A guy I think that kind of slips under the radar to most fishermen is Mark Edwards. The kayak guys know him all too well mainly due to the amount of money he takes from them, but I feel as if there is a good chunk of fishermen around West Virginia who still don’t know Edwards.
This week on ‘The Catch‘ we caught up with Edwards to talk about his journey into fishing and highlight his success while competing in the floating plastic.
If you kept up with Edwards last year you would know that he was only 24 points away from winning the Angler of the Year title on the Bassmaster Kayak Series. The way it worked out, there were five total tournaments, but you could only use your best four tournaments towards Angler of the Year. He fished all five events but had to drop one of those events to tally his score. Without the drop, he would have won the Angler of the Year title by 27 points. Ultimately he finished third in the race.
But more notably Edwards won seven tournaments last year in the state of West Virginia. One of his highlight wins was winning the two-day 2022 MSKA Championship on the New River/Greenbrier River/Bluestone Lake. We caught up with Edwards to get his story!
DockTalkWV: Tell me how you got into fishing, who got you into fishing and how it progressed to where your fishing is today?
Mark: I lived close to my grandpa Phillips and he had a small pond with a lot of fish in it and I fished it pretty regularly. Growing up my uncles and my dad took me fishing on the river. Mostly catfishing or anything that would hit live bait. When I turned 16 a local pay lake that was stocked with catfish opened up and had tournaments every weekend. I fished a lot of those with some success here and there.
After graduating high school my dad purchased a 17-foot aluminum bass boat. Only living 15 minutes from Bluestone Lake I spent a lot of time chasing bass and fishing Friday night tournaments what seemed like every weekend. After owning a few fiberglass bass boats and there always being something going wrong with them, I switched my focus more towards fishing kayak tournaments. Fast forward a few years and I probably fish 25 tournaments or more a year. I love the challenge and fishing on different waters.
DockTalkWV: A lot of people I have talked to have claimed you are one of the best in the state or in the country. Your results prove that. What in your mind do you think sets you apart from other fishermen? What is the key for you?
Mark: Keeping an open mind when it comes to lure selections. Always paying attention to every little thing going on each day. Weather, wind, water temperature and time of the year.
DockTalkWV: What are your favorite memories of fishing?
Mark: Just being blessed to be able to travel and see new waters regularly. But it will be hard to top walking across the Bassmaster Classic stage at the first Bassmaster Kayak Series National Championship.
DockTalkWV: What is your goal for this season and what are you fishing tournament-wise?
Mark: I’ll be fishing all the Bassmaster Kayak Series tournaments lord willing. And then from there, I am going to jump into as many local kayak events as possible that the three clubs put on (SWVKA, MSKA, WVKA). Possibly jump in a couple of boat tournaments if I have the time.
DockTalkWV: Anything extra add below!
Mark: Appreciate the opportunity to tell my story. Would like to thank my sponsors who help support me FISHingONline, Dakota Lithium Batteries, Native Watercraft and Fulks Custom Cranks.
