When a monstrous winter storm assaulted the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast a week ago, Mark Burgess figured he might get a call from his brother. 
He did, and 40 hours later after manning a snow plow on the streets of Holbrook in the “south shore” area of Boston, he was ready for a break.
 
“It’s almost like being abducted by aliens,” Burgess said. “You almost give up part of your soul.”
 
Burgess is getting set to begin his sophomore season on the Bassmaster Elite Series. Before beginning his quest at a professional fishing career nine years ago, he owned a successful property management company in Massachusetts.
 
His older brother, Scott, owns ATL Construction and Toll Road Truck Equipment and has contracts with numerous companies for snow plowing in winter. He also works with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and several cities providing the critical service to keep roads open. Burgess’ younger brother, Eric, “is a phenomenal mechanic” and works with the companies, too.
 
When the storm swept over Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia before moving north, forecasts proved correct. Two feet of snow blanketed the area quickly, shutting down cities and grinding some areas to a halt. That’s when Burgess’ brother called.
 
“He said he had some guys who didn’t come through and asked if I could run a loader since it was a big storm,” Burgess said. “My life as a pro angler revolves around a lot of family time and you’re always working on sponsor negotiations, new sponsors, tackle and preparation, show schedules, things like that.
 
“But I had the opportunity to help him out and make some good money. Turned out to be a really big storm and you can’t let it get ahead of you. If you do, you’re in trouble and you can’t do anything with it. There’s a huge sense of responsibility there … that sense of not letting people down. It’s a huge responsibility, especially for the fire, police and ambulance personnel.”
 
Burgess climbed into a massive articulating loader, which has a jointed middle section and 12-foot plow on the front. It’s more maneuverable than a truck, he said, and easily removes snow from streets. For 24 straight hours he navigated the streets of Holbrook, keeping the middle open for emergency personnel as the blizzard continued to dump snow on the area.
 
In some harder periods snow fell at rates of 3- to 4-inches per hour. In the 24 hours he was behind the wheel, about 2 feet of snow covered the region.
 
“You can’t get someone to relieve you because everyone’s in the same boat,” he said, figuratively speaking. “Everyone’s where they need to be working, and visibility is down to almost nothing. I was working a section of streets and roads that I knew, which was good because someone who hasn’t been there won’t know where to go in the middle of the night at the height of the storm.
 
“That’s probably one of the longest stretches I’ve ever tried to pull off. I did it, but it was wearing on me by the end. It felt like sand was in my eyes. I wasn’t delirious or anything, but my hips were sore and my left hand was sore from operating the shifter. At the end I was using my right hand with my left to move the shifter back and forth. My right hand was running the controls for the plow and it was getting sore, too.”
 
Burgess had a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bottles of water, but other than that there were no breaks. When the storm finally broke, his task was to then finish with the cleanup effort by removing the drifts he’d created.
 
“My priority during the storm is to keep the roads open and accessible,” he said. “When storm slacks you have to push it all the way back to the curbs because you don’t know when the next storm might hit. That was Sunday, and everyone just about had all their driveways and sidewalks cleaned off by then. Then here I came pushing a 4-foot drift into their yards … I’m sure some of them wanted to hurt me.”
 
Sophomore preparations
 
Burgess is getting set for his second season on the Elite Series circuit, with his new Skeeter i20 boat completed and ready to be outfitted with the new Yamaha SHO 4-stroke outboard.
 
He picked up a new sponsor, Storage Max, which is a northeast region climate-controlled self storage facility company. He’s also working to finalize a couple of other deals along with his boat wrap.
 
“It’s something you’re always working on,” he said. “I’m still putting together a wrap deal … a couple of companies want to do it, and I’m still looking for a big non-endemic. I have a couple of things that are looking good. My boat is built and Skeeter’s going to use it at a couple of boat shows before I get it.”
 
Burgess leaves March 1 to head cross-country for the Elite Series opener at the California Delta. For the two months before that, he’ll be working boat and sports shows in the northeast and making final preparations for the season.
 
“My wife and I have worked together on a big proposal and really have been hitting it hard,” he said. “You get told ‘no’ politely in so many ways, but I’m optimistic and encouraged. Most of my other sponsors are squared away. I think things are going to come together pretty well.”