Caleb Kuphall can lay claim to something no other Wisconsin person has ever done in a fishing-rich state. And that's win a Bassmaster Elite event.
"One of the ages. And unforgettable performance for your winner, Caleb Kuphall," the announcer says.
"I didn't actually know that until Mercer you know, told me that on stage," Caleb Kuphall says. "And yeah, it's pretty cool. You know, to be the first one to ever do it in Wisconsin."
"One of the most dominant and hard-to-explain victories that we got to see here with Caleb Kuphall, from Wisconsin," announcer Mark Zona says.
Lance Allan of TMJ4 Sports: "Is there a strategy involved? Sometimes golfers are the same way. When it's a tournament, they don't like to start too strong and put the pressure and put the target on their back."
"There was a lot of pressure you know, from the get-go, pretty much," Kuphall says. "You know, you weigh in that kind of weight. I think I had a lead of like 6 pounds, 7 ounces. Which is massive, especially after just one day."
Lance Allan: "So is your new nickname Clutch Caleb?"
"We'll see, I don't know," Kuphall says with a laugh. "I think they were calling me King Kong Kuphall for a while. We'll see if that sticks!"
Lance Allan: "When did you realize this was more than a dream, that you could do this?"
"My grandfather used to live on Lake Lac La Belle and I started out, you know, just fishing bluegills from the dock. And that kind of morphed into bass fishing at around probably 12 years old," Kuphall says.
Lance Allan: "Can you make a pretty good, comfortable living doing this?"
"You absolutely can," Kuphall says. "You know, especially the guys at the top of the sport. A win for this last week was $100,000. But you don't win every year."
Lance Allan: "I knew you won. But we had people emailing the station. Calling the station. Are you ready for a different level of fandom?"
"People I've never heard of, don't even know. You know, reaching out. I really appreciate it. Whoever you are, thank you!" Kuphall says.
And now he has a true fishing tale of a lifetime.
