Angler/actor Cole Berry digs poles and roles

Apr. 30—Like most dads, Bill Berry — who happens to be chief of the Terre Haute Fire Department — is proud of his son.

Cole Berry, a junior at Terre Haute North and an employee of Baesler's Market, is a member of his high school bass-fishing team coached by his father in his spare time.

But here's the hook:

Recently named one of 12 members of the Bassmaster High School All-American team, young Berry has qualified to compete in a tournament May 21 in Quitman, Texas. It will take place in conjunction with the Simms Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Lake Fork. In Cole's competition, each high school angler will be paired with an Elite Series pro angler. A banquet and an awards ceremony will follow. In addition, all 12 All-Americans will receive a shopping spree at Academy Sporting Goods & Outdoors, which is the tournament sponsor.

"To be named All-American, I first had to get recognized as All-State," Cole Berry explained. "To become All-State, you have to have good grades, a winning status and participate in community services. For the past couple years, I have been recognized as All-State [usually about 50 in the nation get selected] from a request from the Terre Haute North bass coaches.

"From there, they have all the All-State members send in an application consisting of everything about you. This year, Dr. [Robert] Haworth [who is the Vigo County School Corporation superintendent] was kind enough to offer to write the application for me. Once the application is put in, it is a waiting game. I was blessed enough to get named one of these 12 in the country."

In addition to his fishing skills, it helps that Cole has a grade-point average around 3.9.

Nationally known pro angler and longtime television host of "Jimmy Houston Outdoors" — 77-year-old Jimmy Houston of Moore, Okla. — has become familiar with the Berrys and their fishing prowess. Contacted via text, Houston said he's known them for about six or seven years.

"I've fished with both Bill and Cole and Cole is a great learner," Houston told the Tribune-Star. "He pays attention and is always eager to learn.

"He does like to fish a variety of baits and has learned to fish them all well. Cole is particularly good with a Spinnerbait. He loves our Jimmy Houston Legends Spinnerbaits and also fishes soft plastics really well, particularly a brush hog."

Houston insisted that even after 54 years of national tournament fishing, he still learns something new about the sport every day, an attitude he shares with 17-year-old Cole Berry.

"Cole has the opportunity to go a long way in this game because he's willing to learn," Houston emphasized.

Merv Javins, an assistant coach for Terre Haute North's bass-fishing team, has noticed young Berry's improvements over the three years that he's known him.

"My overall impression is that Cole is very determined to do his very best and to succeed every time he gets on the water," said Javins, who himself has competed in tournament fishing since 1981. "Cole has set the bar extremely high for himself and all of his teammates."

Javins noted that in tournament bass fishing, an angler needs to be able to adapt to changing elements during the day.

"Cole has displayed great versatility in his ability to fish many different styles and techniques that are required to be a successful tournament angler," the Patriots' assistant coach continued. "Cole has a favorite go-to bait that he is quite successful with."

Javins added that Cole is "a great student and is always willing to help out with the Terre Haute North bass-fishing team, conservation events and community service events."

So can Cole Berry make any money at this? Well, maybe. But first things first.

"Currently I am the top of the top for fishing competition for high school," he said. "My next goal is to go to college and be a part of one of their teams, wherever that may be. I am excited to see where my journey takes me and will be happy to continue it in college."

When not fishing, attending classes or working at Baesler's, Cole tries to build on his acting career. His agency is Lily's Talent Agency in Chicago.

"I've been acting since I was 10 years old and have been in over 30 projects, including movies, TV shows, commercials, etc.," young Berry pointed out. "Some of the ones that might sound familiar are Rampage, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, etc. I have also done a lot of local films around Terre Haute and they have been nothing but amazing."

----Cole Berry remembers when he first started fishing and it didn't seem like the beginning of a future newspaper story at the time. But it wasn't discouraging either.

"When I was a kid, I just threw the bait in the water hoping for a fish," he recalled. "Fishing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My dad was a professional fisherman, so I have been around it my whole life. When I was younger, I didn't think of fishing as I do now, I always used to go to one of Deming Park's ponds [where he caught his first fish when he was 3] and caught my first bass at Dobbs Park [at age 4] and just used a Zebco 33 [reel] with a bobber and a worm at the end of the line and waited for that bite. Now it's a whole different story."

"I put a fishing rod in his hands at 3-4 years old," Chief Berry mentioned. "We'd go to Deming and Dobbs parks all the time and fish for bluegill and bass. He caught his first big bass when he was 4 all by himself at Dobbs Park. It was 4 pounds and he couldn't even reel it in, so he just walked backward and pulled it up on the bank."

"Now I've picked up a lot of skills and techniques that I use for specific baits, reels, water types or levels," Cole added. "I have definitely improved and the thing is you can never stop improving. If you go out on the water and don't learn something new or improve, you didn't have a good day."

Cole described how he got into competitive bass fishing.

"I was 6 at the Vigo County Conservation Club, where I won a tackle box and pole for catching the most bluegill," he said. "Then soon after that, I won two fishing rodeos at Dobbs Park.

"When I was in seventh grade, I heard that West Vigo had a fishing club. My freshman year of high school [at North], a bass-fishing team was established at all three Terre Haute high schools. Since then, I've been fishing a lot of school tournaments and a lot of other side tournaments, such as state tournaments. I couldn't have done it without the support of my family and friends by my side."

Cole Berry thanked his father for pushing him to do better and his mother — Katie Keen — for supporting anything reasonable that he want to do, plus he threw a "huge" shoutout to Javins, who devoted his time teaching the North anglers proper techniques to help them become better fishermen.

"Also, I want thank my fishing partner, [senior] Graham Palmer, for always being there for me on and off the lake and being an amazing friend and fishing partner," Cole added.

Bill Berry mentioned that Cole has tied the school record for most career tournament wins with four . . . and Cole has one more year left. North graduate Nick Winchell also racked up four when he was in high school.

"All of our high schools have established it as a true team sport where the kids can earn a letter for bass fishing," Bill continued. "I have anglers who fish state and national tournaments that we travel to also, besides our Vigo County high school tournaments."