The last thing I want people to think is that I’m a cocky individual.” He’s humble, almost to a fault, but no one could blame him if he wanted to revel in his early achievements just a little bit. After all, it ain’t bragging if you back it up. That’s just not Casey Ashley’s style.

Head of the Class
When Ashley advanced to the big leagues at the beginning of 2007, he wasn’t certain that he was up to the task. 

“When I started fishing the Elite Series I was 23 years old,” he recalled. “Originally, honestly, I didn’t think I was ready, but when you get that chance you have to take it.”

Fortunately for the young rookie, there was some strength in numbers in the form of a support system of other first years. “In our rookie class, me, Marty (Robinson) and Jason (Wiliamson) had already been travelling together for about five years, all the way back to when we fished BFLs.”

They got some early support from their veteran counterparts when Marty Stone and Gerald Swindle befriended the group in the early part of the season in California. “We were lucky that we met them from the get-go,” Ashley said. “They’re kind of my role models.”

But early that season, none of Ashley’s immediate group distinguished themselves as rapidly as fellow rookie Derek Remitz, who won the first event of the year on Amistad and threatened to win the next tournament on the California Delta.

At the end of the season, Remitz was still the top angler among their group, but Ashley had narrowed the gap – Remitz ended up 25th and Ashley 32nd, both inside the Classic cut. Not only did Ashley win the Smith Mountain event along the way, but he’d get an opportunity to fish his first Classic on Hartwell, close to his South Carolina home.

Since that time, the respective performances of the 2007 rookies indicate that when the record books are written, there’s a substantial chance that Ashley will go down as the best of the bunch. While others, like Williamson, have won Elite Series tournaments, none has consistently performed at Ashley’s level. As a case in point, Remitz followed up his 25th place finish in 2007 with a 41st last year and he sits in 72nd overall right now. In the meantime, Ashley has built upon his early success, improving to 26th overall last year, and now he’s in 19th with only one tournament left to go in 2009.

Third Year Charm
Headed into this season, Ashley had enough experience on most of the scheduled lakes to understand how to approach them, but that experience also allowed him to build up certain expectations in his mind of where he’d be likely to stumble. He’s managed to turn those preconceived ideas into four checks in the first seven events, but perhaps more importantly, his three misses have been be the slimmest of margins – 52nd at Amistad, 56th at Smith Mountain Lake and 54th at Guntersville – thereby avoiding bombs of the sort that doom a Classic campaign.

“Amistad was the tournament that I probably dreaded the most,” he said. “I finished 88th there the first year and then 107th last year, so I was pleased to finish 52nd.”

He characterized Smith Mountain as a “pretty big letdown” and Guntersville as a “heartbreaker,” but before those two he rode a monster final day limit to a second place finish at Wheeler. He’d finished 73rd there in 2008, and admitted that he had been dreading that event as well.

“The Tennessee River kind of kicks my tail,” he said. “Those fish are different. (The runner up finish) was very unexpected. I figured I’d be in the top five, but I knew Biffle would catch them. In the last two hours I had 15 pounds so I went flipping. On my second flip I caught a 6 pounder and I probably had 25 to 30 fish flipping, so I knew Biffle was catching them.” 

On the strength of that top finish, as well as a 37th at Kentucky Lake and a 19th at the Mississippi River, he finds himself in 19th with only the Oneida derby left to go. 

Comfortably in the Classic
“Being in 19th place is really going to help me (at Oneida),” Ashley said. “I can probably catch one fish and make it to the Classic.”

That attitude stands in marked contrast to his demeanor headed into last year’s finale at the same venue. “I was a wreck,” he recalled. “I think I was in 41st going in and all of my friends and family were there.” A 7th place finish put any doubts to rest and slid him comfortably inside the Classic cut.

That puts the still-young Ashley in an enviable position, which contributes to a positive mental state. “I’ve learned a lot of little things (since my rookie year),” he said. “But most importantly I’ve learned that fishing is all about your mindset. You can’t expect to win Angler of the Year your first year out there. Of course you want to win it, but I want to win a Classic first.”

While his attitude hasn’t changed, the one deviation from the path he walked two years ago is that his recording career has, in his own words, “kind of come to a halt.” But even that is a good thing. He still carries his guitar everywhere he goes and sings whenever he can, but his consistency and improvement have led to increased exposure and enhanced sponsor obligations. 

“Every year I get busier and busier,” he said. “More sponsors and they all want you to do more and more.” If that’s how it is at 25, by 30 he may need a scheduler and an assistant if he continues to ascend at this mercurial pace.

But Ashley, for his part, maintains his humility. “I just want to improve every year."