participated in contests held by clubs affiliated with the B.A.S.S. Nation.
Under a bright spotlight, the championship contestants cast for $5,000 college scholarships on the stage shared by pros at the Bassmaster Classic. Some 25,000 fans witnessed Pangrac’s win in Greensboro, N.C. He won the title after practicing casting skills each day for the past year.
There was a photo shoot with Classic champion Denny Brauer, media interviews and an appearance at the Outdoor Expo. At the awards banquet, Pangrac and his parents sat at the head table with Brauer and B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott.
“Where I am today is a direct result of a B.A.S.S. youth program,” said Pangrac, now 28. “Obviously, winning CastingKids made an impact that inspired me to want a career in the sport.”
Pangrac is already successful on both sides of his chosen career. He’s a storyteller and now a story headliner as a B.A.S.S. Nation tournament angler. As the Oklahoma state champion boater, he qualified for the upcoming Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan Outdoors. The tournament is Nov. 17-19 on Lake Conroe, Texas.
On the opposite but similar side of bass fishing is his job. Pangrac owns 71 Media, and his clients include The Bass Zone and The College Bass Zone, two websites focusing on professional and collegiate tournament news. He produces videos, writes news features and takes photos at Bassmaster Elite Series events. Co-hosting Bass Zone Live, a live streaming video podcast and 20FT DEEP, a documentary series about tournaments, are among his other job duties.
“I really like where I am right now,” said Pangrac, a member of the North Oklahoma City Bassmasters. “It’s really the best of both worlds.”
“I like the financial security of my media job while competing at the B.A.S.S. Nation level for a chance of qualifying for the Classic,” he added.
For the past eight seasons, Pangrac has covered the Elite Series. Other tours and collegiate events take up more time, leaving him little of that for fishing. The qualifying format of the Oklahoma B.A.S.S. Nation provides a small window of opportunity to qualify for the Classic. He made the most of it after posting a strong fourth-place finish on Lake Guntersville at the Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Central Regional presented by Magellan Outdoors.
Winning CastingKids laid the foundation for Pangrac’s fondness for the B.A.S.S. Nation program. After winning the title, he was too young to join the Assumption Bass Club near his hometown of Decatur, Ill. Instead the club invited him to fish as a co-angler, even providing him with transportation to the tournaments.
As a teenager, life was filled with tournaments, high school, then college and all of it while playing club ice hockey, the sport that led him to the University of Oklahoma, where he would play for the Sooners hockey team.
A Facebook message from eventual fellow communications studies student Chip Porché led to the formation of the Sooner Bass Anglers in 2006. The next year, the club finished third in the emerging College Bass National Championship. Porché and Pangrac were the founding members.
Both students graduated with bachelor degrees. Pangrac received his in 2008. While gaining internship credit hours working for The Bass Zone, which is based in the college town of Norman, Okla., Pangrac was offered a full-time job that eventually led to the formation of his media company.
After nearly a decade of covering the tour, Pangrac has learned that content is king in his world.
“There is no more secret or magic lure like you had prior to social media and the instant technology available for publishing content,” he observed.
“As soon as something happens, everyone knows about it through channels like Bassmaster Live, the blog and the speed we can publish content on the web anywhere, anytime,” he continued.
Pangrac relishes his dual roles as a student of the sport and reporter of the news. He also wants to become a story maker and qualify for the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
“I would love to be the guy who makes his living in the media and qualify for a Classic,” he said.
He gets that chance Nov. 17-19 on the same fishery that will four months later host the Classic near Houston. One way or the other, Pangrac will be there with either his camera gear or fishing tackle.
