Southeast Iowa’s bassmaster

SALEM - When one sits in the office's of Mike's Automotive Sales and Service in Salem, they might notice the desk space and walls aren't just filled with pictures of cars or calendars. Instead, the most eye-popping accessories are plaques and trophies, and most of them contain a picture of fish.

The owner, Mike Mertens, has a passion that goes past the streets, and into the waters. That passion is the outdoor sport of bass fishing, and years of practice has landed him in one of the biggest tournaments in America.

Tens of thousands of anglers competed in Phoenix Bass Fishing events throughout 2020 in hopes of earning a spot in the 2021 All-American tournament. Only 54 of them are left in the hunt for the title, Mertens is one of them.

Mertens began to fish competitively in 2002 with his late wife, Kathy. They started fishing in team circuits, and finding success led Mertens to join a local bass club in Fort Madison, the Lake Cooper Angling Association.

'I just love catching something that you cannot see,” Mertens said. 'It's something I got seriously addicted to.”

Now, he can turn that addiction into something really special. The winner of the All-American tournament, which runs from June 3-5 at Douglas Lake in Tennessee, doesn't just get to call himself a champion. They also get to take him the $120,000 grand prize.

But don't think Mertens was a top-notch tournament angler right off the bat. The 1988 Mt. Pleasant graduate had his share of trial and error.

'I could go to Lake Geode and I could whack them, so I thought I was really good,” Mertens said. 'When I was approached by a guy in bass club, I was like, ‘heck yeah, I'm going to go down there and kick these guys butts,' but that wasn't the case at all.”

Mertens continued to compete and learn, but he says it wasn't until years later that he started finding real success.

'I got my butt kicked for several years,” Mertens said.

But just like with any sport, hard work and dedication pays off. Mertens stuck with his passion and eventually began winning local and club tournaments.

'If you want to be successful, you've got to put a lot of time and work in,” Mertens said. 'There's no replacement for time on the water.”

Mertens took a big step in 2018, when he started fishing in the BFL (Bash Fishing League) series. The BFL series is one of the top circuits for working class anglers who don't fish for a living.

With bigger competition came longer trips. The closest regional tournaments to Southeast Iowa are at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri or in La Crosse Wisconsin, both over a four-hour drive from home.

'It's tough because a lot of people who fish in those tournaments are somewhat local,” Mertens said. 'A lot more local than I am.”

And if an angler is willing to make those long drives, they better do well, or else it's a long way back after the tournament is all said and done.

'When you have a good tournament, it's a nice comfortable easy ride home,” Mertens said. 'When you have a crappy tournament, it's the most miserable drive there is.”

Luckily, Mertens has company for the over 11-hour drive to the All-American tournament. He and his current wife, Niki, will travel down to Douglas Lake, which is in the eastern half of Tennessee.

To qualify for the All-American, Mertens had get Top-45 in the Ozark Division, which advanced him onto the Regional Championship in La Crosse. The Top-6 boaters and co-anglers from each Regional made the All-American tournament, and Mertens slid into the elite field with a fifth-place finish.

The 2021 All-American tournament will be broadcast on Outdoor Channel, but those broadcasts will take place months after the tournament happens. The weigh-ins will be broadcast live on Majorleaguefishing.com.

All 54 boaters and co-anglers (who compete against each other in a separate contest) will be on the water in the first two days of the tournament, on June 3-4. The Top-10 will advance onto June 5, where a champion will be crowned. If it's Mertens, he'll have quite the addition to his collection of awards back at his office in Salem.