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Dewayne Bonham is sitting on a lake that’s smooth as glass, with more than 200 other tournament boats scattered around. Standing at attention, he listens in dead silence, waiting for the national anthem to blast over the loud speaker. The chills and the anticipation of what is to come has his heart racing. While for the past nearly 20 years Dewayne has been an engineer manager for Verizon Wireless, it’s bass fishing that has become his passion. This silent morning moment and the thrill of the competition is what keeps him coming back for more.
Born and raised in Brentwood, California, this NorCal native spends as many as 200 days on the water in any given year. What started as a love and passion for the outdoors at age six when his grandpa took him fishing, has turned into a year round venture to compete in the professional bass industry.
As someone who thrives on competition and the thrill of the unknown, Dewayne started as a professional angler in 2000. After competing professionally as an archer for more than ten years, Dewayne was looking for his next challenge. What most intrigued him with the competitive bass market is how quickly the tides can turn, and using his favorite jigging technique has definitely brought him from zero to hero within the final fishing moments of a tournament upon more than one occasion.
As a member of the Wiley X Eyewear Pro Bass Team and a long time user of the company’s unique protective eyewear, Dewayne knows a thing or two about the importance of having the right piece of eye protection. He would even go so far as to say that he has had tournament outcomes in which he can directly attribute his superior performance to his Wiley X Eyewear. “I use the polarized capabilities of these sunglasses when I am sight fishing, which is at least 20% of the time,” says Dewayne. “But you don’t just sight skill to find fish, you use it to see structure under the water — structure both to avoid with your boat and structure that you know is the perfect hiding place for the biggest bass on the lake.”
Entering into his eighth season as a professional, Dewayne has four FLW top ten finishes, two B.A.S.S.
top ten finishes and two WON Bass top ten finishes under his belt. He is looking to make the 2008 season
his best to date.
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