By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
A local angler who serves as an informal ambassador for Lake Amistad has a permanent spot on one of Texas’ top bass-fishing lake’s shores now.
Local professional angler Kurt Dove and his wife Rhonda are now proud owners of Pro Bass Tackle, found at 11675 Highway 90 West, less than a mile from Lake Amistad’s shores and less than 30 yards from Amistad National Recreation Area’s boundary.
However, Dove wears many more hats in the community in addition to bait shop owner.
The professional angler spearheads the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce’s two Border Bass Battles every year, doing everything from manning the mic during weigh-ins, pushing the two events throughout the year and whatever it takes to put anglers on the lake for the one-day tournament.
In addition, he’s always advocating for Amistad and Del Rio.
“Kurt understands our community and advocates hard for it constantly,” said Blanca Larson, Del Rio Chamber of Commerce President and CEO.
Dove also leads several youth camps that bring youth in from around the country to study the art of angling with him.
He’s also the U.S. general manager for Japanese-owned Hayabusa fish hooks, and he’s got a group of sponsors he’s got to help get their names in front of anglers, sponsors like MegaWare, Bass Cat boats and Yamaha Outboards, in addition to being owner of Pro Bass Tackle.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity we have here,” he said, Thursday, less than 24 hours before the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was held there. “When people come to fish Amistad, we want to be their first stop, and I want to be able to point them in the right direction of what they’re biting and where.”
He’s got plenty of experience with which to point anglers in the right direction, as he’s got more than 114 professional tournaments under his belt with B.A.S.S. and has nearly $250,000 in winnings.
“I want to be able to fall back on my lifetime of experience fishing, all of my Amistad experience, to help people have success here,” he said. “If you’re watching social media, it’s obvious people are catching some big fish out here. Sometimes, we just have to point them in the right direction.”
Working with numerous sponsors, rubbing elbows with industry insiders and other contacts enables him to stock hard-to-get items in his shop. Since he purchased the business less than a month ago, he’s added nearly a hundred new products to the shelves.
He picks up a 10-pack of fishing lures called deps. “These are hard to get but we managed,” he said. And points to the wall they were found on where there are more empty pegs than full.
“We got these two weeks ago, and already, they’re almost gone. You can’t get this product anywhere around here.”
While many new businesses fail in the first year, the Doves are experienced business managers already. Anymore, being a professional angler is running a small business, and in some cases a large business, as they recruit sponsors, manage budgets and are constantly working on their brands which encompass everything from creating graphics for their boat to managing several social media accounts, all challenges eventually new business owners have to pick up.
So, as Dove prepares for one more hat he’ll wear — bait shop owner — he’s looking forward to serving his community in another way.
“This is great,” he said. “We love Del Rio and hopefully, we’re going to be people’s first stop when they’re heading to fish, and we can help them find success on this great lake.”
The writer can be reached at JoelALangton@gmail.com .
