Z-Man® Snags Bassmaster Star Josh Douglas

For a Minnesota native the likes of Bassmaster Opens angler and freshly knighted Z-Man® pro Josh Douglas, a pair of passions have always come naturally—ice hockey and bass fishing. Among the various labels attached to hockey (snipers, grinders, goons, etc.), Douglas might best be described as a playmaker.

In hockey speak, it’s some of the highest praise attainable. A playmaker is the competitor who exploits opportunities others miss. It’s a term reserved for those rare athletes who work hard and play harder, who think their way through tricky conditions, and who excel and win with a balance of persistence, precision and intelligence. Moreover, the playmaker goes out of his way to help others excel in their sport via good-natured guidance.

Douglas, who grew up skating frozen lakes and slapping pucks at nets, eventually discovered an even deeper talent for catching bass. “Played a ton of hockey up through high school, but something about bass fishing just spoke to me on another level,” recalls Douglas, whose earliest goal was to play professional hockey, preferably as a centerman—aka the team’s unsung hero and master of offense and defense in equal measure.