Like father, like son
Brent Chapman has won countless honors in his 20-year professional bass fishing career. But he doesn’t even hold big-bass honors in his own household.
His son, Mason, holds that distinction with a 12.52-pound bass he caught about five years ago.
“My dad was filming one of his Pro Vs. Joe shows on a lake in Alabama, and one of the guys who was helping us took me out fishing on the other end of the lake just to kill some time,” said Mason, who is now 18. “I made a couple casts with a Ned Rig and I hooked into something big.
"I couldn’t believe it when I saw how big it was.”
Dad couldn’t either.
“That guy who was helping Mason called me when we were filming and said, ‘Your son just caught a 12 ½-pound bass,’ ” Chapman said. “Well, I thought, ‘No way.’ But they brought it over and the second they opened the livewell, I knew it was true.
"I weighed it on one of my Major League Fishing scales and it was over 12 pounds.
"That’s a lot bigger than anything I’ve ever caught.”
For Mason, that catch just furthered his passion for bass fishing. From the time he was old enough to hold a fishing rod, he’s been hitting the water with dad.
The Chapman family lived for years on Lake Quivira, a Kansas City suburb, and Mason was able to learn to fish there, just as his dad did.
He is fishing tournaments already and has his share of trophies to attest to his ability. Not only have he and his longtime fishing partner, Ryder Mains, won youth buddy events, Mason also has done well enough on the co-angler side of the Major League Fishing Toyota Series that he has qualified for the championship tournament two years in a row.
Next year, it’s on to Drury University, where he was recruited to be part of the Missouri school’s nationally known fishing team. And after that? Well, he hopes to embark on a professional fishing career just like his dad.
“He has taught me so much,” Mason said. “I’ve been around fishing my entire life, and I just can’t get enough if it.
"I’ll go into it with my eyes wide open. I’ve seen what the business side is like, and all of the challenges involved.
"But it’s something I really want do.”
Dad might be a bit biased, but he thinks Mason can succeed.
“He still has a lot to learn,” Chapman said. “But he’s already a good fisherman, and he’s a fast learner.
"He will learn about a tactic or lure on YouTube, then go out and apply it. It’s gotten to the point where he teaches me things now.”