Big Catch group's first female Angler of the Year ‘blessed with talent I didn't know I had'
Paula Stovall, 62, of Country Club Hills, became the first female to win Angler of the Year in the Big Catch Angler Association, a south-suburban organization which was established in 2004.
Her 'Pops' would be proud.
Stovall was presented with the award in front of friends and family on her birthday, April 13, at a BCAA meeting in Chicago Heights.
'She loves fishing,' said Sam Steele, one of the founders of the organization. 'She catches a lot of fish, and we are really proud of her for that.'
But Stovall went an overwhelming majority of her life without knowing the joy she could experience casting lines into the water.
She said that changed about 12 years ago.
'I was 50 years old and didn't even know how to put a worm on a hook,' she said. 'I started at Monee Reservoir and ever since then, I caught a fish every single time.'
She got hooked on the activity thanks to her godfather, Ellison Fisher, who was known to her and other family members as 'Pops.'
Fisher loved fishing but was dying of cancer. Friends and family members joined him for one last outing 12 years ago. That's when she started to take an interest in the sport, even though that day she abstained.
'We wanted to take Pops fishing before he died,' Stovall said. 'I didn't get a chance to fish, then. We took all the grandkids, and I was busy with the kids and cooking hot dogs and all of that kind of stuff.'
Fisher's spirit, and fishing equipment, stayed with Stovall. So, after he died, she and a group of novices took his poles and headed to the Monee Reservoir.
'I didn't even know how to set up a pole,' she said, but they caught the eye of more experienced anglers who saw them 'and knew something didn't look right.'
'They said we had to do this, that and the other,' Stovall said, 'and they helped us set our poles up.'
Little did those kind strangers know that day that they may have helped change a life.
In the years since, Stovall has enjoyed great success angling. And she believes she might be getting a bit of a boost from above.
'Every time I fish it's in honor of my godfather,' Stovall said. 'Yeah, he's there with me. He would always bless the heavens and say 'thank you, God' every time he caught a fish. He would thank the Lord and when I fish I look up at the heavens, and I catch a lot of fish.
'The Lord has blessed me with a talent that I didn't know I had.'
Steele said the Angler of the Year award goes to those who accumulate the most points. Certain fish that are caught are worth more points based on difficulty of catching them and other criteria.
Stovall had such a big lead in the point standings for 2024 that Steele said he couldn't remember who finished second and third.
'She made a really big splash,' Steele said.
Meanwhile, Stovall admits that she probably could have earned this honor earlier. She unwittingly hurt her own cause by not always turning in the paperwork on the fish that she caught. But in 2024, Stovall decided to turn in all the information on the fish she caught and ultimately won the honor.
There is a little luck to fishing. There is also a lot of skill. And there is determination and Stovall has plenty of that.
'Paula is very consistent,' Steele said. 'I know we've been on certain overnight trips where some of the other anglers get tired at a certain point and go in. But Paula would still be out there until 2, 3 or 4 in the morning catching fish.
'And her technique is really good.'
The BCAA has more than 100 anglers, Steele said.
While the group mainly fishes in the South Suburbs, they take six-to-12 overnight trips a year. They fish all over the Midwest on those trips.
'You name a place and we've probably been there,' Steele said.
Stovall said she loves the 'peace and tranquility' of fishing. And she obviously loves to bring in big hauls of fish.
'I have a niche for fishing for some reason,' she said. 'The fish just come to me, I don't know why.'
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