FRIENDS & LEGENDS TEACH FISHING FUN
Who wouldn't want to travel around the country fishing the fishiest lakes, for mult-species fun, all the while teaching and inspiring anglers young and old to get out and have fun improving their catching..... oh, and get paid to do it? Sign me up. That is what Charile Ingram said 35 years ago when the Fishing University was born. The show's hosts Charile Ingram and Ray Brazier will be celebrating 35 years of teaching the world to fish. Their show is aired in all 50 states and in 51 countries around the world. FishingU has been innovative in bringing pro anglers and company founders and innovators together to showcase new and time-tested products and techniques, all the while sharing inside tips with viewers, with the goal of making them better anglers.
Charlie has over 45 years’ experience as a professional angler, having fished every bass tournament trail in America. He began his fishing career after graduating high school in Tennessee, He attended Middle Tennessee State University where he majored in English and began fishing local tournaments. The early success brought him to the BASS circuit in the mid 70’s where he went on to win back to back tournaments at the national level. Ingram became the first person to ever win 3 BASS National events in one calendar year. He went on to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic eight times and the FLW Championship event four times.
His passion for always improving his fishing led Ingram to patent several different lures. He has had the priviledge of teaching fishing techniques to many, including being one of the only pros to have taken a President out fishing. In fact, both Bush Presidents fished with Ingram. With the
Secret Service in the chase boat, Ingram caught his personal best bass- a 12-pounder! All he could say was, "I didn't mean to show up the President- it just happened!" Ingram was inducted into the "Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame" in 2010.
Ray Brazier is a veteran tournament angler with 30 plus years’ experience. He gained recognition as an engineer who could tweak a boat to its fastest speed. When B.A.S.S. introduced the WFC- World Championship Fishing, Ray was among those chosen. In the first event, anglers fished the first half of the day and then with the same boat, ran a slalom course, with the fastest time around the course winning the event. Ray went on to work with Earl Bentz as part of his first team of Triton Pro Staffers. This experience led him to be hired by Honda as a performance engineer. His maritime racing experience has made him uniquely qualified to get the most out of a bass boat. Between the fishing skills of Ingram and the boating technology skills of Brazier, the University has two tenured professors with a library of knowledge.
Recently, in keeping with the shows theme, our friends, soft plastic bait innovator Gary Yamamoto and Lady Bass Angler Association Pro Angela Brumley, were invited to fish with Charlie on Kansas' Wilson Lake. Wilson, a lake previously featured on Fishing U, is known for big bass, and is also a great place to fish for catfish, crappie, bream, sauger and striped bass. Boat ramps are plentiful, providing easy access to all portions of the reservoir. Russell area businesses provided funding for Gary and Charile, long-time friends with a common passion to share their love for the outdoors with young people, and the Fishing U team to visit the local Russell County area high School to discuss career opportunities in the outdoors, promote fishing, encourage the school to sponsor an interscholastic bass fishing team as well as encourage participation by young girls with a love for fishing. Gary never passes up an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of his favorite presentation, the Texas rigged Senko. The event will be part of the show which will air as part of the 2022 season on the Outdoor Channel.