Years of fishing paid off for one California resident.
Gary Taylor, a California resident, won second place with his friend, Rob Stanley, at the Victory Chevrolet Catfish Classic Aug. 13-14 in St. Joseph. The two won a five-figure cash prize.
A lifelong resident of California, Taylor grew up in a family that spent most of their lives fishing. Taylor was no different. He quickly learned the ropes as a child -- learning how to study the fish's behavior, and how to fish in bodies of water like lakes and rivers.
"Ever since I was walking, I learned how to fish," Taylor said. "We would fish on the Lake of the Ozarks and I learned all of the in and outs of fishing."
As he got older, Taylor became a great fisherman and looked to enter fishing tournaments for cash prizes. It was at one of these tournaments where Taylor met Rob Stanley. The two were teamed up in a tournament and their friendship took off from there.
"Rob and I go back about seven or eight years," Taylor said. "We met at a local fishing tournament and after we became partners in a few tournaments, the rest was history."
At the Catfish Classic in St. Joseph, Taylor and Stanley caught five catfish with a combined weight total of 152.65 pounds. The biggest catfist the duo caught weighed in at 59.55 pounds. For their second-place finish, Taylor and Stanley won $10,000. It's the second biggest cash prize Taylor has won in competitive fishing.
"It felt really cool to win that kind of money," Taylor said. "I might've missed out on winning first place, but I got a good cash prize and I'm going to use part of it on my new boat."
Taylor said he will be taking part in another catfish fishing tournament with Stanley next month in Illinois.