George Cochran and Edwin Evers are among the greatest bass anglers to ever make a cast. Nearly $3,000,000 in combined career tournament earnings provides all the proof. However, neither of these two angling aces may have made a dime from careers as pro anglers had somebody not taken the time to take them fishing.

Decades later, Evers and Cochran recite their earliest experiences on the water, and memories of who they shared those experiences with, as though it happened last week.

A young Edwin Evers shown here, says the first two fish he ever caught were a catfish and a crappie. But those early trips eventually led to a tremendously successful career as a bass fishing pro.

Edwin Evers remembers the first two fish he caught, and no, they weren't bass. “I can still remember the first two fish I caught. I caught a catfish and crappie on two separate trips to a slough off the Mississippi River in Pike County, MO with my mom. And while that was about 28 years ago, I'm pretty confident we dug-up our own worms or caught grasshoppers for bait, because to me, catching the bait was almost as fun as catching the fish,” remembered Evers, one of the B.A.S.S. trail's top young stars.

George Cochran has fished professionally for 26 years, winning 2 million dollars and three world championships along the way. But it wasn't the traditional family member who got him started. “I always had a desire to fish, but my dad worked seven days a week, and he didn't have time to take me, so when I was eight years old, I started bugging the heck out of our neighbor to take me. His name was Pete Jaworski, and every weekend I'd run over to his house to see whatever sort of fish or game he might be hauling home from the lake or the woods. I'd stand there watching him clean fish, and beg him to take me the following weekend. Finally he gave in to my wishes,” explains the 56-year-old Cochran.

“Pete was kind of hard for most folks to get along with, but I guess he could tell I had a true passion for fishing,” continued Cochran. “We ended up fishing together for 20 years, and I credit him with teaching me most of the basics for finding and catching bass, especially topwater fishing. Pete loved to carve his own topwater lures, and man, we caught a ton of bass on them,” said Cochran. “Funny thing is, when I won the 2005 FLW Championship using a topwater lure, Pete called and told he me was glad that his lessons had finally paid-off.”

“Just over a year ago, Pete called me and asked if I would take him fishing one last time. His health was poor, and he knew his days were numbered. He was so weak, that I had to physically lift him in and out of my boat that day. Our final trip was a great one, the topwater bite was awesome,” remembered Cochran.

George Cochran says his neighbor's willingness to take him fishing had much to do with him winning three world championships.

“Soon after our final fishing trip, I was doing really well in an FLW tournament at Beaver Lake, when I got a phone call telling me Pete had passed-away,” lamented Cochran. “I opted not to fish the final day, so that I could attend Pete's funeral. And somewhat unexpectedly, his family asked me to be a guest speaker at the memorial service. I guess you could say Pete and I sort of went full-circle together,” concluded the 3-time world champion.

While spawning the world's next great tournament angler need not be the goal …sharing your love of fishing with somebody should be. Fact is, fishing license sales climbed steadily from 1970 – 1990. But beginning in 1992, fishing license sales, and subsequently participation in fishing, started a downward trend.

Make it your goal to help turn the trend around. Provide the sort of mentorship that Evers and Cochran benefited from. Do what many of the world's top anglers have already done. Go to Anglerslegacy.org and “Take the Pledge”. Take somebody fishing this year that's not currently participating in the sport.