Auburn’s Steve Kennedy Readies for Bassmaster Classic
Auburn’s Steve Kennedy Readies for Bassmaster Classic
Auburn's Steve Kennedy Readies for Bassmaster Classic (Courtesy BASS)
February 19, 2008, Shreveport/Bossier City, Louisiana – Auburn’s Steve Kennedy began his professional bass fishing career running an aluminum boat, and he plans to do the same during this weekend’s Bassmaster Classic on the Red River in Shreveport/Bossier City, Louisiana.
Kennedy, a 1992 graduate from Auburn University is one of nine anglers hailing from Alabama competing in this weekend’s championship – a group that includes former Classic champion Boyd Duckett, the Classic’s first female angler, Kim Bain-Moore, and fellow Elite Series anglers Matt Herren and Tim Horton.
Due to low water levels of the Red River, Kennedy has opted to run an 18-foot aluminum boat during the tournament, a rare sight, as he competes against 50 of the world’s best bass anglers, each running $50,000+ fiberglass bass boats powered by 225-250 hp outboard engines.
“I usually have the Auburn Fight Song playing when I come up on stage to weigh in my fish, but I’m sure I’ll hear the theme song from the television show Sanford & Son this time,” says the Auburn native.
Kennedy began his professional fishing career in a humble manner, running an aluminum boat powered by a 50-horse motor. “I’ve won plenty of bass tournaments in the past running an aluminum boat, and the conditions we’re facing this weekend requires the ability to get to some fishing spots that are extremely shallow,” says the angler.
Other anglers may laugh at Kennedy, but all know he is a serious threat to win the Bassmaster Classic, not because of the boat he runs, but due to his skills as an angler. In his seven years as a professional angler, Kennedy has 17 top ten finishes, and was the BASS Elite Series Rookie of the Year in 2006.
Kennedy’s father, Van Kennedy, was a mainstay in tournament bass fishing in the 1980s. His father passed along this competitive passion and knowledge of bass fishing to his son.
“I’m excited about the Classic, and have found a few spots that hold good fish. This is a fish-to-win tournament, and I should be able to find some fish that other anglers will not be able to get to,” says Kennedy.
Kennedy is not the first Auburn graduate to find success in professional fishing, as the sport’s founding father, BASS legend Ray Scott, is also an Auburn graduate. “Anglers show their colors, whether its Yamaha blue, Skeeter red, or Mercury black. I’m more of an orange and blue man.”