Sheldon Collings excited to be heading home for an NPFL event
GROVE, Okla. (BVM) — As the National Professional Fishing League heads to Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma this week, Sheldon Collings is ready to head back to the lake he’s been fishing since he was a toddler.
“I don’t want to say I’m real nervous, but I just feel like there’s a lot of pressure on me with it being my home lake,” Collings said. “I think it’s going to be a good tournament.”
The 23-year-old angler enters the final NPFL event before the championship in 21st place in AOY meaning he has a ticket to the championship. Setting up a situation where Collings will have to tow the line between going all out to win on his home lake and making sure he stays in the top 25 of the AOY race to ensure his spot in the championship.
“Every tournament I fish, I fish to win it but at the same time I try to fish conservatively also,” Collings said. “It all just depends on how the first day goes.”
“It would be awesome to win on my home lake.”
It’s a lake Collings knows all too well. It’s the lake he grew up in and it’s where he developed the skills he needed to become a professional angler.
“Growing up on Grand it made me a very versatile fisherman,” Collings said.
Collings got his start in competitive fishing by doing tournaments with his dad when he was 4 or 5 years old. By the time he was 11 years old he was running the boat and his passion for the sport only grew from there.
“Nothing compares to it,” Collings said.
He played other sports but fishing was always the priority.
“I lived on a lake and everyday after school I would get home, I would go straight down to the dock, jump in the boat and fish Grand until it got dark,” Collings said. “Come home, do my homework and I did that every single day.”
“I’m always wanting to go out fishing every single day.”
That led to a decision to finish high school online and dedicate more time to fishing. Collings was going to go after his dream of being a professional angler.
“That was the turning point that made me the fisherman I am today,” Collings said.
Collings would work with his dad, do his homework and then fish basically everyday. He was able to graduate early and his fishing continued to improve as he dedicated more time to his craft.
Using his dad’s boat, Collings began fishing the BFL at 16 and in the final tournament of the season on Grand, took fifth place against some of the best fishermen in Oklahoma and Texas. Then as an 18-year-old, he won FLW Bass Fishing League Regional at Lake Dardanelle which landed him $20,000 and a new boat.
With help from his parents, local sponsors from Grove and even the city itself, Collings fished the FLW Tour up until two years ago before taking a year-long hiatus before joining the NPFL this year.
“It’s been a decent year for me,” Collings said.
His best finish so far was at Wright Patman Lake where he finished third with a total weight of 57 pounds, 4 ounces. Since then he has placed in the top 20 at Lake Winnebago and Pickwick Lake.
However, what Collings has really been excited about is being a part of the NPFL’s mission to reach the next generation of anglers. Collings himself is a part of the wave of young anglers entering the professional ranks and he wants to be an example to those who want to follow in his footsteps.
“It’s a great opportunity that I have to help out the younger generation,” Collings said. “To help them do what they are wanting to do like I did.”
His next opportunity to do that will be this week in his hometown. Collings hopes to be in the top three at the very least but knows there can be some difficulties when fishing on your home lake. His practice time this week will be pivotal as he tries to show out for the home crowd that has watched and supported him to get to where he is today.