On August 17, 2007 Pam Martin Wells was inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN, and I couldn’t have been prouder. (Our careers in women’s professional fishing have run parallel.)
There she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the greatest hunting and fishing legends of our times, the kind we pinch ourselves over, to make sure we’re not dreaming – like Hank Parker, George Cochran, Shaw Grigsby, and Larry Nixon to name a few of the anglers.
“Legends of the Outdoors” is a national hall of fame that recognizes men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the outdoor sports of fishing and hunting.
“I can’t believe I’m here,” Pam said with chill bumps on her arms and a trembling voice. The shy lady pro angler from Georgia was nervous about the acceptance speech she was to give, which was needless, for when her time came, she stepped up to the podium and delivered one of the most heartfelt, passionate speeches of the night. And she thanked everyone – from God, to spouse, family, all her sponsors, previous women’s tours, WBFA and Bass’n Gal, current Women’s Bassmaster Association, the Legends program, etc. before receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of 300.
Rewind this scenario twenty years back in time, and this is where I can tell you Pam’s story from the beginning. I was sitting in my boat on the shore of Lake Seminole, Georgia, stowing my rods, reels and tackle after a Bass’n Gal tournament. I happened to look up and see a wiry little gal who was upset about something. I introduced myself and soon we began talking – she eventually began to tell me what had her so upset.
“I could have won this tournament but they wouldn’t let me fish it” she said, (kicking the dirt if memory serves me correctly.) “Some stupid rule about off limits.”
Seemed Pam had been unaware of the approaching women’s national event and had been fishing nearly everyday on Lake Seminole, her home lake. Tournament rules prohibited any of the contenders from fishing tournament waters for two weeks before an event – and just as you and I must breathe air to live, Pam had to fish Lake Seminole.
“The next time there’s a tournament here, I will fish it – and win” she insisted.
And win she nearly did – a year later when the Bass’n Gal tour returned to her lake. Placing second, she narrowly missed winning by a mere 03/100ths of a pound – equal only to a few drops of water at most. But Pam gained respect from everyone day – especially me, as I sat in disbelief over what a difference a year could make in a person. The gal could fish! Since that time, she has gone on to win 13 national titles, 3 elite Angler of the Year titles, plus the Women’s Bassmaster Tour Championship last February. To date, she is the leading, all-time money winner in women’s professional fishing.
Pam was fortunate to have one of the greatest mentors of all times, another “Legend of the Outdoors Hall of Fame Inductee, Jack Wingate. Known for owning “Wingate’s Lunker Lodge,” he is a living history book on the Lake Seminole area having walked the river bottoms as a child with his father – long, long before the lake was filled. Over the years, he mentored Pam and was one of her greatest fans – just as he was that August night in Nashville. Wingate was given the honors of introducing her and did so with pride and his trademark sense of humor.
“Pam, how old were you when you when you got your very first speeding ticket on a dirt bike?” he grinned over his right shoulder to ask her.
“Six years old,” she sheepishly replied.
“And how many tickets did you get the first year?” he asked.
She admitted, “Six, I think.”
The audience roared but quickly realized the point Wingate was making – that Pam Martin Wells had “gumption,” i.e. “guts, nerve, etc. from the time she was just a child. Having such nerve is surely what propelled her later in life to take chances – against hundreds of women she didn’t even know. Nerve to drive her boat through threatening, rough waters, to fish in rain, sleet, snow and temperatures over 100 degrees – every kind of weather Mother Nature offered. She was fearless – and it showed.
Steven Wells, Pam’s husband and “wind-beneath-her-wings” as the as the song implies, deserves credit, too. Anyone who ever watched him on shore while she was competing knows he is sometimes better entertainment than Sunday night television. He fidgets, paces and prays, watches the clock, hopes she’s doing well, then fidgets, paces and prays all over again. Strange, because if you ask, he will tell you he is certain that she is doing just fine, finding and catching her limits. And he means it. He is incredibly sure of her abilities but – the way I see it, maybe he fidgets and paces just to “fit in” with the other guys.
When Pam weighs in, it is Steven in the crowd with her super supportive parents, taking pictures, movies, shouting the loudest when she takes the lead, and hugging her the hardest. He’s even got a little winner’s dance for tournaments she wins. Steven is one of the most supportive husbands on tour.
Pam Martin Wells, I met her before she ever became a pro angler, watched her vow to beat everyone. I saw the “eye of the tiger” in Pam – something only true winners possess. And over the past 20 years, I unknowingly watched a friend become a sports legend in America’s favorite past time…. fishing.
Pam Wells, a living legend of the outdoors. Well deserved, Pam. Well deserved.By: Kathy Magers
