With an average snowfall of six feet annually, Maine is probably not a place most think of first when it comes to lighthearted barefoot fun. But that’s exactly how 21-year-old Tyler Williams treated life in the Bassmaster Opens, a long way from his hometown of Belgrade.
This season he amassed an astonishing four Top 10s, including a victory at Watts Barr, a 2024 Bassmaster Classic® qualification, and an Elite Series qualification. On top of that, he earned $5,000 in Yamaha Power Pay bonuses, mostly all with one lure—a 3/4-ounce jig with a living rubber skirt.
“Whether I’m in Maine, Florida, Tennessee or wherever, I just feel comfortable and confident when I have that jig in my hands. I don’t know if it’s the jig, or how I work it, but whether I’m dragging it or hopping it, I’m going to trim it with a Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog, and it accounted for about 90 percent of the fish I weighed-in this season,” Williams said.
Often asked how a kid from Maine showed such domination throughout the South, Williams explains that he fished just about daily as a kid. In fact, his parents, who own a fence company, would often drop him off at one of the dozens of lakes surrounding their home in Belgrade, as they headed off to the next fence installation project each morning.
Fishing as frequently as Williams does demands relentless reliability from his equipment. He says that is why he bought a Yamaha-powered Skeeter and signed up for Yamaha Power Pay.
“I ran a competitive brand of engine before, and so did my buddies, but we had too many mechanical issues. So, we switched to Yamaha because it does its job every day. The Power Pay bonus on top of that kind of reliability makes running a Yamaha a no-brainer,” he said.
As the saying goes, “No Shoes, No Problems.” In Williams’ case, it seems to be the perfect mantra for a phenomenal young pro bass fishing career anchored in a fun attitude and a 3/4-ounce rubber-skirted jig.
To learn how you too can cash-in on Yamaha Power Pay money like the young New Englander, please visit YamahaPowerPay.com.
