How’d You Meet Your Angler? – Felicia and Hunter Shryock

Felicia Shryock has been supporting her high-energy partner Hunter, a former supercross rider who became a pro angler, since their first date which apparently never ended. Here’s the story of how they met and how their relationship progressed over the course of the last decade:

HPFC: Can you share the story of how you and your husband first crossed paths?

Felicia Shryock: August 2014, a mutual friend of ours reached out to both of us and was freaking out realizing we would be the perfect match. Hunter and I were both over dating but he got my number and we set up our first date. I knew nothing about him but he grew up really close to my hometown. We immediately hit it off and it just felt like I had known him forever. I was thinking, “How am I just now meeting you?!” Haha 

HPFC: What were your initial impressions or your husband when you first met him?

Felicia Shryock: I thought he was so COOL! LOL, literally. I mean, he rode supercross in his prior years and mentioned he was fishing at the time to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite series. I didn’t know what any of that meant but I was like wow! Being from a small town, it was surely intriguing. But he was just so sweet and the conversation just came naturally. We didn’t want the date to end!

HPFC: Did you know anything about fishing when you first met?

Felicia Shryock: Absolutely not. Not to that caliber at least! I sometimes fished a back road pond as a kid but knew absolutely NOTHING! Haha 

HPFC: What about professional bass fishing?

Felicia Shryock: I surely didn’t know it was a sport. It was seriously so foreign to me. But I’d soon fall in love with it! 

HPFC: Was there a specific moment or event that made you realize your feelings were more than just friendship?

Felicia Shryock: Literally after our first date, I told my mom, “I think I just met my husband.” The saying is very true: “When you know, you know!”

HPFC: How long have you been married?

Felicia Shryock: Five years!

HPFC: When you met how was he making a living?

Felicia Shryock: He was fishing the Bassmaster Opens and working for himself, buying and selling catalytic converters. He had been doing those thing years before I met him. He quit that job a year or two after we met to pursue videography and bass fishing full time. 

HPFC: How did the two of you come to terms with him going out and living his dream?

Felicia Shryock: That was a conversation we had very early on. He wanted to make sure I truly was going to be ok with his lifestyle traveling and the sacrifice it takes to pursue fishing. I was willing to do whatever it took to support him. I was ready. We really grew in this sport together over the years!

HPFC: What doubts did you have about him going on tour and how did you overcome them?

Felicia Shryock: I was 21 when we first met and started dating so of course I was a little more needy and immature then and wanted to hear from him a little more than what I was. I didn’t grasp at first how much time he spent on the water and off of his phone. Haha. I got over that quick. I just knew he had a job to do! 

HPFC: What challenges or obstacles did you have to work through?

Felicia Shryock: He was working towards that goal and was new to the sponsorship world. I’ve really watched him from the beginning of his career, which has been so amazing to witness and be a part of! Being young and in love, I was beyond ready to get married so having to be patient in that was something we had to work through I’d say. lol 

HPFC: How do you manage the frequent separation and limited time together due to his travel schedule?

Felicia Shryock: Prior to the birth of our son, I traveled with Hunter full time. I helped him with filming for his YouTube channel and similar wifey duties that a lot of bass ladies tend to. But this past season was the first season in seven years that I didn’t go to all of them. It was definitely so hard. Especially with a new baby. But I kept busy with family and did attend two Alabama tournaments that were right down the road from us! Archie LOVED camping!

HPFC:  How do you adjust when your husband returns home after being away for weeks at a time practicing or from competitions? 

Felicia Shryock: I am SO giddy and happy when he returns! Archie is too of course! The house just isn’t the same without him there. We quickly realized that Archie and I will be going with him a lot more next season! 

HPFC:  Are there any activities that you and Hunter enjoy when you are together after he has been gone all season?

Felicia Shryock: We love having fires. When the season ends, we move quickly into the fall months and I’d say that’s one of our favorite things to do together. And watch college football. Go Buckeyes ;) Also, we are starting a new family tradition of going to the beach in September every year after the season ends. We live a lot closer to Florida now! We head to the 30a area in a few weeks!

HPFC: Do you have any pet peeves?

Felicia Shryock: Rude people. Especially in customer service, stores, and restaurants. Make eye contact with me and say “hi.” We are so backwards as a society it seems like. I guess you can thank social media for that lol. 

HPFC:  What do you think your husbands pet peeves are of you?

Felicia Shryock: I’m very go with the flow and he’s quite the opposite so I think he gets frustrated when I can be forgetful or not responsible with certain things. 

HPFC: What are your retirement plans?

HPFC: Felicia Shryock: Honestly, we haven’t talked much about retirement. He may fish until he’s 80. Who knows! Haha

HPFC: Tell me something off the wall about the two of you?

Felicia Shryock: Off the wall? Hmmm….We love waterparks. Like, we turn into little kids at waterparks. lol! 

HPFC:  Which is more exciting, motorcross or fishing?

Felicia Shryock: Gosh, that’s tough! Motorcross is obviously more fast paced and can get wild but because Hunter is actively fishing and competing, I would say that’s way more exciting! 

HPFC:  Which sport do you think Archie will be interested in?

Felicia Shryock: We often wonder that! We of course will support anything he’d find interest in but we surely think it’d be cool if he wanted to cast with his dad! :)