Tony Choe, Fairfax Station, VA, took a different route into bass fishing than most of us followed, or would prefer to follow. As a first generation Korean, Tony felt he owed his country a debt of service and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He finished Marine boot camp as the honor graduate and continued to serve for two years.
One fateful day at his parent’s small grocery store in Washington, D.C. was to change Choe’s life forever- after almost ending it. Robbers entered the store and in the melee that followed Tony Choe was shot point blank in the back. The bullet paralyzed him from the waist down.
That was 1993. A year later a friend invited him to participate in a bass tournament for individuals with disabilities. Tony had always been an avid saltwater fisherman but had absolutely no idea what this “bass fishing” was all about. Even though he was new to the sport and on his very first bass fishing trip he managed to win the tournament as well as big fish honors for a four pound plus bass. Tony Choe was hooked on bass fishing.
Choe began fishing with a Federation bass club as a no-boater and fished several B.A.S.S. Federation tournaments. However Tony says, “I really did not start to get better (at bass fishing) until I got my own boat.” After getting his boat Choe began fishing the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Tournament Circuit in 1994. This circuit took him to many lakes across the country where he devised a unique system to enable him to fish from his wheelchair on the bow fishing deck and run the trolling motor. Tony simply straps a short post onto the axle of his wheelchair and the post fits into the pro pole hole on the front deck. He maneuvers the trolling motor with his hand keeping the foot control unit in his lap. The set-up works like a charm and allows him to also swing his chair around to get baits or dismount and maneuver to the driver’s seat. Tony does require a little assistance getting back into his wheelchair but that’s about it.
Choe has perfected his system and fishing well enough to finish two years in a row with the top points in the PVA and qualify for the B.A.S.S. National Federation Nation Championship in 2011 and 2012.
When Tony is not fishing Federation Nation events or PVA tournaments you’ll find him on his home waters of the Potomac River fishing Texas-rigged worms and shakeyhead-rigged worms in green pumpkin (most of the time). His biggest largemouth as of November 2012 was seven pounds; leading smallmouth was four pounds; spotted bass was a hefty three pounder.
If you want to have one of the most enjoyable days on the water fishing then hook-up with Tony “The Tiger” Choe.
