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Macon native Josh Weaver hits the Fishing League Worldwide tour

Josh Weaver is a professional angler and says he grew up fishing Lake Juliette.

MACON, Ga. — Right now, the Fishing League Worldwide, or FLW, is in the middle of their season.

They are a professional series, just like the Bassmaster.

One guy who grew up in Macon is trying to scale the competition and make a name for himself.

Josh Weaver is a professional angler fishing on the FLW Tour, but his life could have gone another route.

"Honestly, I used to not like fishing -- my brother was the fisherman. He won the state junior championship twice," he bragged. "I was the big hunter and he was the fisherman."

Then, just like a worm on a line, the sport hooked him at age 12, and he began spending a lot more time on the water.

"I grew up fishing on Juliette, my dad bought me a Juliette boat when I was 15, so he would take me to Juliette and drop me off and I'd be out there all day," Josh explained.

When it came time to graduate from First Presbyterian Day School, his folks gave him an ultimatum, "You have two years to make it as a pro or you go to college."

"I qualified, I finished in the top ten in the Angler of the Year points as a co-angler," he said.

That was four years ago.

Now, he travels all over the United States going after different types of bass.

"You can't be good at one technique, you've got to be good at multiple techniques and be able to catch fish and not just in different bodies of water, but different species of fish -- you have large mouth small mouth and then we have spotted bass fisheries," he said.

The top 35 guys on the tour get to fish in the Forrest Wood Cup tournament in August.

It's the championship for the season, and right now, Josh sits in the middle of the points with five tournaments left to qualify.

"You really don't feel pressure until the last two and you realize what you have to fish to make the cup," he projected.

And if he makes it and ultimately wins, it will put him a conversation with elite anglers.

"It's a staple on your mantel that they can't ever take away, that you beat the best of the best in the World Championship of fishing," Josh said with a smile.

The next tournament Josh will fish on the tour is March 7th through the tenth on Lake Seminole here in Georgia.

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