Gone Fishing

JAY KUMAR '88lures millions of fishing fans.

Kumar faced a dilemma early in his Dartmouth career: Continue down the premed path or ditch the whole notion since organic chemistry's eight-hour labs would seriously cut into his fishing time on Crystal Lake and the Connecticut River. "Forget it, I'm going fishing," recounts Kumar of his decision to switch his major to psychology.

It proved a prophetic move, for Kumar has built his passion for fishing into a thriving career. He's the founder and CEO of BassFan.com, and debuted in January as co-host of the new ESPN2-TV show LoudmouthBass. How did a guy from New Jersey rise to such heights in a Southern, good ole boy sport?

Kumar, who has been fishing since age 2, concedes that it has been a bit of a strange trip. He first covered the sport as a freelance writer while working for a Washington, D.C., publishing company. After an epiphany during a backyard barbecue—"l realized I was becoming just like every other schmo on the block"— he quit his high-paying job, sold his house and hit the road with his wife, Catherine, for four months. "I figured out two things," Kumar says of his cross-country travels in a pickup truck. "I got this idea for a novel [Dark Woods, published last July], and I knew I wanted to make money from bass fishing."

He and his wife then settled in his native Garden State, and Kumar launched Bass Fan.com in 2001, at the height of the dotcom bust. Friends and family were under-standably skeptical. But Kumar was convinced that bass fishing was poised for a popularity explosion, as NASCAR was 10 or 15 years ago. He also revolutionized coverage of the sport by introducing world rankings. The outdoor community responded, and Bass Fan.com now has 1.1 million readers each month seeking tips, product reviews and pro fishing profiles and tour updates.

When asked where he hopes to be in five years, Kumar, a father of two, laughs and quotes a former business partner: "You've gotta just get on the horse and see where it takes you."