Secules loves Bass

[couch 'em]

http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk.asp?id=4717

Being a BassFan Army member puts you in some pretty good company. There's even a former NFL quarterback among the ranks.

Scott Secules, one of the winners in the recent Berkley Chigger Craw contest, spent 6 seasons (1988-93) as a backup QB for the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. He was the Cowboys' 6th-round pick in '88 out of the University of Virginia.

He's now an associate athletic director at Virginia Commonwealth University. He's been back in his native state for just over a year – he'd worked in the athletic department at Southern Methodist University in Dallas since his playing career ended.

"I've been an Army member since just about the time it started," he said. "BassFan is my daily link to the sport – it's nice to not have to wait a month for a periodical to come out."

He hasn't done much fishing since he's been back in Virginia, but that will change this year. He left his boat, a 1994 Skeeter, behind in Texas, and his mother-in-law recently had it refurbished for him. She redid the upholstery and had a new trolling motor installed.

"That was one of my big Christmas presents. It'll be making its way to Richmond soon, and I can't wait to get out on the James River and the Potomac and start fishing. I'm excited about going to the Potomac this year and flipping all of those great grass beds."

He became acquainted with a lot of people in the fishing industry during his playing days. While with the Dolphins, he struck up a friendship with Tim Tucker, the legendary Bassmaster writer who was killed in an auto accident last year.

He caught the lunkers in the accompanying photo – which weighed 10-03 and 9-03 – on a trip to Mexico's Lake El Salto with Tucker in the late 1990s.

"He always said he was forever in my debt because I was able to get him a football autographed by Dan Marino for his mother-in-law."