How They Started – Ott DeFoe Classic XLV (2015)

The Bass Fishing Archives took advantage of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic Media Day to sit down with some of the qualifiers and discuss how they got their start in fishing and how that drove them to compete. In this video, Ott talks about going to Lake Okeechobee on a vacation and his family hiring a guide. That experience changed put the bug in his head that he wanted to be a professional angler.

After that experience, they went home and fished their first tournament, Ott was 9 years old at the time. From their they joined a club and fished smaller local venues. When he turned 18 he started fishing the EverStarts and the rest is history.

Classic XLV was DeFoe’s fourth Classic and he’d qualify for every classic after that, eventually winning the event in 2019, the last year he fished the Elite Tour.

Also in this interview, Ott also discusses his venture into making handmade crankbaits. It’s an interesting story.