Kevin VanDam brought plastic eels to the Bassmaster Bracket event in Buffalo that Jacob Powroznik could use for cobia fishing back home in the Chesapeake Bay, but first, “J Pow” decided to cast them at muskies while on the Niagara River.
“Right after the Bassmaster Elite tournament on the Upper Chesapeake Bay last summer, Jacob was kind enough to host Sherry, my sons and I at his house to fish for cobia on the southern portion of the Chesapeake, and he guided us to three really good fish using live eels for bait,” VanDam said. “The one my son Nicholas caught was over 50 pounds; it was a blast!
“So a few months ago, when I was working the annual store promotion my brother hosts at D&R Sports, I saw these eels that one of the tackle sales reps brought, and knowing how much Jacob loves to chase cobia, I had to get a couple for him.”
VanDam never dreamed when he hauled the super-long soft plastic gifts to Buffalo that Powroznik would tie one on during the B.A.S.S. bracket event, but Powroznik is already a shoe-in for the 2017 Bassmaster Classic, so he’s feeling no pressure on the Niagara, and besides, he’s never caught a muskie.
“They say there’s some big ol’ musky swimming here, so why not take a shot at one?” said Powroznik as he spooled 65-pound braided line to a Quantum reel and flippin’ stick.
“I swear if Jacob could make a living catching cobia, he would; he loves it that much,” VanDam said. “It was fun watching him hunt for them last summer.”
“That’s exactly why I love it,” Powroznik said. “Cobia fishing combines sight fishing and hunting. You see them, you study their behavior and then you try to hook them and they fight like crazy. It’s the best of all the things I love in the outdoors.
“I still remember the first time I caught a cobia. We had been out flounder fishing and I spotted a cobia just under the surface next to a giant buoy. I made a cast to him and sure enough he bit. That fish changed my life. Before long I was out buying a boat with a tower on it so I could see them better.”
While Powroznik’s chances of catching a musky while in Buffalo are slim, his place in the 2017 Bassmaster Classic and his plans for later this week are certain: He’s going cobia fishing.
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Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.
After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.
His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.
- Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
- Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
- Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
- He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
- Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
- Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
- 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.
“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.