Three “Lane” Highway In Pro Fishing
February 5, 2008 by Don Zaegel
Filed under Sports Rumors
Chris Lane Bobby Lane Russ Lane
This year we added another VanDam to the list of same last named anglers. We also have Father/Son combinations amongst us such as the Grigsbys and the Brauers. What do all these names have in common? Their last names show a relationship 
association amongst one another. While there are a couple of brothers sharing the same Lane last name, all of the Lanes in professional fishing are not related. What makes this confusing is that all of the Lanes in the sport have had a tremendous amount of media and news coverage over the past year due to their achievements or changes. To help clear some of the smoke regarding, “who is who”, I am going to clarify each of the individual Lanes.
Chris Lane:Viewers and Fans may better know Chris as, “The Man Child”. For whatever reason, Mark Zona uses this nickname every time he gets air time. I have no idea! Chris hails from Lakeland, FL and is brother to Bobby Lane. Of the 3 Lanes, Chris’s has the longest record of professional bass fishing. He has fished 47 events on the BASS side since 2003 totaling $281,324.30 in career earnings and on the FLW side has fished 41 events since 2000 for a total of $21,717. Chris will be fishing in his 1st Bassmaster Classic this month on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell.
Bobby Lane:Also from Lakeland, FL, Bobby has made recent headlines with his qualification through the Opens to fish in the both the BASS Elite Series and the 2008 Bassmasters Classic. We will get to see Bobby fish along side his brother Chris Lane for the 2008 season. Bobby has also made the recent headlines with his joining of Skeeter Boats for the 2008 Elites season. Bobby has a successful track record as a professional angler fishing with the FLW. His stats go back to 2002 with 80 events fished and $327,679 in career earnings. Since 2005 he has participated in 5 BASS events totaling $27,471.50. That number is sure to increase dramatically after 2008.
Russ Lane: Having no relation to the other two Lanes, Russ Lane has an extensive record as a BASS Pro. With 45 entries since 2004, his career earnings total $245,785 to date. The Alabama pro has made recent headlines announcing his switch to Basscat for 2008 and his major sponsorship signing with Vicious Fishing. You may have also seen Russ recently as he graced the cover of the February issue of Bassmaster Magazine for his “Day On the Lake” feature in which Russ landed a goliath 11lb 14oz bass. Russ will be back fishing the BASS Elites in 2008.
Hopefully this helped shed some light on the different Lanes fishing amongst us. Be sure to stay sober while you follow the 2008 BASS Elite Series season so you don’t get confused. Especially if we see all three of them fishing in a final day cut!
Good Luck Guys!
Ok, thanks for the breakdown! know, my question to Getting reel is…..Which one of the three lanes will do the best in the 08 season?
TANK
Bobby is more accomplished than any of them looking at his FLW stats. While Chris is a great angler, I believe that he and Bobby share much of the same knowledge. Seeing that Bobby was able qualify for the Elites through the Opens, I know he can compete on the BASS level. Taking that and his FLW record into account, I’ll take Bobby if I have to choose.
I think Chris is gonna make some surprise finishes this year personally. I think Chris is gonna do the best of the the three. He has already had a good amount of success with the series and has the pressure thing under control. His big thing right now is to close the deal on his final day cuts. He let Clarks Hill slip away last year.