James RickardChasing a dream
August 12th 2007 16:55
Would you want to do anything badly enough that you were willing to leave your family, your way of life, everything you knew, even your country? In 1992, that’s just what professional angler Takahiro Omori did. He left his native Japan to pursue his dream of being a pro angler and came to America at the age of 21 because the bass were bigger and the competition was greater.
Stepping off of a plane, “Tak” settled in Emory, Texas, a small city near Dallas, because it was one place in the United States where he could fish in January. In his own words, “…I was young and I didn’t know everything about fishing so, it was fun.” Fun is a relative term. How many of us would call it “fun” to be plopped down in a strange country, not knowing the language, (that’s right NO English) live in a van, have no career prospects--only a dream, eat sporadically and be forced to sneak into motel rooms to shower? On top of this, he had to occasionally go back to his native Japan to earn enough money to come back to America in order to fish!
Before we get caught up in this story of a globe trotting dream chaser, we must remember that Tak came from a society holding immense respect for its elders. Not only did Tak have to tell his father that he didn’t want to follow in his footsteps or even go to college, he was forced to tell him that he wanted to leave the country! So, not only was he dealing with the pressures of trying assimilate a new culture, he had the disapproval of his father in the back of his mind.
Despite all these problems, Tak remained focused and chased after a dream until his efforts were rewarded in 2004 when he won the Citgo Bassmaster Classic. Some call the Classic the World Series of fishing. If that’s the case, a winner from Japan makes it TRULY a world competition.
Until next time--watch yourself and watch your line!
*quote from the College Hill Independent
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