9/1/2005
FishDelta.com
Welcomes Katrina DeHaven
Baseball
may have there big cat, but we at fishdelta.com now have our Kat
of Bass fishing Katrina DeHaven. This upcoming professional angler
said in a recent interview "I had never fished a team tournament,"
DeHaven said. "I had never done a local or regional tournament,
not a club tournament or anything. My feeling was if I want to
be a big boy, I'm going to play with the big boys." Let me
tell you this “ 32-year old, 5-foot-2 whirlwind of energy
of African-American, Dutch, Chinese, Filipino and Spanish descent,
grew up fishing with her father and continued it as a hobby while
pursuing a degree in intercultural communications and international
business at ASU.
DeHaven may have began her professional career pulling in clients
to luxurious hotels and resorts. It won’t be long and this
girl will be making her living swinging toads into her boat.
The 32-year-old Arizona resident decided to switch careers late
last year, going from the world of marketing and business to baits
and proper test lines of tournament bass fishing. She earned her
first check at an event on Lake Havasu last year.
DeHaven has been learning from some of the biggest names in the
game. Her pro fishing mentors include some of the top prize money
winners from Arizona, including Kelly Jordon, Mark Tyler, John
Murray and Roy Hawk. "There are a lot of rock star fishermen
who actually live here in Arizona," said DeHaven, who grew
up in Liberty, N.Y., a small town of about 7,000 in the Catskill
Mountains.
"Not only do they teach me skills, but they also teach me
on how to deal with life and sponsors."
Following college, DeHaven led a lucrative lifestyle working for
various resorts, including the Sheraton San Marcos Golf Resort
in Chandler, and was the director of sales and marketing for Jilly's
American Grill in Scottsdale.
She eventually opened her own business ¬ Consider It Done
by Kat ¬ creating marketing material for companies. Like so
many who get the bug in this sport she found there was something
missing missing.
"I was burned out on my job. I was traveling, and I loved
what I did, but I needed to do something else for me," DeHaven
said. "I needed this outlet and focus."
"I
have had numerous surgeries, and I needed an outlet," she
said. "It's just something I always wanted to do, and it
was something I was good at. Fishing brought back memories of
my father. He was my best friend, and he died 10 years ago. This
is something I need to get back into."
And DeHaven jumped head-first into the bass fishing world.
DeHaven never hesitated and put in countless hours learning the
intricacies of the sport, such as reading maps, techniques of
angling and the pre-fishing set-up of the tackle and boat.
DeHaven, like so many that chase there dreams in the upper level
of bass fishing, said for two months she literally lived out of
her Land Rover, which now sports license plates that read "BassKat."
She said she spent 280-plus days on the water in 2004 and put
in more than 44,000 miles on the road.
Late in the year, representatives of the Everstart Series, which
is part of FLW Outdoors --one of only two professional bass fishing
circuits -- approached DeHaven about competing at a tournament
in Arizona. She did so well in the tournament she continued to
compete in her division and finished 89th out of 237 men.
Her success led to an invitation to compete with a group of American
fisherman in the EuroCup in Spain. The 10-member American team
won the event in September of 2004 and DeHaven was the only woman
competitor.
DeHaven's hectic schedule is again sending her across the country
and back this year. "I want to be known for being the first
woman to win the BassMaster Classic," said DeHaven of the
premier bass fishing tournament of the year featuring a top prize
of $200,000 to the winner.
"But
also I want to be an angler who is respected. Someone who was
a pioneer who got our industry to where we need to be." Like
so many of the Nations top athletes, DeHaven may be focused on
her Career but is committed to doing it for Christ first. As her
success grows so will ability to pursue her other dream of building
an Orphanage in the Philippines. Her Service to others doesn’t
stop there she is also involved for fishforacurediabetes.org
.
Dan
Mathisen
FishDelta.com
- All Species, All Delta
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Ultimate Resource For California Delta Fishing
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