A quick chat with Gene Gilliland of B.A.S.S.

Gene Gilliland has been the conservation director for B.A.S.S. for the past nine years. But he’s worked with the professional bass-fishing organization for more than 20 years as what he calls an “unpaid consultant.”

Gilliland recently spoke by phone with Outdoor News while traveling from his home in Oklahoma to upstate New York for a B.A.S.S. event.

Gilliland grew up in Texas, graduated from Texas A&M, and moved to Oklahoma after his university days for work.

Outdoor News: How does one become the conservation director for B.A.S.S.?

Gilliland: Right after I got out of school, I landed a job in Oklahoma with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife and Conservation n as a fisheries research biologist. I did that for about 25 years and then I got promoted to a supervisory position.

Eventually, I wound up as the assistant chief of fisheries. I did that for three years in Oklahoma City. Coincidentally, I became eligible for retirement when the previous B.A.S.S. conservation director said she was going to retire. Part of the reason I’m in this position is that I’ve been an avid bass angler and tournament fisherman since I was in junior high.

A lot of the research I did for the state (of Oklahoma) was related to black bass, stocking bass, and then I got into some bass tournament research.

A lot of it was geared toward better fish care to keep them alive. I actually worked with B.A.S.S. for about 20 years. It resulted in us writing a little booklet in 2003

called Keeping Bass Alive. That little booklet kind of became the fishcare bible across the country for bass tournaments. So, I’ve had a long relationship with B.A.S.S. even before I started working for them.

Outdoor News: What’s new and exciting that we can look forward to in the professional bass-fishing world from the conservation side of things?

Gilliland: The professional fishing world is starting to recognize the need for utilizing the professional anglers and those platforms to help educate and inform the broader fishing public. If we can get our pro anglers to say the right things when they’re doing seminars or whatever, they have a lot of influence over the rank-and-file anglers who are watching them. We’re going to try to make a push to utilize them, not only in fish care, but in the political realm to urge people to be advocates for conservation measures.

Our B.A.S.S. conservation platform involves supporting things like scientific fish management, we fight invasive species, we want to work for quality fish habitat, and fish care during tournaments is part of it as well. We want our professional anglers to be able to preach the gospel when it comes to conservation.

Most of these guys are just coming out of the college ranks, and conservation is a pretty big priority with them. They want to maintain quality fisheries and healthy environments for the long haul. It’s not all about competition. It’s about the longevity of the sport.

Outdoor News: What’s one of the biggest threats to the future of bass fishing?

Gilliland: Apathy is the single biggest threat. Unlike on the hunting side of the sport – there are a lot of threats that hunters recognize and they ban together to try to protect the sport.

On the fishing side, we don’t have a universal enemy, so to speak. So, we tend to be reactive rather than proactive. A lot of times when things come along that threaten fisheries, by the time we do something, it’s too late.

So, we need to get people to recognize the coming threats and to work toward heading those things off before they become problems. That’s the biggest challenge: motivating people and overcoming that apathy and getting people to take action. Those write-your-Congressman moments.

The average bass fisherman, he or she really doesn’t care about politics. They just want to go fishing and catch fish. But, to maintain that for the long haul, we’ve got to get involved in the political arena. And it’s not just federal, it’s at the state and local levels as well.

Outdoor News: Does your job allow you time to get on the water to do some fishing of your own?

Gilliland: Oh, yeah. There have been numerous tournaments over the years when I’ve pulled my boat with me when I go to work a tournament. I can’t fish on the tournament waters, but I can fish places nearby.

So, when I’ve got time, I do my thing. We get to go to some pretty cool places.

Occasionally, we’ll stay a day or two later (after a tournament) or go early to take advantage of some of those opportunities.

Outdoor News: What are some of your favorite lakes in the U.S. for bass fishing?

Gilliland: Well, I have to put Lake St. Clair at the top of the list. We’ve been going there for a week every May for the past 14 years. I’m kind of a smallmouth addict. I’ve got a private lake at home that I’m part owner of where I can catch largemouth bass anytime I want to.

But, smallmouths are just too much fun. I really like Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota. And, if it wasn’t so darned far away, I’m sure I’d probably fall in love with the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. But a 23-hour drive makes that less of an opportunity for me.

Outdoor News: Have you ever fished Lake Erie for smallmouth bass?

Gilliland: Yes. Before we went to St. Clair for all those years, we used to go to Presque Isle Bay. We would go to Erie, Pennsylvania, and fish out of Presque Isle Bay. We did that for six or seven years, I guess.

But one of our group of guys who I fished with moved to Michigan and kind of tipped us off to Lake St. Clair. There’s been some times when our little group has thought about having a little reunion and coming back to Erie. I’ve still got lots of waypoints on where we caught (smallmouth bass) 15 years ago.