Back to School with Professor Frazier

by Pete Robbins

There sure weren't any professors like Wilson Frazier when I went to school.

Get this self-styled electronics guru started, and he's tough to slow down, but eventually, if you're patient enough, he'll tell you his credentials:

"I have a PhD in No Money and a BS from the University of Texas in BS," he says matter-of-factly. The first time he told a potential customer that line, the befuddled man in overalls ("looked like Larry the Cable Guy") thanked him for his time and walked away. Frazier and his five friends couldn't stop laughing for the better part of an hour.

But when it comes down to it, Frazier's expertise is in solving problems. He's a fishing industry nomad dating back 40 years, many companies and a criss-crossing trail throughout the nation's best bass waters.

"I've done everything there is to do in the fishing business and the only thing I know for sure is that I don't know anything," he deadpans.

Asked why he's been such a success and the one-liners keep flowing: "Probably my simplemindedness," he answers.

But simple ain't necessarily bad. The KISS formula ("Keep it Simple, Stupid" for those of you who spend too much time studying your electronics) is often the best policy. As Lowrance's electronics guru for the past 30 years, Frazier had to reinvent the wheel and adopt a childlike affect in order to dig deeper.

"Ten years ago I got tired of telling people about 3000 watts, 240 watts, all that. I started concerning myself not about pushing buttons, but about what those buttons are doing. It doesn't have anything to do with the owner's manual. I doubt anyone can pick that thing up and get past four or five pages without putting it down. You're in kindergarten and that's an algebra book."

So in order to get back to educational fundamentals, he adopted the best learning attribute shared by kindergarteners everywhere: Fearlessness.

"Kids aren't afraid they're going to screw it up. They just push the buttons and see what happens. They can't read, so they have to remember. Adults in the same situation are paralyzed. You have to overcome your fear that you're going to screw it up. You can always flush the commode and get a fresh bowl of water, go back to the factory settings."

Now the pros flock to him for his expertise. One look through his website reads like a who's who from the Bassmaster Elite and FLW Tours. Among his favorite students are Scott Suggs, winner of the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup, and fishing perfectionist Gary Klein.

"Now those guys can sight fish in 30 to 40 feet of water," Frazier said. "Suggs can tell you how big that fish is before he catches it."

But once you're committed to pressing buttons, you need to gradually come to understand what those buttons mean – gauges of surface clarity, sensitivity and the like – and avoid looking for data that it can't tell us.

"As long as I tell you what it appears to be doing, you'll believe it," he said. "Everyone calls that little thing a transducer but it really is an antenna, a transceiver that uses sound to measure distance. You want to believe it draws you a beautiful picture, but it's really just a ruler going up and down.

"Once you understand that, it's an incredibly simple machine. You have to sit there with an open mind. The hardest job I've got is to unlearn them."

And when he's not railing against the current state of solar understanding, does he pitch horseshoes, play golf or crochet sweaters? Hardly. Except for dalliances in inshore saltwater fishing ("I'm a snookaholic") and turkey hunting ("it'll affect your mind"), all he cares about is building one better mousetrap after another.

"It's never been my intent to be rich," he said. "I've never had two nickels to rub together, but solving problems has been a natural thing for me all of my life."

One obligation often leads to another opportunity to invent. At a Bassmaster Classic a few years back, he was in charge of servicing the sonar units on 80 boats, each of which had one on the bow and one on the console.

"I had to look at every one of them, so seeing what I was doing was kind of important," he said. As a result, he came up with a cleaner called Krystal Vision. After he partnered with a preacher-slash-chemist ("I do the R & D, he mixes the chemicals") it went to market and now he can't keep it in stock.

So rather than rest on those laurels, he kept mixing up potions. The year before last he introduced "Braid Aid," meant to seal in the color on braided line and make it cast extra-far. Then he added "Slick Sides" to maximize hard bait motion and "Cork Stuff" to restore rod handles.

"I'm 66 years old. All of my products have my name and picture on them. That's my integrity and says that they represent the best knowledge that I have. That's what I want to do, make your life easier and better."

His websites are www.itainttv.com or www.fraziersstuff.com. Unlike your marine electronics, there's no trick to reading them. They are what they say and do what they promise. You don't even need to read an owners manual or press any buttons.