By: Jim Hebert
“Dirk Anderson is 2019 Angler of the Year”
Dirk and his partner, Brandt Fairchild joined the EASL Bass Club together for the first time last year. They wasted no time in jumping right into the lead for AOY as they commenced to showing the rest of us how it is done by winning or receiving checks in the first 6 Tournaments of 2019. I have been a member of the Bass Club for many years and have never seen a winning streak like that one.
Dirk’s Dad is J. W. Anderson from Gonzales and he
has lived here all of his life. He is
employed by Nova Chemicals in Ascension Parish.
Dirk has been a member of the EASL since he was old enough to be one. He has
participated in the Kid’s fishing Rodeo and other activities of the EASL. When he is not fishing, he also enjoys Deer
hunting and cooking and is a past winner of the EASL’s Big Buck contest. He is
currently a member of a hunting Club in the Tunica Hills area of Louisiana and
still hunts Deer and squirrels when in season.
Dirk has a long history of being an accomplished fisherman. He has fished
competitively for many years. He grew up fishing the old Thomas Marine and
Ascension Marine circuits when they attracted large groups of local anglers. He
and his partner at the time, Bryan Sholar once won the “Angler of the year” in
the Ascension Marine circuit.
Dirk also has spent many years fishing the Grand Isle area for various salt
water species as well. When he and his
Brother-in Law purchased a camp together near Belle River he and his wife Kelly
and Daughter Abby started spending a lot of time fun fishing from his 20’ Skiff
for Catfish, Sacalait and Bass in the waters around their camp.
So how did Dirk and Brandt get together as fishing partners? Well, they have
become friends as Brandt is dating Dirk’s daughter, Abby. So one day Brandt told Dirk he would like to
fish Tournaments and that is when they decided to join the EASL Bass Club
together.
Dirk said that they enjoy each other’s company and that Brandt is a very good
fisherman and that they have made many memories during the year. The most
memorable moment was when Dirk took a “Mullet” hit squarely to the forehead
while running in the pre-dawn take-off.
Brandt had to supply first aid while trying not to laugh at what could
have been a serious event and they fished the rest of the day without incident.
Together they won the first tournament and Brandt
caught the Big Bass at 5.58 lbs. That fish busted our Jackpot to get them the
maximum payout. Then they went on to place in all of the next 5 Tournaments. All
in all, they had two 1st places, three 2nd places and one 3rd place finish.
They both led in AOY points for the entire year. Usually, the AOY is not a
certainty until the last tournament is fished but their long lead going into
the Classic Tournament almost guaranteed that one of them would win the
AOY.
Dirk and Brandt fished together during the Classic and kept their fish separate. As it turned out, Dirk caught two Bass that weighed 4+lbs. and Brandt scratched so that was the difference in the Angler of the Year points.
Congratulations to you Dirk Anderson for winning the “Angler of the Year” for 2019. It takes a lot of effort, a good partner and some luck along the way for it to happen, and it is an accomplishment to take pride in knowing that your efforts paid off.
The EASL Bass Club will meet on January 22nd at the Fire Station to plan the first Tournament of the year that will be held January 25th. We welcome all new members and if you want more information about the Bass Club you can visit www.easlonline.org. I hope to see you all there.
