Casey Ashley Professional Angler and Country Music Artisr

Bassfan.com > Day 2: 5, 18-06 (10, 39-03) - Ashley's bag was about 2 1/2 pounds lighter than the one he caught on day 1, but it didn't cost him any ground in the standings.

"I'm right where I want to be," he said. "As long as I can stay in that Top 5, I'm within striking distance.

"It was a little tougher today. The place where I caught them yesterday morning, I only caught two day and I had to go to my second spot. I milled around in the first spot too long waiting for them to bite."

He loaded up in a hurry once he relocated at about 10:00.

"When I made my move, they were biting and I caught the tail end of it. It was boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and then they were done."

Like Pace, he's fishing offshore with a 3/4-ounce football jig. His best fish today was a 5 1/2-pounder.

"There's no pattern to it – it's just spot-fishing. I haven't had any company yet. There were some locals watching me, but they were really respectful and kept their distance, and hopefully they won't fish my stuff when I'm not there

"I don't think I have anything to worry about during tournament hours, but there's a lot of wildcat night derbies that go on." Read More

BassFan.com > Day 1: 5, 20-13 - Ashley found five offshore haunts during practice that were holding schools of fish. He was hoping to have one of the two most productive locales to himself today, and that's just what occurred.

"I got to go where I wanted to go," he said. "I didn't sit there all day, but there was nobody else there while I was there. I only fished the one place, but I spent time in a lot of other places trying to find other fish."

He went through about 20 keepers on the day and had all of his weight before noon. His bag was topped by a fish that was just a little under 6 pounds.

"It's no secret, I'm catching them on a football jig offshore. The only one I lost was about a 3-pounder, but I caught another one just like it on the next cast.

"I feel pretty confident about it. I don't know if I can catch 20 pounds again, but I feel like I can get a solid 14- or 15-pound bag." Read More

By Alan McGuckin - Jun 9, 2012 - Beyond the fact that Casey Ashley recorded an album in Nashville, and has entertained fans on stage with his voice and guitar at the Bassmaster Classic, the South Carolina pro has a soul that craves a daily dose of lyrics and notes.

Each morning drive to the boat ramp in Ashley’s Toyota Tundra is saturated by country music. Today it was the sound of one of his all-time favorite artists, Kenny Chesney, and the 2005 album “Be As You Are.”

“I got to have music every mornin’. Ain’t no static comin’ from my speakers. I got to be singin’ along to sumthin’,” grins the soft-spoken Ashley, who sits solidly in fourth place after two days of hot and grinding competition at the Bassmaster Elite Series event on gigantic Toledo Bend Reservoir. Read More

"I made a bunch of wrong decisions today. I had a mental lapse on the water. Everywhere I went, the wind had trashed it out. I kept trying to force something to happen instead of adjusting to what I saw. It's fishing. I really expected to catch a couple big ones first thing this morning. I've got one stretch where big ones live and that was the only place the wind didn't mess up. The fish just didn't bite this morning. The one fish I caught was a (spotted bass). I didn't even know spots existed in this river." Read More