November 22, 2024
By Todd Ceisner
It was just after 8 p.m. Central time on Saturday, Nov. 17, and Matt Pangrac and Matt Stefan look exhausted and defeated as they sit across a table from each other inside a podcast studio in Shawnee, Okla. Separated by a bank of flat-screen monitors that Pangrac uses to produce and host the long-running Bass Talk Live fishing podcast , both are wearing black hoodies and matching vintage black and yellow In-Fisherman ballcaps.
Pangrac also donned a pair of headphones so he could hear when the intro music began to fade out. Stefan, meanwhile, stares blankly at the tabletop.
Matt Pangrac (L) and Matt Stefan gear up for the Master Angler Challenge. As the intro jingle trailed out, Pangrac thanked his viewers for tuning in on a fall Saturday evening knowing they had numerous college football games or a mixed martial arts pay-per-view they could be watching instead. He then peeled the headset off and transitioned to the subject of the evening’s livestream—to summarize the duo’s quest over the previous four days to catch as many trophy-sized fish as they could for submission to the In-Fisherman Master Angler contest.
“Quite frankly, Matt Stefan, it has felt like an absolute bender,” Pangrac said as he peered over at his co-host and fishing partner on this mission.
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“Dude, I cannot tell you how exhausting this has been,” Stefan added. “We have fished tournaments for a week straight, sun up to sun down, and work on no sleep. I don’t understand why I am so tired. It’s been nonstop for us.”
It certainly was as the pair logged roughly 1,350 road miles to fish eight different lakes between west Texas and northeast Oklahoma across a four-day stretch. It’s estimated they spent 60 hours fishing during that time. All in the pursuit of fish they otherwise wouldn’t normally chase. They documented the entire trip for their social media channels with daily recap videos each evening.
Both Pangrac and Stefan are diehard anglers with Midwest roots. A Chicago native who now lives in Junction City, Wis., Stefan is a professional bass angler who has competed on the FLW Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals and Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour. Pangrac, also an Illinois native who calls Oklahoma home, has covered pro bass fishing for almost 20 years and has competed in the Bassmaster Opens since 2020. Most everything they’ve done or been associated with in the sport of fishing has had to do with bass fishing.
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So, this Master Angler quest was a bit of a departure for both of them. This was a challenge they brought upon themselves, and they seemed to enjoy every grueling minute of it.
“What I loved about it is I forgot all about bass,” Stefan said during the podcast recapping the trip. “Bass is what our careers are made out of, but we were patterning hybrids or white bass or crappie and intentionally targeting them and that was something for me. Targeting something other than bass reminded me how much I love this sport. I can’t say that enough.”
While their passion for bass fishing runs deep, the common thread tying Stefan and Pangrac together is their interest in multispecies angling, which was sparked and fostered by reading In-Fisherman magazine and watching the In-Fisherman TV when they were younger.
Matt Pangrac with his Master Angler crappie. The fish measured 15 1/4 inches. Here is Pangrac's fish on the bump board, a good example of how to correctly submit a Master Angler catch to the program. “We both followed the In-Fisherman Master Angler awards every year and waited for the Master Angler edition to come out so we could compare our own catches to those in the magazine,” Pangrac said.
The Master Angler program has been In-Fisherman’s long-running, no-entry fee, big-fish contest that recognizes trophy catches across 27 freshwater species categories. The contest divides North America into six regions with minimum length requirements for each species in those regions. Entrants whose catches are approved receive a Master Angler patch as well as a chevron patch for the species entered. In addition, the angler(s) who submit the largest fish in a given species category for that year receive a Master Angler certificate suitable for framing. A summary of each year’s submissions is then published in the magazine.
But it wasn’t the recognition awards Stefan and Pangrac were after. With hunters in many states in the woods chasing trophy whitetail right now, the pair went on a trophy quest of their own and documented it all for their social media channels. Based on the areas they targeted in Oklahoma and Texas, their focus was on largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, white bass and crappie (black or white).
Pangrac said the pair’s initial plan was to set aside 10 days to zig-zag the country in an effort to catch a Master Angler-worthy fish in all 27 species categories. After considering the logistics of said plan, they deemed it unrealistic and settled on a four-day stretch to see what they could accomplish.
Day 1 was spent at a rainy Grand Lake where they targeted hybrid stripers and white bass. Pangrac boated a 25-inch hybrid, a dandy fish by any measure but still 1 inch shy of the Master Angler length threshold for Region 2. Stefan, meanwhile, landed a white bass that measured 17 ¼ inches, which fell 3/4-inch shy of that species length threshold. Between the two, they caught at least 10 hybrids that taped out at 24 inches or more, but none cracked the 26-inch mark.
The boys caught some serious hybrid striped bass, or wipers as they're often referred to, but despite the impressive size, these fish were just shy of the Master Angler minimums for this species. The following day, they set off to a lake in Texas known for big largemouth. With a 24-inch length threshold as the target, it would take a giant to achieve Master Angler status. Stefan nearly got it done as he triggered the only bite of the day but had the fish come off on its way to the boat. Both men insist the fish would have been Master Angler material.
Day 3 of the quest saw them launch at three different lakes in Oklahoma targeting largemouth and crappie but neither caught anything approaching Master Angler size.
By the final day, they regrouped and focused solely on catching a 15-inch crappie, the Region 2 threshold. Battling 20-mph winds all day, both Pangrac and Stefan saw their hard work pay off as each landed a 15 ¼-inch white crappie, with Stefan’s coming on his last cast of the day well after dusk.
“Our optimism was incredibly high after the first day since we were so close to catching two Master Angler species (hybrid and white bass), but after the second day, we realized that it was a very good possibility that we wouldn’t check a single species off the list,” Pangrac said. “The third day was actually depressing as we never came close to a Master Angler fish. We were at our lowest point when we caught our first Master Angler crappie with one hour left in the entire challenge and the exhilaration and excitement was the reason we all fish. The fact that Matt was able to catch one as well on the last cast was just icing on the cake.”
After some reflection, they both came to the conclusion that while the challenge they put themselves through was grueling and intense, it gave them a newfound appreciation for multispecies fishing—and they can’t wait to plan the next trip.
Matt Stefan was not to be outdone and managed this big crappie on the final cast of the day. Matt Stefan's crappie on the board. Almost identical to Pangrac's fish. “I overestimated how (easy) this challenge would be. I really did,” Stefan said. “Trying to catch a trophy class fish is difficult. In our case, we had four days, and we had to deal with the conditions we were served, and they were not ideal fishing conditions. Not that I’m making excuses, but the water temps were still a lot higher than what we were expecting. We had a couple of days where the wind blew 20-plus miles an hour. We had full moon conditions and bluebird skies. Just not ideal fishing conditions.”
“I like the challenge, though,” Pangrac added. “We’re both tournament fisherman but we share a love for multispecies fishing. I’ve never fished for any other species with a goal in mind other than bass. It is so much fun.”
“I love the challenge,” Stefan declared.
Catch up on the entire conversation at the links below. It’s a load of quality fishing entertainment for sure!
Exciting Preliminary Content Original Link for Thomas Allen interview when the idea was created: BTL - BASS TALK LIVE WITH IN-FISHERMAN'S THOMAS ALLEN
Matt Stefan Preview: The Master Angler Award Challenge Starts Now! Episode 1
BTL Preview: BTL AT NIGHT - MATT STEFAN IN-STUDIO
DAY ONE Matt Stefan Day One: Master Angler Challenge. Day 1! On The Water Recap! Did We Catch Any?
BTL Day 1: BTL AT NIGHT - DAY ONE OF THE IN-FISHERMAN MASTER ANGLER CHALLENGE WITH MATT STEFAN
DAY TWO Matt Stefan Day Two: Master Angler Challenge: Day 2: Exciting Action From One Of The Worlds Best Big Bass Lakes!
BTL Day 2: BTL - DAY TWO RECAP OF THE IN-FISHERMAN MASTER ANGLER CHALLENGE WITH MATT STEFAN
DAY THREE Matt Stefan Day Three: Master Angler Challenge Day 3: This Is Getting Ridiculous!
DAY FOUR (AND CHALLENGE RECAP): Matt Stefan Day 4: Master Angler Challenge: The Final Day!
BTL Days 3 and 4: BTL AT NIGHT - THE CONCLUSION OF THE IN-FISHERMAN MASTER ANGLER QUEST WITH MATT STEFAN
